Introduction

When focusing on the subject matter of ideology, conservatism is generally viewed as being one of the older and most established types, along with liberalism and socialism. However, on a very fundamental level there has been some significant academic debate and disagreement as to whether conservatism constitutes an ideology or not. This is because, unlike other core ideologies, many of its leading figures and advocates over the years have rejected the influence of ‘abstract’ theories and idealistic principles and have instead sought to base their political arguments on experiences and aspects of everyday life (often referred to as ‘empiricism’). Within this more empirical context, therefore, for most of its history since the early 19th century, the UK Conservative Party has largely rejected explicit ideological principles and instead been influenced by often vague concepts such as tradition, instinct and pragmatism as its main guiding objectives when developing and making key policies.

Prominent historical examples of this non-ideological form of conservatism have been the 20th-century prime ministers Stanley Baldwin and Harold Macmillan, and the philosopher Michael Oakeshott. Indeed, Oakeshott's post-war writings have referred to the existence of a ‘natural order’ within society, favouring slow and cautious change, and argue that conservatism essentially represents an ‘instinctive’ mood or a natural ‘feeling’. This perspective echoes the views of another key theorist, Edmund Burke (in the late 18th century), who specifically highlighted the dangers of sudden revolution and radical change when observing the events in revolutionary France in 1789. Yet, such conservative theoretical influences have often appeared to represent nothing more than a pragmatic desire to ‘conserve’ and to react against other ideologies by resisting major social change, as opposed to offering a distinct identity or a coherent alternative position. This in itself has sometimes created problems when it has come to conservatism having a clear identity of its own or devising coherent policy making.

Nevertheless, it was during the final decades of the 20th century from the mid-1970s that conservatism became a more explicitly ideological entity. This reflected broader global economic and social trends, as well as the breakdown and failure of the post-war political consensus in the UK in particular.