Currently, the most explicitly libertarian party in the United Kingdom is theLibertarian Party.[according to whom?] However, there has also been a long-standing right-libertarian faction of the mainstreamConservative Party that espousesThatcherism.[2] UK voters have tended to vote more in line with their position along the traditional 'left-right' division rather than alonglibertarian-authoritarian lines, and so libertarians in the United Kingdom have supported parties across the political spectrum.[3]
Libertarianism, and particularly right-libertarianism, became more prominent in British politics after the promotion of neoliberalism and economic liberalism under thepremiership ofMargaret Thatcher.[1] Since the 1980s, a number of Conservative MPs have been considered to have libertarian leanings,[2][6] and libertarian groups have been perceived to exert considerable influence over the Party.[7]
However, in her firstConservative Party conference speech as leader,Theresa May attacked the "libertarian right" and argued for a more pro-state communitarian conservatism.[8][9][10][11][12] In recent years, Conservative Party policy has appeared to move further away from libertarianism,[13][14] and a smaller proportion of their support has come from voters with libertarian attitudes.[3]
Relationship with the Green Party of England and Wales
Sociologist Chris Rootes stated that theGreen Party took "the left-libertarian" vote,[15] while Dennison and Goodwin characterised it as reflecting "libertarian-universalistic values".[16] The party wants an end tobig government – which they see as hindering open and transparent democracy – and want to limit the power ofbig business – which, they argue, upholds the unsustainable trend of globalisation, and is detrimental to local trade and economies.[17] There have been allegations of factionalism and infighting in the Green Party betweenliberal,socialist, andanarchist factions.[18]
UKIP's original activist base was largely "libertarian", supporting aneconomically liberal approach.[22] Its "economic libertarian" views have been influenced byclassical liberalism andThatcherism, with Thatcher representing a key influence on UKIP's thought.[23] Farage has characterised UKIP as "the true inheritors" of Thatcher, claiming that the party never would have formed had Thatcher remained Prime Minister of the UK throughout the 1990s.[23] Winlow, Hall, and Treadwell suggested that a UKIP government would pursue "hard-core Thatcherism" on economic policy.[24] UKIP presents itself as a "libertarian party",[25] and the political scientists David Deacon and Dominic Wring described it as articulating "a potent brand of libertarian populism".[26] However, commentators writing inThe Spectator,The Independent, and theNew Statesman have all challenged the description of UKIP as libertarian, highlighting itssocially conservative and economicallyprotectionist policies as being contrary to a libertarian ethos.[27][28][29]
^abHeppell, Timothy (June 2002). "The ideological composition of the Parliamentary Conservative Party 1992–97".British Journal of Politics and International Relations.4 (2):299–324.doi:10.1111/1467-856X.t01-1-00006.S2CID144304577.
Rootes, Chris (1995). "Britain: Greens in a Cold Climate".The Green Challenge: The Development of Green Parties in Europe. Dick Richardson and Chris Rootes. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 66–90.
Dennison, James; Goodwin, Matthew (2015). "Immigration, Issue Ownership and the Rise of UKIP".Parliamentary Affairs.68:168–187.doi:10.1093/pa/gsv034.
Tournier-Sol, Karine (2015). "Reworking the Eurosceptic and Conservative Traditions into a Populist Narrative: UKIP's Winning Formula?".Journal of Common Market Studies.53 (1):140–156.doi:10.1111/jcms.12208.S2CID142738345.
Winlow, Simon; Hall, Steve; Treadwell, James (2017).The Rise of the Right: English Nationalism and the Transformation of Working-Class Politics. Bristol: Policy Press.ISBN978-1447328483.
