Book Reviews

• Date: 01 December 1996
• Published date: 01 December 1996
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2338.1996.tb00781.x

Industrial Relations

Journal

27:4

ISSN

001

9-8692

Book

Reviews

The

Conservative Party

and

the

Trade

Unions

Peter Dorey

Routledge 1995, 207pp., €40.00

This book is welcome for three reasons. First,

it

fills a significant gap in the literature by

examining the relationship between the Con-

servative Party and trade unions. We are

much more accustomed to studies of the

relationship between the Labour Party and

the unions. Second, the book traces the

relationship from the beginning of the nine-

teenth century to the present. The issues

raised by the legal and other changes of the

Thatcher/Major governments, which are

dealt with in the penultimate chapter, can

thus be seen in terms

of

a valuable historical

background of Conservative thought and

policies. Third, the book is not an overweight

academic tome, but

is

of

a reasonable length

and extremely readable.

After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2

provides an outline of Conservative Party

attitudes and policies from 1799 to 1945,

Chapter 3 deals with the period 1945-64 and

Chapter 4 with 1964-70. Chapter 5 covers the

Heath Government, 1970-74, and in parti-

cular the 1971 Industrial Relations Act and

the Heath U-turn on incomes policy. Chapter

6 deals with 1974-79 when the Conservative

Party was again in opposition, with Mrs

Thatcher as its new leader, formulating a

much more hostile policy towards the

unions. Finally Chapter 7 covers the

Thatcher/Major years and is followed by a

short concluding chapter.

The author shows how, stretching back to

the nineteenth century there were two

approaches in the Conservative Party to the

‘trade union question‘. One was basic hos-

tility to organisations, which sought to inter-

fere with the free-play of the market, pursued

sectional interests against the perceived

national interest, embodied the principle of

collectivism at the expense of individualism,

undermined managerial authority in the

workplace and eventually formed the Lab-

our

Party.

The other was ’One Nation’ Conservatism

which believed that a degree

of

government

intervention in the economy and a role for

unions in economic discussions and decision-

making provided for the most efficient and

stable form of capitalism.

Thus while it was a Tory Government

which passed the Combination Acts it was

another Tory Government which repealed

them. Later in the nineteenth century there

was Disraeli’s condemnation of Britain’s ‘two

nations’ and his advocacy of ’one nation poli-

cies’.

He

believed that social stability could

only be secured in this way. There was also

the need to attract working-class votes as a

result of the extension

of

the franchise

through the Reform Acts.

By the turn of the century the Conservative

Party had largely come to terms with the

existence of trade unionism. In the 1930s

Baldwin acknowledged that trade unions had

become an integral part of the machinery of

industrial life. Indeed he believed that in the

years ahead the principle of collective bar-

gaining ought

to

be extended. Baldwin

further argued that unions were a great sta-

bilising influence and that without them

there would be chaos.

However, the full acceptance of Unions

came during the Second World War and, sub-

sequently, as a part of the post-war settle-

ment. Their role was legitimised by the post-

war Labour government and fully accepted

U

Blackwell

Pubhshrrs

Ltd

1996,

108

Cowley

Road,

Oxford

OX4

IJF,

UK

and

238

Maln

St.,

Cambridge,

MA

02142,

USA

Book

reviews

345