.gif)
Having become the UK’s second female Prime Minister, it was somewhat inevitable that Theresa May would be compared to her fellow Conservative, Margaret Thatcher. As her premiership takes shape, are we looking at Maggie May or will the new PM forge a different path?
There are certainly similarities in the way their personalities have been characterised. Like Thatcher, May has been presented as a strong, ruthless leader who is unafraid to take on her opponents. May’s dismissal of Osborne and other senior ministers from the Cabinet indicates a degree of ruthlessness whilst her time at the Home Office demonstrated her willingness to stand up to vested interests – notably confronting the Police Federation on the need for reform. When compared to Thatcher’s domination of her Cabinet and her uncompromising position vis-a-via various trade unions, it is possible to see traces of her predecessor in May.
May is also seeking to appeal to the same demographic that powered Thatcher and the Conservatives to thumping victories in the 1980s. The Thatcher government’s focus on the aspirational working and lower middles classes – or those that ‘wanted to get on’ – is well documented. This formed the narrative running through measures such as the original Right to Buy policy and the ‘Tell Sid’-style privatisations. Whilst May’s policy agenda is yet to be fully formed, it is apparent that her government will look to prioritise a similar demographic. The most striking passage of May’s speech upon becoming PM is where she spoke of ‘ordinary working class’ families for whom ‘life is much harder than many people in Westminster realise’. May spoke of people with jobs but without job security and people who own their home but worry about the mortgage – essentially people and families who are ‘just managing’. In improving social mobility, the May government will prioritise the same section of the electorate that Thatcher successfully captured three decades ago – striving to build a ‘popular conservatism’.
Where it appears May will forge a different path is in the approach her government will take to achieve its policy priorities. It is here that any difference between the two prime ministers is most pronounced, with May arguably leading the Conservatives into a post-Thatcherite era. In particular, the early indications and actions from May’s government suggest her team will take a very different approach to managing the economy than before. The establishment of a Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and, more generally, the intention to develop and implement an industrial strategy, represents a break with previous orthodoxy within conservative thinking. The focus on an industrial strategy, led in part by the thinking of Nick Timothy – May’s joint Chief of Staff, represents a greater willingness and acceptance of the need for the state to intervene in markets and across industries. For a party that, since the Thatcherite revolution, has strongly advocated the belief in free markets and limited government intervention, the emerging agenda being developed by May and Greg Clark (at BEIS) could prove a break with the past.
This thinking extends to the issue of globalisation – where the government has already indicated it will take a stronger role in vetting takeovers of businesses by foreign companies. There is a growing concern and awareness within the new administration regarding those who lose out or get left behind by globalisation (and that the Brexit vote was the culmination of this growing sense of detachment). It is possible that we will see measures seeking to limit the impact and exposure of the global economy to the UK – including the labour market. Once again, this would represent a shift from a Thatcherite belief in the deregulation of sectors to facilitate global trade.
Both May and Thatcher may be targeting the same electoral demographic but the early stages of May’s premiership indicate that the way she’ll go about it will be very different.