‘A Crusade to Enfranchise the Many’: Thatcherism and the ‘Property-Owning Democracy’

Abstract

The concept of the ‘property-owning democracy’ has been one of the ideological and rhetorical constants of twentieth-century Conservatism. Coined by Noel Skelton in 1923 the concept has been periodically revived, renewed, and reworked by subsequent generations of Conservatives. But although the concept has remained a constant, its meaning has transformed as generations of Conservatives have reinterpreted and redefined the concepts that comprise it. As the Conservative understandings of ‘property’ and ‘democracy’ changed over the course of the twentieth century, so too has the meaning of the ‘property-owning democracy’. Probably the most significant of these shifts occurred under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s and 1980s. The growing influence of economic liberalism in the party led to a redefinition of the ‘property-owning democracy’ and a greater stress on its central role within the party’s strategy to transform Britain. This article will examine how the meaning of the ‘property-owning democracy’ was transformed during this key period in the ideological transformation of not only the Conservative Party but ultimately of British politics as a whole.