Evaluate the view that the Conservative Party is no longer a Thatcherite party

[30 marks]

1. Economy
- Modern Party remains wedded to the power of the market and
private property to drive wealth creation.
- 2019 manifesto emphasised the importance of using aspiration to
unleash enterprise and remained committed to the tax cuts of the
Cameron years, with its pledge not to raise the income tax, VAT or
National Insurance.

Thatcherite influences:
- Fiscal responsibility: the 2019 manifesto commitment to not borrowing
to fund day-to-day spending, and limiting infrastructure spending to no
more than 3% of GDP with the aim of reducing the debt.
- Boris Johnson remains committed to further tax cuts for higher earners,
as was seen during his leadership campaign where he pledged to raise
the threshold for paying the 40p tax rate from 50,000 pounds to 80,000
pounds per year.

One Nation influences:

- Aim of tackling the cost of living pressures facing people in the UK; in
the 2019 manifesto, the Party pledged to increase the national living
wage and set ambitious future goal that the first 12,500 pounds earnt
would be completely free of tax in order to support working families and
give everyone the chance to flourish.
- Approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the introduction of furlough
scheme and in the 2021 Budget, the Party committed to increasing
corporation tax from 19% to 25% commencing in 2023. The tax rise was
to help offset the costs incurred from Covid-19 between 2019 and 2022.
 2. Welfare
- Remains united in its commitment to make sure that it pays to
work, to support those who cannot and to provide opportunities to
all.

Thatcherite influences:
- Desire to roll back the state and tackle the debt and deficit. The benefits
system was cut and restructured with the introduction of the benefits
cap, universal credit and the benefits freeze during the period 2010 to
2019.
- Cuts to public spending needed to be made, which had wider impacts on
education, the NHS and the provision of community services at a local
level, while more competition was needed in the delivery of public
services to increase efficiency.

One Nation influences:

- 2019 manifesto pledged to strengthen the NHS by building 40 more
hospitals, hiring 17,000 more doctors and 17,000 nurses and increasing
spending by 3.4%. This was matched by a commitment to increase
funding in schools to 4,000 pounds per year for each primary pupil and
5,000 pounds per year for each secondary pupil to increase equality of
opportunity.
- In light of the pandemic and growing debt, the 2021 Budget showed
that public spending as a share of GDP would only be 2.1% higher than
pre pandemic levels in 2025-2026, suggesting very limited room for
further investment in public services.
 3. Foreign policy
- Believing in a Britain that should be at the forefront of tackling
glocal challenges and strongly committed to the union of nations.
- The party is united by its commitment to investing in the armed
forces, maintaining the Trident nuclear treatment and continuing
to be a leader partner within NATO.
- However, UK’s relationship with Europe remains deeply
controversial within the Party. The 2019 election campaign was to
‘Get Brexit Done’, which has been widespread support in the party,
the debate over the type of Brexit remains divisive.

Thatcherite infleuces:
- There are the hard Bresiteers, who had formed the European Reform
Group (ERG) to push for a complete break with Europe to focus on a turn
towards America, free trad deals with the wider world and a popular
nationalism of returning power to the UK to make its own deals.

One Nation influences:

- Feels that the Party has been captured by EU ideologues of the New
Right who will pursue hard Brexit whatever the cost to the nation. They
argue for a closer relationship with Europe.