An analysis on approaches to political leadership of the conservative party

Do conservative party members vote for leader

The general election left the Conservative Party as an England-only party, with all Scottish and Welsh seats having been lost, and not a single new seat having been gained anywhere. The reforms discussed here overwhelmingly do not move away from this framework, with some important but not entirely successful exceptions. One of Thatcher's largest and most successful policies assisted council house tenants in public housing to purchase their homes at favourable rates. By the s, many working-class people had ample incomes to afford to buy homes, and eagerly adopted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at a sizable discount. Health reform has been somewhat halting, following the Health and Social Care Act : this might be attributed to both the leadership's sensitivity towards the need to appear positive about public services, and the great deal of public affection for the NHS. With a new leader at the helm, Labour were clearly determined to defeat the Conservatives at the next election and for virtually the entirety of Thatcher's second ministry it was looking a very serious possibility, as the lead in the opinion polls constantly saw a change in leadership from the Conservatives to Labour, with the Alliance occasionally scraping into first place. She held the belief that the existing trend of unions was bringing economic progress to a standstill by enforcing "wildcat" strikes, keeping wages artificially high and forcing unprofitable industries to stay open. The scale of retrenchment, particularly in social security, was not anticipated — especially since in the Conservatives pledged to match Labour's spending for two years, should they win an election. On social policy, Cameron's Conservatives had more to say and do. She was also deeply unpopular in certain sections of society due to high unemployment, which reached its highest level since the s, peaking at over 3,, people following her economic reforms, and her response to the miners' strike. Johnson is set to take office at a time of political crisis over Brexit as he has promised to seek a new deal with the EU or leave without an agreement at the end of October. Outliers: Same-Sex Marriage and the National Living Wage However, some policies implemented since do not fit within this framework. But as the general election loomed, despite their high-profile New Labour, New Danger campaign, it was still looking certain that Labour would win.

In Coalition, the Conservatives occupied all of the main offices of state with attendant consequences for the amount of power that they were able to exercise, and demonstrated a preference for organisations outside the state in delivering services, seeking to enhance and institutionalise their role.

Thatcher believed that too much socially democratic-oriented government policy was leading to a long-term decline in the British economy. In government, the Coalition pushed through extensive reforms driven by both these ideas and the need to cut public spending.

How is a party leader elected

In contrast, just one economic development was tasked with looking at the Conservative approach to the economy. As with education and to a lesser extent health, what we see in this area is a determination to reduce the direct responsibilities and level of control exercised by the central state. Ten years on, the extent of substantive ideological change that Cameron's leadership has effected is much less clear. The continued relevance of Thatcherite perspectives is also evident in the aspects of social security policy that focus on individual claimants. Unemployment had doubled between and , largely due to Thatcher's monetarist battle against inflation. He was also criticised for attending the Notting Hill Carnival and for wearing a baseball cap in public in what were seen as poor attempts to appeal to younger voters. Cameron won the leadership on a platform of modernisation and detoxification: the need for the Conservative Party, in some way, to move away from its recent, Thatcherite past and reach out to voters lost to Labour in as a means of achieving electoral recovery. By the second half of that year, opinion polls were showing that Labour had a lead of up to 16 points over the Conservatives and they faced a tough 18 months ahead of them if they were to prevent Kinnock's ambition to become Prime Minister from becoming a reality. Johnson is set to take office at a time of political crisis over Brexit as he has promised to seek a new deal with the EU or leave without an agreement at the end of October. Moreover, where this has been attempted, the Party appears unconvinced.

The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions, and these would continue to dog the party until the earlys decade.

But as the general election loomed, despite their high-profile New Labour, New Danger campaign, it was still looking certain that Labour would win. This is similar to the justification for and role played by alternative providers in the academies programme.

How is the tory party leader elected

She was greatly admired by her supporters for her leadership in the Falklands War of —which coincided with a dramatic boost in her popularity—and for policies such as giving the right to council house tenants to buy their council house at a discount on market value. The pound sterling was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on 16 September , a day thereafter referred to as Black Wednesday. The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions, and these would continue to dog the party until the earlys decade. On education, reform has been more ambitious and thoroughgoing: as Education Minister Michael Gove greatly accelerated Labour's academies policy, allowing private and charitable organisations and charities to set up and run state schools through the free schools programme. In that time, he has taken the Party from the wilderness of opposition and three lost general elections, into government first in Coalition with the Liberal Democrats and now, in a development that confounded pollsters and commentators, as leader of the first single-party Conservative government in almost 20 years. The continued relevance of Thatcherite perspectives is also evident in the aspects of social security policy that focus on individual claimants. Helpfully for the Conservative case, this links into the second objective of saving money, via the argument that high welfare spending is a cause rather than a solution for problems associated with poverty, inequality and worklessness. By the turn of , the SDP-Liberal Alliance was ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls , but victory in the Falklands War in June that year, along with the recovering British economy, saw the Conservatives returning quickly to the top of the opinion polls and winning the general election with a landslide majority, due to a split opposition vote. Yet Cameron's arguments in favour of the bill were not ones that his MPs or indeed the wider Conservative Party found convincing: more Conservatives voted against or abstained on the bill than voted for it, and it passed due to overwhelming support from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. But as the general election loomed, despite their high-profile New Labour, New Danger campaign, it was still looking certain that Labour would win. This will have major consequences for the long-term size and shape of the British state. Without such a measure, the political costs of being seen to take money from working people without giving any recompense may simply have been too high and may yet prove to be so, given the on-going controversy over tax credit cuts.

The recommendations from the other groups formed an important and prominent part of the Conservative policy agenda. With a new leader at the helm, Labour were clearly determined to defeat the Conservatives at the next election and for virtually the entirety of Thatcher's second ministry it was looking a very serious possibility, as the lead in the opinion polls constantly saw a change in leadership from the Conservatives to Labour, with the Alliance occasionally scraping into first place.

The Labour lead was gradually narrowed over the next two years, as the Conservatives gained some credit for the strong economic recovery and fall in unemployment. This further undermined Major's influence in the Conservative Party.

Procedure for the election of the leader of the conservative party

Both rhetorically and ideologically, this objective draws on the New Right idea that an expansive state fosters irresponsibility. The new Conservative government seems set to continue down a similar trajectory. Thatcher from her earliest days in politics favoured the idea because it would lead to a "property-owning democracy", an important idea that had emerged in the s. Thatcherite MP John Redwood led this group: its recommendations around issues such as tax cuts were played down by the leadership, and the relatively small role afforded to it in the policy review process seems to have been an early indicator that a fundamental rethink on economics was unlikely. This could be taken to indicate a shift towards social liberal attitudes, rather than the social conservatism and moral authoritarianism that characterised Thatcherism. At least three cabinet ministers — Philip Hammond , Rory Stewart and David Gauke — have said they will resign from the cabinet in the next 36 hours rather than serve under Johnson because he is prepared to carry out a no-deal Brexit. The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions, and these would continue to dog the party until the earlys decade. It is worth noting that much of the public sector and social policy reform agenda built on policies introduced by New Labour, including those around decentralisation in education, marketisation in health, and towards greater diversity and conditionality in social security provision. However, it is in welfare and social security that illustrations of Conservative thinking on the state-society relationship and the proper role of the state are most in evidence.

For example, a central component of the flagship Work Programme is the opportunity for small voluntary and community organisations to become involved in service delivery, justified through the argument that they are better placed to meet the needs of local users in practice, however, the prime contractors are mainly private businesses.

Download