The Enduring Impact of Thatcherism: From Political Hegemony to Brexit Backlash

Thatcher transformed the social values of Britons, and forced the Labour party to remodel itself. Her individualist culture is not wholly positive, and her legacy is complex.

The legacy of Thatcherism

Margaret Thatcher was arguably the most influential post-war Prime Minister in UK Politics. Thatcherism was a marriage of ‘the free economy and the strong state’ and she successfully established a hegemonic political project that delivered unprecedented electoral success. 

More significantly, she transformed social values, and discredited the radical left of the Labour party in the process. Thatcher said that her greatest achievement was New Labour. She forced all main parties to converge on her new middle ground, which replaced the post-war consensus that had endured since 1945. 

We still live with her neoliberal consensus, which has fostered an attitude of independence and self-reliance among Britons. It succeeded precisely because it appealed to people’s self-interest, with her low tax, economic stability approach.

Her legacy has both positive and negative aspects. She tempered the Labour left and moved the median voter further to the right economically. But the backlash to her neoliberal consensus created the Brexit debacle of the last 7 years, with people rightly feeling that the establishment had ignored them for too long. Moreover, the individualistic culture she has created has weakened the communitarian and familial dynamics that keep our society cohesive.

Blair continued her legacy

Mario Grasso conducted research into the social values of voters since the Wilson governments of the 1960s. Political generations theory suggests that the ‘formative years’ of voters are young adulthood, and that their social values would be influenced by political events during these impressionable years. 

The ‘Thatcher effect’ implies that the generations socialised during the period of her ascendency, the late 1970s and 80s, would be particularly right-authoritarian. Grasso’s research suggests that the electorate did become more Thatcherite, with increasingly negative attitudes towards the benefits system and welfare in general.

Interestingly, Blair’s generation was more right-wing and authoritarian than Thatcher’s generation. Thatcher’s generation was more right wing than the Wilson generation, suggesting that Blair reasserted Thatcherite social values on the population. This highlights the success of her political project, as the values she espoused endured, ensuring that her philosophy remained pertinent.

A backlash to Thatcherism?

Jonathan Hopkin argued that Brexit was the lagged consequence of the marketisation of the economy. This stemmed from the 1986 Single European Act, exposing companies and workers to European wide forces. EU integration coincided with Thatcher’s shift away from government intervention, meaning society experienced less state support and greater competition for jobs, exacerbated by austerity and the financial crash. 

Thatcher’s policies facilitated a credit and housing boom, which priced many out of home ownership. The individualistic culture she created, generated hugely uneven patterns of income growth, and more and more people had to deal with economic insecurity on their own. New Labour did seek to rebuild some of Thatcher’s dismantled public services, but within a pro-market framework, meaning the overall levels of disposable income inequality didn’t substantially decline under Blair’s government. 

All these grievances were articulated by increasing support for Brexit in the ‘left behind’ areas, most affected by deindustrialisation, welfare cuts and immigration. In contrast, areas with devolved governments and thus favourable public spending all voted remain, as they were more insulated from the harmful consequences of neoliberalism.

Conclusions

Thatcherism still casts an enduring shadow on UK politics today. She broke the post-war consensus, shifted Britain to the right in its social values, and forced the Labour party to remodel itself under Blair. Grasso’s research confirms that she affected people’s values, and shows that her hegemonic political project was a resounding success.

The backlash to her neoliberal consensus was delayed, but significant, and heightened by the 2008 financial crash and austerity. The individualist culture she created has its merits, but has undoubtedly contributed to familial breakdown, and decreased community participation in the UK. Her legacy is a complex one, but the influence she has had is undeniable, and people will remain divided as to whether that legacy is a positive one.

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Maria Teresa et al. ‘Thatcher’s Children, Blair’s Babies, Political Socialization and Trickle-down Value Change: An Age, Period and Cohort Analysis’ British journal of political science 49.1 (2019): 17–36

Hopkin, Jonathan (2017) ‘When Polanyi Met Farage: Market Fundamentalism, Economic Nationalism, and Britain’s Exit from the European Union’, British journal of politics & international relations, 19/3: 465-78