Winter Of Discontent Essay

On 4 May 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. Her election ushered in a new era for the Conservative party and the entire British political landscape. In 1973, the OPEC oil embargo, as a result of which oil prices quadruplicated, led the country to a profound crisis, characterised by a relentless economic slowdown, unemployment and inflation, and culminated, in 1978, in the so-called “Winter of Discontent”, marked by widespread strikes by public sector trade unions demanding larger pay rises. The United Kingdom took now the role of “sick man of Europe”. Callaghan Government’s failure in dealing with the crisis made clearly visible the limits of the welfare state (Fraser, 2009). Until then, politicians had considered it the pillar of the British policy.

The essay has been organised in the following way. Firstly, it describes the major differences between the New Right and the previous governments’ ideologies, focusing on the definition of two fundamental concepts, collectivism and individualism. Secondly, it centres on Thatcher’s neoliberal political and economic view and its distinctive features. Then, it gives a prospect of New Right’s political agenda, outlining the elements of break and continuity with the past. In the last section, it focuses on the impact that this ideology had on British political world and people’s way of thinking about the welfare state, with particular emphasis to the profound reasons for these