To what extent was Thatcher’s New Right vision made into a reality? Margaret Thatcher’s parliamentary dominance from 1979-1900 created a wave of controversy due to her New Right ideologies, defined as right-wing ideas that focused on the autonomy of individuals and economic privatisation. This essay will firstly discuss the emergence of Thatcher’s New Right, then follow a debate-like discourse to question how well these ideologies were brought to life. To support each argument, examples of social and economic policies will be referenced throughout. According to Alcock, 2022, p.69, Thatcher and her predecessor Edward Heath, 1970-1974, believed in a free-market economy which encourages the development of independent markets. Similarly, their …show more content…
However, contextual factors were supporting her- after the Labour Government’s (1974-1979) initial aim to privatise companies and cut public expenditure (Alcock, 2022), the 1978-1979 Winter of Discontent strikes annihilated Labour’s chance of re-election. Partnered with the secondary impacts of Britain’s war, such as recessions, social stability deteriorated. This suggests radical reform could have been a necessity- yet whether it should have been from the New Right or New Left is …show more content…
From this, it is assumed that the New Right works to maintain class division- those who are able to survive on an independent business likely have pre-established cultural and economic capital. Opposed from the working class, who have no choice but to stay working for a new class of entrepreneurs. Further evidence of this stems from the Poll Tax Riots of the late 1980’s- as an incentive for the EAS’s, income tax was reduced. To counteract this, the Poll Tax resorted to becoming a fixed-rate nationally, instead of based upon the worth of one’s house. This is evidence of the general public refusing to accept the New Right’s ideologies, as the policy was scrapped one year later- Thatcher was not able to bring their ideologies to life without the general consensus’
The article ‘ The Politics Shed’ says “ Views have
Even though she does not get situated with one political association, she was interested in left wing views, due to them supporting her opinion on having an egalitarian community.
In Powell’s writing he stated that FDR “seemed willing to try practically anything as long as it involved more government control over the economy” , this very point shows why the conservative party, as pointed out by Phillips-Fein, was so aggressive in reducing the need for government control. In both cases it seems apparent that since the New Deal was unleashed that there was a persistent movement in supporting and opposing
This view is given further weight regarding the 1983 and 1987 election. Labour’s manifesto in 1983 had infamously been described as the ‘longest suicide note in history’ by a Labour MP denoting its extreme left views that the electorate weren’t in favour of, for instance leaving the European Economic Community and re-nationalisation of previously privatised industries like British Telecom .evidence of increase In consequence, Conservatives made further substantial gains in the midlands in spite of suffering from the decline in manufacturing, while in the south outside London Labour was virtually wiped out, holding only three seats . Labour suffered what Crewe called ‘a haemorrhage of working class votes’ , thus (therefore similar to 79)supporting
'Labour's domestic policies should be remembered in a positive light.' Assess the validity of this view (25 marks) Labours victory in the 1997 election was first thought to be the U-turn of the socio-economic transformation that the Nation endured after 18 years of conservative premiership. However, these thoughts were quickly extinguished as the Labour party and Tony Blair took the neoliberalist ideals of the conservative party and intensified them. The rebranded new Labour looked to reform Britain in its own rendition of neoliberalism, the party executed this by making promises to the people promises to reform Education, Healthcare and Crime.
Because of sexist opinions of the time, many people believed that a woman had no power to create change, especially in government since she could not vote. Women themselves believed this societal expectation, and although Grimke does not reject society’s idea of femininity and womanhood entirely, she specifically rejects their supposed political incompetence in a rebuttal. Using evidence from general and specific political movements in England, all of which were greatly aided by the support of women petitioning the government, Grimke assured her audience that “When the women of these States send up to Congress such a petition our legislators will arise, as did those of England, and say: ‘When all the maids and matrons of the land are knocking at our doors we must legislate.’” (Grimke, 192) This summary of her somewhat vague past points is similarly nonspecific; however, this is still effective since simply alluding to historical events rather than explaining them was sufficient for an audience that knew more about England and its history than contemporary Americans do today.
AMH 2035 Final Exam Questions: Learning Modules 8-15 1. What was the message of the New Right in the 1980’s and to whom did they appeal? a. The New Right of the 1980’s was a popular conservative movement that appealed to many Americans. Many people were disenchanted with liberalism and wanted major changes on how the Federal Government ran the country. The New Right movement was made up of Evangelical Christians, struggling blue collar-workers, middle class voters, and disenchanted Democrats.
Although this underlines the corrupt manner in which the reforms were passed; for popularity only, it also emphasises their readiness to pass reforms, rather than their reluctance. Arguably, their motives do not matter, they were, in my opinion, passing these reforms willingly. The Liberal party also passed many reforms, and we can see that although there was opposition within the party, Gladstone, their leader, was compliant to pass reforms and knew that it would benefit the party in this time of competition between him and Disraeli. Therefore, I would argue that despite the corrupt motives, neither party was overly reluctant to pass social
There was a high demand for housing as there was a rise in the number of women and servicemen returned home from the war, many of them wanted to marry and start families. Not only this, there were also fears of homelessness and this raised the need for more housing in the country (Glennerster, 2000). Bevan wanted the new houses to be built as much higher a standard than it was already being discussed at the council in order to improve the living standard of the people. Labour government 1945-50 wanted to build quality housing and not quantity for the people. They claimed that working class people were to live in a quality housing as the middle class.
The author’s inclusion of a variety of sources ranging from union publications, newspaper articles and government archives showcases a broad spectrum of both primary and secondary research. The articulation of this research was well written and allowed readers a multi faceted look at how the labour movement was interpreted by those working within factions such as the CIO as well as those working against them. The author missed out on a valuable opportunity in the sense that she makes mention of certain propaganda images, and magazine covers through a descriptive narrative to make a point; a point that would have been a more suitable presentation if the actual images had been included in the text. Overall, the authors use of both primary and secondary sources, coupled with the chronological breakdown of the text and use of subheadings gave readers an easy to follow and interpret look at the arguments made throughout the text. The book is a valuable resource for those looking to expand their knowledge of labour unionism through a Canadian perspective during the Second World
In her book, Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (2001), Lisa McGirr traces how right-wing ideology became mainstream over the course of the 1960s, and became institutionalized in American politics in the following years (1970s-1980s). She examines the way everyday people in Orange County first came together to form a grassroots social movement that formed its own strand of conservatism in the shape of the New Right that eventually propelled them into politics with Barry Goldwater's campaign and eventually helped Reagan win the presidency. The New Right started in the neighborhoods of Orange County, rooted in an existing set of ideals regarding individualism, private property, and family alongside early fears of communism that eventually shifted to fears regarding liberalism as a cause of moral decline. Fear is a theme that runs throughout the book, beginning with Orange Country's economic connection to military spending, many of the residents who lived there had membership
The Right Side of the Sixties: Reexamining Conservatism’s Decade of Transformation. Edited by Laura Jane Gifford and Daniel K. Williams. (New York: Palgrave MacMillan. 2013. vi.
A pattern that has, in some cases, contributed to the advancement of women’s rights. In 1917, amidst the tremendous reconfiguration of labour practices on the home front, the movement of women’s suffrage won a major
The overarching theme explored within this essay is the tendency of working-class conservatism within society. This has been analyzed above in regards to class-consciousness and hegemony. The popular Marxist explanation of working class Toryism sees a manifestation of false-consciousness on part of a large majority of the working class- a condition which is felt to be redeemable under the right conditions of proletariat education. In addition to this, some scholars have suggested that hegemonic pressures play a role in influencing the class consciousness of certain sects of persons within society. Political allegiances are to a large extent, a reflection of the vales persons within a society subscribe to in areas of their life outside the realm of politics.
The “Misogyny” speech by Julia Gillard, the prime minister during the time, was performed in the house of representatives on 9th of October 2012. Clear usage of her role as prime minister, her gender and word choice are shown as effective shaming of the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbot. The speech was given because of Abbots sexist and Misogynistic statements. Because of Abbots position in parliament as opposition leader, he should be targeted to maintain power in the government and giving the elected labor party a good public image in the regards to sexism and Misogyny. In doing so she was able to defend her standpoint as a female minister of Parliament.