The Conservatives have failed conservatism
by Daniel Pitt, The Critic:
At a Conservative Party conference a few years ago, I was with Sir Roger Scruton as he spoke on a panel. He was asked by an audience member what she should do to further the cause of conservatism or something along those lines. Sir Roger said pithily, “Get married, start a family and set up a business.”
I have come to know this as “the Scrutonian Triptych” and to use it as an analytical framework. In relation to the triptych, the Conservative Party, since taking office in May 2010, can be given one cheer in relation to the latter — business and employment. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons for that single cheer.
Unemployment has been a success story. The unemployment rate in May 2010 was 7.9 per cent. At the end of December 2022, the rate was 3.7 per cent: a decrease of 4.2 per cent, which is a remarkable achievement. Not only that, but the employment rate since David Cameron became Prime Minister to the present has increased by over 5 per centage points — though there is still room for improvement as there are now 1.12m job vacancies. In terms of businesses, there has also been an increase in the private sector. There are now over a million more businesses across the whole of the country than there were in 2010. At its peak, in 2020, this was 1.5 million. Since then, and after lockdowns, we have seen a half million drop. Overall, though, this is another success story.
Of course, due to inflation, there are current cost of living pressures. Rishi Sunak has five priorities, four of which are economic in nature.
These successes notwithstanding, the Conservatives have failed on the other two parts of the triptych, both of which focus on social aspects — marriage and the family. These are of paramount importance to our country, as they are the micro-foundations of society. The institution of marriage as a rite of passage should be the foundation of any conservative vision for building a society based on ordered liberty. Yet according to the Office for National Statistics, new marriages in 2019 were at their lowest ebb since 1888, when Lord Salisbury was Prime Minister and Rudyard Kipling published Plain Tales from the Hills.
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