The Thatcher Revolution, 1979-90.

1. The Thatcher Revolution, 1979-90. The end of Consensus

2. Thatcherism • A ‘conviction politician’? • Was she a revolutionary? • Attacked consensus politics • How far do you agree that Thatcher was a destructive rather than a constructive force in British politics?

3. Speech to Conservative Political Centre, Thatcher, 1968 ‘There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. It seems more important to have a philosophy and policy which, because they are good appeal to a sufficient majority.’ Q. According to this source, what is Mrs Thatcher’s attitude towards the welfare state?

4. Influences • Methodist • Hayek (Friedrich Von) • Keith Joseph

5. Political convictions Rejected: • Consensus = creeping socialism • Encroachment on free market • Subsidies given to private & public companies • Expansion of union power

6. WHY? • Inefficiency & low growth • Welfare system undermined personal responsibility • ‘dependency culture’ • Malaise • Hard-working members of society subsidising the work-shy • Initiative stifled

7. Ending the Post-War Consensus • Overall majority of 43 seats • Principle of individual accountability • State should not reward the incompetent & the half-hearted • False economics & bad social practice

8. The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher, 1993 Questions on the rejection of the post-war consensus. • What does she mean by saying, in line 10, that ‘the Tory Party merely pitched camp in the long march to the left’? • Define the term ‘socialist ratchet’, as used in line 16?

9. Key features of Thatcherism • See handout – how many of her objectives were achieved? • Policy of privatisation – 50 enterprises including British Airways, British Steel & British Coal.. • Revenue raised from privatisation: 1979-80 = £377 million 1985-86 = £2,600 million 1988-89 = £7 billion

10. The Falklands War, 1982 • Why did Britain go to war over the Falklands? • How responsible was Thatcher for the Falklands conflict? • What benefits did Thatcher gain from the Falklands War? • How far do you agree that Thatcher used the Falklands crisis to promote her own interests rather than Britain’s?

11. The Miner’s Strike, 1984-85(issue goes back to General Strike of 1926) ISSUE: • Was the confrontation deliberately provoked? QUESTIONS: • What factors explain the outbreak of the miners’ strike in 1984? • How much did personalities matter in the dispute? ACTIVITY – see handout

12. Poll Tax • Why was the Poll Tax introduced? • Why did it prove so unpopular?

13. Fall of Thatcher – the Poll Tax • Context – attempt to bring local government into line with ideas of public accountability • Existing rates system unfair • Origin – Adam Smith Institute ASI (38m PTp / 14m Rp) • Local authorities unpopular = reduced voting = extreme socialist groups to dominate • Community charge helped to make local authorities answerable to their ‘customers’, now paying for the services • Plan to vote out high-spending Labour councils • Idea criticised by the ‘one-nation Conservatives’

14. 1987 election, third consective win • Some Labour recovery (1983 disaster) • Cons. Loss of 22 seats but still overall majority of 100 in HofC • Continued Reforming polices • Standard Spending Assessments (SSA’s) • Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) • Expected popularity ‘more gainers than losers’

15. Why did the Poll Tax arouse fierce opposition? • Financial merits little consolation • Regressive tax • Public feeling of everyone being trapped in the same net • Exemption of payments for less well off were lost sight of • Opposition well organised (Scotland, 1989, England & Wales, 1990) • Rebellion within Conservative backbenchers

16. Further problems • Amendments according to ‘fairness’, when published on average was double the original estimates = MC protested! • Cost x2 ½ more to collect • Govn. ‘charge-capped’ authorities = reduced budgets • Critics: the whole exercise had been aimed not at encouraging greater localdemocracy but at imposing the will of the central government on the local authorities

17. How did this affect Thatcher’s position? • Conservatives lost all 4 by-elections held in 1989 & 1990 • April 1990 opinion polls showed Labour had gained 20 point lead • Thatcher’s personal popularity rating lower than any other time in 11 years leadership • Doubt over successful leadership in next election • Intensified by disagreements within the Cabinet over Europe • Two leadership challenges (Heseltine & Major) Major = safer & duller leader!

18. Thatcher Legacy • Emphasis on accountability = new form of utilitarianism • Admiration of ‘Victorian virtues’ • Strength of character & purpose • Unwillingness to support female causes

19. ‘What mattered was not what she did but who she was’? • Led Conservative Party for 15 years, • Prime Minister for 11 years, • Acknowledged internationally as a stateswomen • Extraordinary achievements?

20. What do you think? • Margaret Thatcher was a destructive not a constructive force in British politics. • The Iron Lady. • What really mattered about Thatcher was not what she did but who she was.