The Capture of the Party

Abstract

Most commentators on recent Conservative Party history take for granted that the 1979 election brought to power an administration with an unusually distinct and coherent programme which was then implemented with less dereliction than in any other case since 1945.¹ Questions about discontinuities and conflicts in the formation of policy, the absence of detailed preparation, the internal balance between ideological perception and research, or the influence of sympathetic bodies of opinion and interests outside the party, however, expose another aspect; yet others concern the conditioning effects of world events and the contemporary Labour government’s activities. It would be as unwise to assume a clear continuity of thought and action from Opposition into the early years of government, as to suppose that 1979 in itself marked a complete breach with the trends of policy and economic management established by Labour since 1976.