Between a soft and a hard place? the conservative party, valence politics and the need for a new 'Eurorealism'

Parliamentary Affairs

Volumn 59, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 385-400

  Bale, Tim ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33745899899     PISSN: 00312290     EISSN: 14602482     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsl021     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. By far the best treatment of this aspect of British Conservatism is P. Lynch, The Politics of Nationhood, Macmillan, 1999.
2. Under Hague, parliamentary dissent on European issues was virtually absent; see P. Cowley and M. Stuart, 'The Conservative Parliamentary Party' in M. Garnett and P. Lynch (eds), The Conservatives in Crisis, Manchester University Press, 2003. Nothing much seems to have changed on that score under lain Duncan Smith or Michael Howard.
3. Timothy Heppel, 'The Ideological Composition of the Parliamentary Conservative Party 1992-7', The Conservatives in Crisis ibid.
4. See also P. Cowley, 'British Parliamentarians and European Integration', Party Politics, October 2000.
5. See the poll archive at http://www.yougov.com.
6. A. Forster, Euroscepticism in Contemporary British Politics, London, 2002.
7. D. Baker, A. Gamble and D. Seawright, 'Sovereign Nations and Global Markets: Modern British Conservatism and Hyperglobalism', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, October 2002.
8. See P. Kopecký and C. Mudde, 'The Two Sides of Euroscepticism: Party Positions on European Integration in East Central Europe', European Union Politics, September 2002.
9. See, A. Szczerbiak and P. Taggart, 'Theorising Party-Based Euroscepticism: Problems of Definition, Measurement and Causality", SEI Working Paper No. 69, Sussex University, 2004.
10. For more detail on the attenuated role played by Europe - and on the parties' positions on the issue -see T. Bale, 'Britain and Europe: Less of the Poison?' in M. Rush and P. Giddings, The Palgrave Review of British Politics, 2005, Palgrave, 2006.
11. It is of course possible to argue that engaging on bread-andbutter issues would simply have played into Labour's hands, since that was where it had commanding leads: see P. Cowley and J. Green, 'New Leaders, Same Problems. The Conservatives' in A. Geddes and J. Tonge (eds), Britain Decides: The UK General Election of 2005, Palgrave, 2005.
12. See the polls conducted by Populus published in The Times, 5-7.4.05 and 2.5.05, available in the company's archive of polls at http://www. populuslimited.com.
13. See the poll conducted by Populus published in The Times, 2.5.05 (and see http://www.populuslimited. com)
14. and see http://www.mori.com/polls/trends/bpoki-europe.shtml.
15. M. Ashcroft, Smell the Coffee: A Wake-up Call for the Conservative Party, Michael Ashcroft, 2005: The margin was 12%, compared to, say, 78% on improving the NHS or 38% on cutting taxes.
16. See http://www.brugesgroup.com/mediacentre/interviews.live?articles=137.
17. Johann Hari, Independent, 15.4.05.
18. Despite his best (and sometimes amusing) efforts, or perhaps because of a happy knack of appearing all things to all men, David Cameron has a history of not being seen as overly sceptic: this was true when he was a prospective MP (see www.candidlist.demon.co.uk/thelist/camerond.htm)
19. and during the leadership contest, where polls taken by YouGov of both voters and members in October 2005, showed Cameron was seen as significantly less Eurosceptic than his rivals. See http://www.yougov.com.
20. Shadow Minister Oliver Letwin revealed his plans in late June 2005-and received virtually no attention in the newspapers for his pains.
21. Blair defined 'practical scepticism' as 'a genuine, intellectual and political concern about Europe as practised; not about Europe as an ideal or a vision or even a set of values. This is not xenophobia, nor devotion to undiluted national sovereignty, but a worry about Europe's economy being uncompetitive; its institutions too remote; its decision-making too influenced by the lowest common denominator.' For full text of his speech (made 2.2.06), see http://www.pm.gov.uk.
22. See http://www.ukip.org/abc_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=1378.
23. MP Bernard Jenkin's contribution to the 'think-in' occasioned by the protracted leadership contest, for example, was a speech (19.7.05) that, among other things, argued for fundamental renegotiation.
24. See P. Norris and J. Lovenduski, 'Why Parties Fail to Learn: Electoral Defeat, Selective Perception and British Party Polities', Party Politics, January 2004.
25. See T. Bale, Party Politics op. cit.
26. Anyone under the illusion that the millions made by Mr Hague on the rubber chicken (and book signing) circuit may have mellowed his scepticism need only turn to his first press call following his appointment: see 'Comeback kid turns his guns on Europe', Sun, 9.12.05.
27. According to Mr Cameron (Sunday Express, 4.12.06) 'Politically, we're a long way apart. He wants to put up taxes, I want to cut them. He wants to give powers to Europe, 1 want to take them back...What more do we need?' For the Express group, the answer is probably very little: one of its staffers, at the end of an article entitled 'Move over Ken [Clarke], your day in the sun is past' (Express, 15/12/06) suggested to readers (in all seriousness, mind) 'it's time to stop comparing David Cameron to Tony Blair. The person he is really beginning to resemble is Princess Diana.'
28. D. Cameron, 'CDU faces same tax and EU fight as Conservatives', Telegraph, 15.9.05.
29. In fairness, those domestic politicians who have entered the public debate to pooh-pooh the decision to split are, indeed, the usual suspects - the Europhiles' own H-bloc (Hurd, Howe and Hestletine) and the beast himself, Ken Clarke.
30. See, for example, 'Tories seek allies from wilder EU fringe', Financial Times, 1.2.06.
31. Cameron declined an invitation to attend the centre-right leaders' pre summit meeting in early December. For the impact of Europeanisation on political panics in general, see T. Poguntke, N. Aylott, R. Ladrech and K.R. Luther (eds), The Europeanization of National Political Parties, Routledge, forthcoming.