Consensus 1945-79 Due To Convergence In Ideological Beliefs?

Giulia Fabritius Churchill College

“The consensus which developed between the Conservative and Labour parties on all of the principal political policies between 1945 & 1979 was mainly due to a growing convergence in ideological beliefs. “ Discuss. Pimlott defined consensus as an ideological agreement between parties or it could just be referred to as a continuity of policy pursued by both parties between 1945 and 1979. Using the former definition the consensus itself would imply a growing convergence in ideological beliefs between the Conservatives and Labour, whilst using the second one it would depend more on the reason that these principal policies were pursued. By looking at the both domestic and foreign policies I shall argue that no matter which definition one chooses a convergence in ideological beliefs certainly took place, but that the median voter theorem also goes a long way in explaining the consensus. Both in the 19th and 20th centuries the conservative Party has been a party of change, lacking consistent thought. It is the oldest of the political parties and Edmund Burke founded its ideology in the 18 th century, with the thought of conserving the natural order of things and keep human nature as it is and serving the landed classes. Conservatives have been less influenced by a given ideology giving them flexibility to stay in office longer than any other party. The Labour party was more influenced by an ideology, as it evolved from the trades union movement and had a clear socialist ideology to represent the interests of the proletariat. This meant increased state protection for the workforce and increased government expenditure on public provision. After WW2 both parties faced a few philosophical dilemmas, as the median voter continuously shifted, first to the left and later to the right, and so converged in ideological beliefs to justify the pursued political policies. After Labour’s landslide victory in 1945, the Labour government had a clear socialist ideology inspiring their domestic economic and social agenda. This created a philosophical problem for the Conservative Party, whether to attract the business vote or addressing the interests of the working classes. The Conservatives recognized that the median voter had moved leftwards and that they had to move to the left to become electable. Benjamin Disraeli attempted to solve this problem with the idea of an inclusive ‘one-nation’ Conservatism, which would attempt to address the working class but in a paternalistic way so as not to alienate the traditional Conservative voter. This shift in ideology to ‘one-nation’ Conservatism was used to justify the acceptance of the Labour Party policies on public service issues, state ownership of industries increased government expenditure and the trades union involvement in the process of governance. More specifically Labour nationalized coal, gas, electricity, iron and steel, rail transport, civil aviation and freight transport in 1945. Even though Churchill denationalized steel in 1951 still 20% of industry and commerce had been nationalized and the rest was subject to tariffs and policies for economic development. Both parties also used fiscal and monetary policies, as well as the exchange rate to influence demand and achieve full employment from 1945 until the early 60s. Concerning the trade unions both Conservatives and Labour offered trade union leaders a say in production and labour market decisions, in exchange for a temporary departure from free collective bargaining and a three-

year wage freeze from 1948-50. Churchill even appointed Monkton as minister of labour in 1951. Most importantly ‘one-nation’ Conservatism supported the policies on the welfare state, including free health service at the point of use and a basic level of housing for everyone, financed mainly by taxation. The Conservatives even used other policies and taxes to redistribute income and ensure equality. At the same time Labour adopted the imperialist foreign and colonial policy of the Conservative party from 1945-59. More precisely Labour initiated the development of the British atomic bomb, continued the close alliance with the USA and tried to maintain the Conservative stance on trade protection. Thus we can see that domestic economic and social policies the ideological convergence of ‘one-nation’ Conservatism to the socialist ideology of Labour goes a long way in explaining the consensus until the early 60s, whilst in foreign policy it was the convergence of Labour ideology to traditional Conservative policies on defence, law and order. Due to the new Conservative ideology and polices the party enjoyed a victory in the 1959 elections. Simultaneously the process of embourgoisement meant that the working classes were becoming richer, aspiring middle class values. This meant that the median voter was moving towards the right and demanded policies accordingly. Harold Wilson, the Labour party leader, understood this and thus campaigned not on socialist ideology in 1964, but on a technocratic policy of efficient economic management. Clearly Labour moved away from their original socialist ideology and tried to get elected solely on the basis of managing the economy more efficiently than the Conservatives. From the 60s to 1979 the Conservatives and Labour continued their policies concerning welfare, industry and foreign policy, whilst policies regarding unemployment and trades unions slightly changed. More precisely Keynesianism was dropped and stopping inflation became the new economic policy goal pursued by both parties. Concerning trade unions cooling off periods and prestrike ballots were dropped out of fear of the union’s reaction and the Industrial Relations Act was introduced. Both Heath, a one-nation Tory, and Callaghan were unable to contain the trade unions with the consensus policies, until Thatcher was elected in 1979. We can clearly see that there was ample convergence in ideologies even after the 60s, now more from part of Labour as the median voter moved to the right. Precisely this convergence in ideology helped maintain such a successful post-war consensus until 1979. Concluding there is enough evidence to suggest that a convergence in ideological beliefs was the main reason for the post-war consensus. The socialist landslide in 1945 and the apparent success of the war-time policy of government intervention in resource allocation decisions led the Conservatives to adopt the principal elements of the Labour party policies under ‘one-nation’ Conservatism. This created a post war consensus on economic and social policy issues. Labour also adopted a Conservative stance on foreign policy and thus Labour’s ideology converged to the Conservative one in this respect leading to a consensus in foreign policy. In 1964 Labour won the election on a technocratic program of economic modernization and reform, completely independent of its original socialist ideology. Clearly there was substantial convergence in policies between the Conservatives and Labour, which explains the consen sus of 1945-79.