What is One-Nation Conservatism?
One-nation conservatism is a form of paternalistic conservatism associated mainly with the British Conservative Party. It holds that society is an organic whole in which the privileged have obligations toward the less fortunate. Its supporters argue that deep divisions between rich and poor threaten social stability, so conservatives should use moderate reform, public services and a mixed economy to bind the nation together. It combines respect for tradition, monarchy and established institutions with a pragmatic acceptance of state action.
Core beliefs
- Society is an organic whole, and its classes depend on one another.
- Those with wealth and power have a duty to improve the condition of the poor.
- Gradual social reform prevents revolution and preserves institutions.
- A mixed economy, with both private enterprise and state action, serves the national interest.
- Patriotism and shared institutions such as the monarchy unite people across class lines.
- Policy should be pragmatic rather than driven by rigid economic theory.
History
The tradition draws its name from Benjamin Disraeli's 1845 novel Sybil, or The Two Nations, which described the rich and the poor as two nations with no sympathy between them. As prime minister in the 1870s, Disraeli's government passed laws on public health, housing for workers and trade unions. Later Conservatives, including Lord Randolph Churchill, spoke of 'Tory democracy', an appeal to working-class voters through reform and patriotism. Between the wars, Stanley Baldwin presented the party as a force for national unity. After 1945, Conservatives such as Harold Macmillan and R. A. Butler accepted the welfare state and the National Health Service. Macmillan had argued for a planned middle course between laissez-faire and socialism in The Middle Way (1938). In 1950 a group of Conservative MPs formed the One Nation group and published a pamphlet of that name. The postwar consensus was challenged in the 1980s, when one-nation critics of Margaret Thatcher's economic policies were nicknamed the 'wets'.
Variants
Disraelian Toryism stressed the alliance of aristocracy and working people under the Crown. Postwar one-nation conservatism, sometimes called the 'middle way', accepted Keynesian demand management and a large public sector. In Canada, the term Red Tory describes a similar mix of social conservatism and support for public provision. The phrase has also been used by more recent British Conservative leaders as a broad slogan for appealing to voters across regions and classes.
Criticisms
Free-market conservatives and Thatcherites argued that one-nation policies accepted too much state spending, union power and inflation, and contributed to Britain's economic problems in the 1970s. Critics on the left argue that the tradition is paternalistic, aiming to manage the poor and protect existing hierarchies rather than to share power. Some historians question how far Disraeli himself acted from social principle rather than political strategy. Others say the label has become so broad that leaders with very different policies have all claimed it.
In practice
One-nation ideas shaped Conservative governments for much of the twentieth century. Under Macmillan as housing minister in the early 1950s, the government built large numbers of council houses, and later Conservative governments largely kept the National Health Service and a mixed economy. The tradition remains a reference point in British politics, used both by those who want the Conservative Party to focus on social cohesion and by those debating its direction after the Thatcher era.