Heath's U-turns And One Nation Conservatism

British Prime Minister Heath's alterations of economic policy in 1972 were so drastic that they were called"Heath's U-turns"in general. The 1972 U-turns not only reflected the crisis of consensus politics, but also revealed the deep-seated issues in British political system. So far, the scholars and experts from China and abroad have made great efforts in relative research, but they are always confined in detailed policy analysis. Heath's U-turns would not been seen clearly enough unless we view them from the long-term angle, not the short-term angle instead.Due to the adjustment made by political party under popular democracy pressure, political elites still remained active in twentieth century. Besides this, the British political parties came to comprehensive agreements in postwar settlement after 1945. In this political development, electoral politics emerged from popular democracy. The electoral politics was not characterized by ideology and principles, but only by aiming at enabling a political party to return to the office and then stay there as long as possible. For the sake of this, British political leader of party or government,especially the prime minister, had played an essential role in making policies and obtained the power to change them as his will, without which the 1972 U-turns could not have taken place.As for political ideology and principles, political party elites treat them as tools for success in general election. Either picking them up or dropping them down depends only on their likes and dislikes. In the middle nineteenth century, British Conservative Party put forward One Nation Conservatism to cater for the rising mass politics. However, after 1945, the renewed"One Nation Conservatism"presented itself with new features, including abandonment of the limited political tradition, the waning spirit of moderation and the emphasis on its electoral function. In order to get supporters as many as possible, Heath held high the banners of One Nation Conservatism, in one hand the market competition, in the other hand the state welfare. By this means, he successfully became the prime minister after 1970 general election, although the electorate's support was temporary. As time passed by, the confliction between market competition and state welfare gradually went out of his control. Eventually, One Nation Conservatism failed him in his ambitious economic reconstruction.To some extent, the difference between British political parties was covered by postwar political consensus. While the parties paid their main attention to electoral politics, One Nation Conservatism was not able to exert its influence on the Conservative Party any more. It had been replaced by One Nation electoral strategy, which promised to lead British economy out of troubles and claimed overmuch concern of the public. Unfortunately, the strategy could not reconcile the confliction between market competition and state welfare, and the economical situation turned from bad to worse as a result. During the period of Heath administration, One Nation Conservatism was in plight. However, given the long-term contribution made by One Nation Conservatism to the Conservative Party adapting to popular democracy, it deserved its positive and objective appreciation.