Editing Thatcherism (section)

== Overview ==
{{blockquote|[A] mixture of free markets, financial discipline, firm control over public expenditure, tax cuts, nationalism, "Victorian values" (of the Samuel Smiles self-help variety), privatisation and a dash of populism. |source=[[Nigel Lawson]]'s definition of Thatcherism<ref>{{harvnb|Lawson|1992|p=64}}, quoted in {{harvtxt|Berlinski|2011|p=115}}.</ref>}}

Thatcherism attempts to promote low inflation, the [[small state]] and [[free market]]s through tight control of the [[money supply]], [[privatisation]] and constraints on the [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|labour movement]]. It is often compared with [[Reaganomics]] in the United States, [[economic rationalism]] in Australia and [[Rogernomics]] in New Zealand and as a key part of the worldwide [[economic liberal]] movement.

Thatcherism is thus often compared to [[classical liberalism]]. [[Milton Friedman]] said that "Margaret Thatcher is not in terms of belief a Tory. She is a [[Classical liberalism|nineteenth-century Liberal]]".{{sfn|Leach|1987|p=157}} Thatcher herself stated during a speech in 1983: "I would not mind betting that if Mr Gladstone were alive today he would apply to join the Conservative Party".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454|title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference |date=14 October 1983 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref> In the 1996 Keith Joseph memorial lecture, Thatcher argued: "The kind of Conservatism which he and I [...] favoured would be best described as 'liberal', in the old-fashioned sense. And I mean the liberalism of Mr Gladstone, not of the latter day [[collectivists]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108353|title=Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture ('Liberty and Limited Government') |date=11 January 1996 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref> Thatcher once told [[Friedrich Hayek]]: "I know you want me to become a Whig; no, I am a Tory". Hayek believed "she has felt this very clearly".{{sfn|Kresge|Wenar|2008|p=183}} The relationship between Thatcherism and liberalism is complicated. Thatcher's former defence secretary [[John Nott]] claimed that "it is a complete misreading of her beliefs to depict her as a nineteenth-century Liberal".{{sfn|Nott|2002|p=183}}

As Ellen Meiksins Wood has argued, Thatcherite [[capitalism]] was compatible with traditional British political institutions. As prime minister, Thatcher did not challenge ancient institutions such as the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarchy]] or the [[House of Lords]], but some of the most recent additions, such as the trade unions.{{sfn|Wood|1991|p=167}} Indeed, many leading Thatcherites, including Thatcher herself, went on to join the House of Lords, an honour which [[William Ewart Gladstone]], for instance, had declined.{{sfn|Matthew|1997|p=608}} Thinkers closely associated with Thatcherism include [[Keith Joseph]], [[Enoch Powell]], Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. In an interview with [[Simon Heffer]] in 1996, Thatcher stated that the two greatest influences on her as Conservative leader had been Joseph and Powell, who were both "very great men".{{sfn|Heffer|1999|p=958}}

Thatcher was a strong critic of [[communism]], [[Marxism]] and [[socialism]]. Biographer [[John Campbell (biographer)|John Campbell]] reports that in July 1978, when asked by a Labour MP in Commons what she meant by socialism, "she was at a loss to reply. What in fact she meant was Government support for inefficient industries, punitive taxation, regulation of the labour market, price controls{{snd}}everything that interfered with the functioning of the free economy".{{sfn|Campbell|2007|p=95}}

=== Thatcherism before Thatcher ===
Several commentators have traced the origins of Thatcherism in post-war British politics. The historian Ewen Green claimed there was resentment of the inflation, taxation and the constraints imposed by the labour movement, which was associated with the so-called [[Butskellism|Buttskellite consensus]] in the decades before Thatcher came to prominence. Although the Conservative leadership accommodated itself to the [[Clement Attlee]] government's post-war reforms, there was continuous right-wing opposition in the lower ranks of the party, in right-wing pressure groups like the Middle Class Alliance and the People's League for the Defence of Freedom and later in think tanks like the [[Centre for Policy Studies]]. For example, in the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]], the Conservative Party chairman [[Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe|Ralph Assheton]] had wanted 12,000 abridged copies of ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'' (a book by the anti-socialist economist Friedrich Hayek later closely associated with Thatcherism),{{sfn|Vinen|2009|p=7}} taking up one-and-a-half tons of the party's paper ration, distributed as election propaganda.{{sfn|Green|2004|pp=214–239}}

The historian Christopher Cooper traced the formation of the [[monetarist]] economics at the heart of Thatcherism back to the resignation of the Conservative chancellor of the Exchequer, [[Peter Thorneycroft]], in 1958.{{sfn|Cooper|2011|pp=227–250}}

As early as 1950, Thatcher accepted the consensus of the day about the welfare state, claiming the credit belonged to the Conservatives in a speech to the [[Conservative Association]] annual general meeting. Biographer [[Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham|Charles Moore]] states:{{blockquote|Neither at the beginning of her career nor when she was prime minister, did Margaret Thatcher ever reject the wartime foundations of the welfare state, whether in health, social policy or education. In this she was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself.{{sfn|Moore|2013|p=87}}}}

Historian [[Richard Vinen]] is sceptical about there being Thatcherism before Thatcher.{{sfn|Vinen|2009|p=6}}{{explain|date=August 2020}}

=== Ideological definition ===
Thatcher saw herself as creating a [[libertarian]] movement,<ref>{{cite news |first=Robin |last=Oakley |author-link=Robin Oakley |title=Thatcherism's end begins debate over style and ideology |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=23 November 1990 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=d'Ancona |author-link=Matthew d'Ancona |title=Into the age of the individual&nbsp;– Labour's chance to write the next chapter of political history |newspaper=The Guardian |date=5 March 1991}}</ref> rejecting traditional [[Toryism]].<ref>{{cite news |title=What Was Right With the 1980s |newspaper=Financial Times |date=5 April 1994 }}</ref> Thatcherism is associated with libertarianism within the Conservative Party,{{sfn|Heppell|2002}} albeit one of libertarian ends achieved by using strong leadership.<ref>{{cite news |title=Resignation of Thatcher&nbsp;– Strident heroine of the corner shop who fought for hard-headed virtues |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=25 November 1990 }}</ref> British political commentator [[Andrew Marr]] has called libertarianism the "dominant, if unofficial, characteristic of Thatcherism".<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Marr |author-link=Andrew Marr |title=Why unhappy British are yearning for days of order |newspaper=The Straits Times |date=3 January 1994}}</ref> Whereas some of her heirs, notably [[Michael Portillo]] and [[Alan Duncan]], embraced this libertarianism, others in the Thatcherite movement such as [[John Redwood]] sought to become more [[Right-wing populism|populist]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Shrimsley |title=Redwood Pushes for Populist Right |newspaper=Financial Times |date=17 August 1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Shrimsley |title=Think Right&nbsp;– The Thatcherites are Divided, but May Yet Rule |newspaper=The Times |date=18 August 1995 }}</ref>

Some commentators have argued that Thatcherism should not be considered properly libertarian. Noting the tendency towards strong central government in matters concerning the trade unions and local authorities, [[Andrew Gamble]] summarised Thatcherism as "the free economy and the strong state".{{sfn|Gamble|1988|p=38}} [[Simon Jenkins]] accused the Thatcher government of carrying out a nationalisation of Britain.{{sfn|Jenkins|1995|pp=29, 87}} Libertarian political theorist [[Murray Rothbard]] did not consider Thatcherism to be libertarian and heavily criticised Thatcher and Thatcherism, stating that "Thatcherism is all too similar to [[Reaganism]]: free-market rhetoric masking [[statist]] content".{{sfn|Rothbard|1995|p=229}} Stuart McAnulla said that Thatcherism is actually [[liberal conservatism]], a combination of liberal economics and a strong state.{{sfn|McAnulla|2006|p=71}}

=== Thatcherism as a form of government ===
{{Main|Premiership of Margaret Thatcher|List of ministers under Margaret Thatcher}}
Another important aspect of Thatcherism is the style of governance. Britain in the 1970s was often referred to as "ungovernable". Thatcher attempted to redress this by centralising a great deal of power to herself as prime minister, often bypassing traditional cabinet structures (such as cabinet committees). This personal approach also became identified with personal toughness at times, such as the [[Falklands War]] in 1982, the [[Brighton hotel bombing|IRA bomb at the Conservative conference]] in 1984 and the [[1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|miners' strike]] in 1984–85.{{sfn|Campbell|2011|pp=2, 198, 441}}

[[Sir Charles Powell]], the foreign affairs private secretary to the Prime Minister (1984–1991 and 1996), described her style as such: "I've always thought there was something [[Leninist]] about Mrs Thatcher which came through in the style of government: the absolute determination, the belief that there's a vanguard which is right and if you keep that small, tightly knit team together, they will drive things through&nbsp;... there's no doubt that in the 1980s, No. 10 could beat the bushes of Whitehall pretty violently. They could go out and really confront people, lay down the law, bully a bit".{{sfn|Hennessy|2001|p=397}}

===Criticism===
By 1987, after Thatcher's successful third re-election, criticism of Thatcherism increased.{{sfn|Campbell|2011|p=529}} At the time, Thatcher claimed it was necessary to tackle the "culture of dependency" by government intervention to stop socialised welfare.{{sfn|Campbell|2011|p=529}} In 1988, she caused controversy when she made the remarks, "You do not blame society. Society is not anyone. You are personally responsible" and, "Don't blame society – that's no one."{{sfn|Campbell|2011|p=531}} These comments attracted significant criticism, including from other conservatives due to their belief in individual and collective responsibility.{{sfn|Campbell|2011|p=532}} In 1988, Thatcher told the party conference that her third term was to be about 'social affairs'. During her last three years in power, she attempted to reform socialised welfare, differing from her earlier stated goal of "rolling back the state".{{sfn|Campbell|2011|p=534}}