Table Of ContentHistory
Divine Swerwzie Agbleke
What influence did Margaret Thatcher have
on British politics?
Seminar paper
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Divine Swerwzie Agbleke
What influence did Margaret Thatcher have on British
politics?
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University of Flensburg
International Institute of Management and Economic Literacy
Department of European Studies
Term Paper
British Contemporary Politics, from 1940 to 1990
What influence did Marg ret Thatcher have on (conservative) British
a politics?
Divine Swerwzie Agbleke
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Literature review .......................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Introductory background to British politics 1940 ‐ 1990 ............................................................ 2
2.1.1 Consensus politics 1940 – 1955 ...................................................................................... 2
2.1.2 Consensus politics endangered 1955 – 1979 ............................................................... 3
2.1.3 The Thatcher era 1979 – 1990 ........................................................................................ 4
2.2 Conservatism explained .................................................................................................................................. 4
3 Thatcherism ................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 Introductory political biography of Margaret Thatcher 1925 ‐ 2013 .................................... 6
3.2 Political and economic ideology ................................................................................................................. 6
4 Conservatism vs. Thatcherism in Contemporary British politics ............................................... 8
5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 10
6 References .................................................................................................................................................... 11
1. Introduction
The following term paper examines the extent to which Margate Thatcher’s term in
office Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1979 to her forced resignation in
1990, affected (conservative) British politics.
The motivation to write this paper stems from the rather divided opinion among the
British and across the Globe on the news of the death of Margaret Thatcher in April of
2013. On the background of this, an examination of her role in and contribution to
contemporary British politics has never been more pertinent.
It may interest readers to note that this paper also analyses the period between 1940
and 1990. The objective of this is to compare and contrast wartime (conservative)
British politics with the period under Thatcher, so as to identify and draw conclusions on
some (if not all) of the unique characteristics that define the period preceding Thatcher’s
rule.
The following paper is divided into six chapters. After a brief introduction in chapter 1,
an introductory review of literature on contemporary British politics will be presented
in chapter 2, with an account of the three distinctive Politics that characterized the
period between 1940 and 1990, followed by a brief presentation on Conservatism.
Chapter 3 comprises an analysis of what has become known as Thatcherism and
includes presentations on Margaret Thatcher as a person and of her political and
economic ideals. Chapter 4 will offer some comparisons of the differences and
similarities between Conservatism as an ideology and how it has been implemented
under Thatcher, considering whether ‘Thatcherism’ exists as a pure political doctrine.
Chapter 5 will present a conclusion on the findings from the topics covered in this paper
and the final section 6 contains references.
Due to the ten page limit on this term paper, an exhaustive analysis is unfortunately not
possible. Beyond that the English language literature available in the library are not up
to date. However, it is my conviction that Thatcher’s role of or contribution to British
contemporary politics has been adequately expanded upon.
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2. Literature review
2.1 Introductory background to British politics 1940 ‐ 1990
Kavanagh (1990, p.244‐245) notes that, until 1979, the British political landscape was
characterized by collectivism with greater roles for institutions and not persons.
Kavanagh (1990) attributes this to the representative form of democracy being practised
in Britain, as opposed to the presidential system in France and the US where
personalities are of greater importance.
Hence, British politics during the period under review can be divided into three phases
that are considered in detail in the following subchapters.
2.1.1 Consensus politics 1940 – 1955
During this period, in which there was a wartime coalition government, followed by
Labour then Conservative governments led by Attlee and Churchill, the foundation for
Britain’s foreign and socio‐economic policy was laid (Coxall and Robins, 1994, p.19). On
the international front, consensus building and cooperation characterized the polity
with the aim of projecting Great Britain as an economic and military power of the world.
The political agenda at the time was based on promoting strong economic and military
ties with the US while at the same time developing the empire and building the
Commonwealth. In an effort to counter obvious legitimate threats from the soviets,
British foreign and military strategy involved participation in the building of
intercontinental alliances, such as NATO, to defend Western Europe in the event of attack
from the Soviets. (Ibid, pp.20‐21)
Beyond this, large‐scale military expenditure and opposition to joining the European
Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), for fear of loss of sovereignty, characterized British
foreign and security policy at the time. (Ibid)
On the domestic front, a tax‐financed welfare state, designed to include free national
health insurance and family allowances amongst other provisions, was instituted. It must
be noted that most (if not all) of the social policy decisions and measures introduced by
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the post war Labour government were not discontinued by a Conservative‐led
government that followed. (Coxall and Robins, 1994, pp. 19, 24)
2.1.2 Consensus politics endangered 1955 – 1979
According to Coxall and Robins, (1994, pp.27‐28) British external relations during the
period under review were more of a failure than a success. The period was marked by
the succession of many of Britain’s foreign territories and by domestic economic
challenges such as budget deficits that meant that it was no longer possible to
aggressively advance its role as a super power. Britain’s position was also not helped by
the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU (an organization to which it did not belong)
compared with the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) (Britain was a member) and
having to withdraw from the Suez Canal following external pressure. In addition, its
quest to become a nuclear military power was not to be successful due to the collapse of
military hardware agreements with the US.
On the decline both economically and militarily, British external policy shifted towards
Europe, but its first and second applications in 1963 and 1967 to join the European
Economic Community (EEC) were rejected as a result of French opposition (Warlouzet,
2010, p.1). However, when the British finally joined in 1973, Coxall and Robins (1994, p.
29), note that they were not only one of the highest payers, but also received the lowest
amount from the European Union (EU) due to their relatively small agriculture sector.
On the domestic front, Coxall and Robins (1994, pp. 29‐30) note British politics was not
much different to the first period under review, with sectors such as education and
housing attracting the most financial and governmental support. It must be noted
however that there were some differences in the form of implementation. Whereas the
Conservatives favoured self‐ownership with regards to housing, Labour supported
council housing projects. Also, some public organisation or sectors, such as road haulage
and steel, which were nationalized under Labour, were then re‐privatized by the
Conservative government. It can therefore be concluded that post war British politics,
especially during the period under review, saw an inception of ideological politics based
differences between the two main parties.
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