What is Conservatism?

By Sheila Cook
Producer, Conserving What?

What does Conservatism mean and what does it mean to David Cameron?

David Cameron tells Peter Oborne he is a one nation Tory

That has become a more urgent question now the general election is no more than six months away.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail journalist Peter Oborne for the Radio 4 series Conserving What?, the Conservative Party leader characterises his thinking by distancing himself from the legacy of Margaret Thatcher.

He also explains in philosophical terms why he disagrees with the centre-left political tradition.

He defines himself as standing square in the Conservative 'one nation' tradition of 19th Century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

"I am a one nation, relatively liberal Conservative," Mr Cameron says.

"I am a huge admirer of Margaret Thatcher and what she achieved, particularly given the terrible state of the country when she took over.

"But," he points out, "the Conservative Party should both revere her inheritance and what she did, and also move on and draw on some of the history of Conservatism, which is about society as well as the economy, and which does have this One Nation tradition of wanting to bring the country together at its heart."

Causes of poverty

Sitting in his office overlooking the Thames at Westminster, Mr Cameron says he shares the goals of the centre left: "A society with less poverty... a society that's fairer... and a greener economy".

But he says he differs sharply over the means to achieve them.

You've got to make sure it's the right sort of change; that you're keeping the best things David Cameron

"I think the idea of just using transfers of money, as the centre left have been doing, is not going to solve poverty.

"We've got to get to the causes of poverty, things like drug addiction, things like poorly performing schools, things like an entrenched welfare system - and the way to reform them is through Conservative means - greater use of the voluntary sector, bringing in new providers to schools."

This is the nub of what he calls "progressive Conservatism", quoting as inspiration Disraeli's remark that "in a progressive country change is constant; change is inevitable".

'Use your strengths'

He denies "progressive conservatism" is a contradiction in terms, and says "you've got to make sure it's the right sort of change; that you're keeping the best things, you're keeping the strong institutions, and you're changing and amending what needs to be changed".

"So the state of mind is: don't start with an abstract philosophy.

"Start with what you have - understand your history, traditions, customs and all the rest of it - and try to achieve your goals using their strengths rather than believing in some utopia written on a blank sheet of paper."

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli had a lasting influence on Conservatism

This idea of adapting what you have, rather than overturning the existing order, even if it is the legacy of your political opponents, is a traditionally Conservative approach.

Yet David Cameron's vision for the relationship he would like to see between the individual, the state and society could be said to be a radical departure - or more like a radical return to Conservative ideas of the past.

Acknowledging an intellectual debt to the 18th Century Conservative thinker, Edmund Burke, Cameron emphasises the importance of the "little platoons" of "the family, local associations, the local organisations that then build up into a picture of your country".

These, he believes, should be revitalised and re-evaluated as the best means to solve problems where the state has failed or made matters worse.

What kind of government?

Another source of influence for Cameron is the 20th Century philosopher Michael Oakeshott, who famously distinguished between two types of government which he labelled "civil association" and "enterprise association".

In a civil association the purpose of the state is to lay down conditions so that men and women can pursue whatever ends they choose in contrast to an enterprise association in which men and women are brought together to pursue some over-riding goal which sanctions the state to take precedence over the individual.

Although he thinks "it gets a bit technical", David Cameron nonetheless identifies "a particularly rich tradition" in Oakeshott and sees his own vision for greater de-centralisation fitting with Oakeshott's distinction.

"The question is not between a government or no government," he says.

"It's between what I would argue is a sort of big, bossy, top-down centralised government and what I would like to see, which is smarter, more decentralised, more enabling government."

The big question now is how these ideas will translate into concrete policies to put before the electorate, and if the Conservatives were to achieve office whether the idea of the government renouncing power to achieve change would retain its appeal.

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The final part of Conserving What? will be broadcast at 2045 BST on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 21 October. You can also catch it on the BBC iPlayer