'Things fall apart, the centre‑right cannot hold’: The crises of British Conservatism since 1990

Dorey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2763-1622 2025. 'Things fall apart, the centre‑right cannot hold’: The crises of British Conservatism since 1990. British Politics 10.1057/s41293-025-00277-6

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Abstract

The Conservative Party’s victory in the 2019 general election was mainly due to specifc short-term factors that masked the long-term problems bequeathed by decades of Thatcherite radicalism. Since the 1980s, Conservative governments, in thrall to neoliberalism and ‘the market’, have pursued a relentless unconservative assault on Britain’s civic institutions and increased anxiety, insecurity, and precarity among much of the middle-class. Far from abating following Margaret Thatcher’s resignation in November 1990, when her successor, John Major pledged to create a nation ‘at ease with itself’, this article argues that Thatcherism and neoliberalism have become ever more entrenched among Conservative MPs, such that the Party today appears to be more Thatcherite than ever before, especially on economic and European issues, but also on sundry socio-cultural issues. Thus did the 2024 general election highlight the crumbling of the Conservatives’ so-called Blue Wall, with the Party’s support from the middle-class much reduced compared to the 1960s; a long-term trend of class dealignment matching the Labour Party’s loss of former working-class electoral support. This significant diminution of middle-class Conservative support has been compounded by a growing number of more socially liberal or Left-leaning, working-from-home, young professionals moving to cheaper retirement or satellite towns, and thus altering their political complexion. Moreover, tactical voting or ‘vote swapping’ are becoming more organised, aided by technology and social media. In tandem with this, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats have unofficially or informally been engaging in local electoral pacts to maximise the anti-Conservative vote in key or marginal constituencies. The Conservatives’ electoral decline has recently been compounded by the rise of Reform UK on the authoritarian populist Right.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
ISSN:	1746-918X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 January 2025
Date of Acceptance:	9 January 2025
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2025 10:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/175636

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