The British Conservative Party and the state, 1929-1940

Thesis

This thesis examines the Conservative Party’s attitude towards the role of the state between its loss of the 1929 election and the downfall of the National Government in May 1940. The appropriate extent of government intervention was one of the most important political debates in the twentieth century, and is critical to understanding the social and economic policies of a controversial decade. Despite this, how the governing Conservatives viewed the state remains neglected. Historians of 1930s Tory domestic policy have variously argued it was too interventionist, not interventionist enough, or quite reasonable. This thesis answers this question by examining an extensive range of archival and other primary sources. In doing so, it provides the first overview of the National Government’s domestic policymaking.

The thesis has six chapters. Chapter one outlines the evolution of Conservatism from the advent of the mass electorate up to 1929. Chapter two explores the development of Conservative policy in opposition up until the party’s unexpected return to government via the multi-party National Government 1931. This is treated separately to the remaining chapters to better assess the impact being in coalition had on policymaking. For the 1931-40 period, the thesis breaks into four case studies: industrial reorganisation, welfare, housing, and education. These four topics were chosen because they were of great contemporary significance. Additionally, because the Conservatives reacted differently in each policy area, comparing them reveals where Tory ideological boundaries lay.

This thesis argues that while most Conservatives were reluctant to turn to the state at first instance, they would at least tolerate state intervention when they believed a key institution was threatened. It further argues that while Conservatism was open to outside influences, whether from coalition partners, ex-Liberals, or civil servants, this was only where those ideas were in accordance with what they understood as Conservative principles.

Authors: Prescott, WJ

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-ko44pqza5
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Conservative Party; Conservatism; welfare policy; interwar; rationalisation; domestic policy
• Subjects: Education and state; Social policy; History of Britain and Europe; Political history; Political ideologies; Welfare state; History; Economic history--1918-1945; Housing policy; Great Britain--Social policy