Is David Cameron a Conservative?

Conservatism in a nutshell is an ideology that is based on the desire to conserve. Burkean Conservatism stressed the need to preserve the traditional institutions of the state: the Church, the Crown, Parliament. Neo-conservatism stresses the need to conserve the social institution of the family and the 'traditional' customs of the populous. the different schools of conservatism each had a 'spine' a pillar to which all others things rested upon; a central theme that was worth conserving.

David Cameron's conservatism is something of an anomaly. if he is a conservative, what is it that he is trying to conserve? the first line of questioning against his conservatism, is the fact that he ran his 2010 campaign on a platform of 'change'. traditionally conservative election campaigns ran on the theme of bringing stability and on correcting the 'mistakes' of the previous governing party (which Cameron did also) but conservatism is not a pro-change ideology; it is about regulating change, piecemeal change, or stifling change altogether. having this sort of stance makes it hard to characterize him as a conservative.

secondly, when in opposition Cameron complained about the dangers of 'Broken Britain'. he argued that Britain was suffering from moral decay because of crime, binge drinking and broken homes. the traditional conservative approach to such matters is to stress the importance, the primacy of the nuclear family to solve these issues; and to pledge a tough stance of law and order as a deterrent to law breakers. Cameron does not have a consistently conservative approach to these matters. his policy to recognize marriage in the tax system can be seen as being very piecemeal and is really just a shallow move to appease middle-England; it does not seem to project any deep set conservative convictions.

Opponents of Cameron's like characterize his fiscal policies as being truly conservative. they argue that the spending cuts are wholly ideological, and claim that Cameron is a rabid conservative. however, his fiscal policy is not sufficient in order to characterize him as a conservative; neo-liberals, right-wing libertarians and classical liberals wholeheartedly support spending cuts; with this in mind would we then describe Cameron as a neo-liberal? this seems odd. so just what is this man?

do you really think David Cameron is a conservative?

yes.

No. He's a ****.

Not the C word I was thinking of.

Reply 4

Martyn*

13

He's a descendant of King William IV, and Elijah Levita.

Reply 5

The Patriot

14

The Conservative Party is only so by name. It's ideology and actions have changed vastly from that of it's conception.

Reply 6

username196545

19

Is the Pope a Catholic?

Reply 7

lukas1051

18

Honestly, British policits nowadays have very little to do with Conservativism vs Liberalism, and left/right wing idealogies. I mean if you compare us to say, the USA, there is a clear right wing and left wing party over there, one with very liberal views and one with very conservative views. That's not really the case in the UK. The Tories are certainly conservative in some respects, and more so than Labour and the Lib Dems, but not to a massive extent.

Reply 8

Will Lucky

11

Course not, he is a Liberal Conservative.

Economically Liberal but Socially Conservative.

Reply 9

rajandkwameali

2

The Conservative Party is a broad church, like most political parties universally. What it means to be a Conservative has also changed over time.

Therefore, there is no one definition of Conservative. It depends on which wing of the party one is at.

Reply 10

turn and fall

12

Original post by Bubbles*de*Milo

Is the Pope a Catholic?

Now that is a more profound question.

Reply 11

MathematicsKiller

12

Why do people feel the need to name everything?
Just read a bloody manifesto and decide which party you like better.

Reply 12

JIRAIYA-ERO-SENNIN

OP

19

Original post by Will Lucky

Course not, he is a Liberal Conservative.

Economically Liberal but Socially Conservative.

conservatism has always borrowed its economic policies from liberalism. there is no such thing as conservative economic policy. in the 19th century conservatives borrowed their economic ideas from classical liberal thinkers like Smith and Ricardo. in the 20th century conservatives borrowed ideas from modern liberals like Keynes, only to be replaced by libertarians such as Hayek and Friedman. the 'liberalism' in Cameron's ideology does not come from his stance on economics it comes from his views on society which are socially liberal. this is why conservatives in the grass roots of the party find it difficult to accept him as a conservative because his views are socially liberal.

Reply 13

Aj12

18

Original post by S129439

The Conservative Party is only so by name. It's ideology and actions have changed vastly from that of it's conception.

This same as the Labour party.

Reply 14

muffingg

18

Well, he's from the Conservative party, lets say it this way.

Reply 15

JIRAIYA-ERO-SENNIN

OP

19

Original post by S129439

The Conservative Party is only so by name. It's ideology and actions have changed vastly from that of it's conception.

the conservative party has changed dramatically since its founding by Peel, that is simply stating the obvious. but in each strand of conservatism, there has always been a central theme; the thing which the conservative seeks to conserve. Cameron doesn't seem to have that, or is yet to develop it perhaps.

Reply 16

Will Lucky

11

Original post by JIRAIYA-ERO-SENNIN

conservatism has always borrowed its economic policies from liberalism. there is no such thing as conservative economic policy. in the 19th century conservatives borrowed their economic ideas from classical liberal thinkers like Smith and Ricardo. in the 20th century conservatives borrowed ideas from modern liberals like Keynes, only to be replaced by libertarians such as Hayek and Friedman. the 'liberalism' in Cameron's ideology does not come from his stance on economics it comes from his views on society which are socially liberal. this is why conservatives in the grass roots of the party find it difficult to accept him as a conservative because his views are socially liberal.

Well, as it stands our current economic stance is Thatcherism. She destroyed the previous Keynesian Economics and replaced it with Free Trade. She was economically the biggest Liberal this country had seen in government for a long time, from 45-79 there was general acceptance from both sides on Keynesian.

As far as I'm concerned Socially he is Conservative, Family, Crime ect seem very much what I expect from a Conservative.

Reply 17

JIRAIYA-ERO-SENNIN

OP

19

Original post by rajandkwameali

The Conservative Party is a broad church, like most political parties universally. What it means to be a Conservative has also changed over time.

Therefore, there is no one definition of Conservative. It depends on which wing of the party one is at.

I've mentioned that conservatism has its different strands. but in each school of conservatism, there is something which the conservative seeks to conserve; unlike previous conservative prime ministers Cameron has not shown that.