Tory socialism

Tory socialism was a term used by historians, particularly of the early Fabian Society, to describe the governing philosophy of the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. The term is also used by many free market advocates to describe certain strains of conservatism that are more reformist-minded and believe in a more activist government.

For instance, the domestic policies of Richard Nixon were also called by many libertarians to be "Tory socialist",[1][2] which they believed had much in common with the philosophy of "big government conservatism" espoused by many neo-conservatives. It was in keeping with this that David Gelernter wrote a long essay in The Weekly Standard extolling Disraeli as the founder of modern conservatism.[3] The phrase has also been used by Vernon Bogdanor to describe the thinking of Ferdinand Mount[4] and was used by Arnold Toynbee to describe the beliefs of Joseph Rayner Stephens and Richard Oastler.[5] The phrase was also used to describe both Stanley Baldwin and Harold Macmillan in the 1930s and by Tony Judge in his biographical study of Robert Blatchford.[6] and in a wider study of Tory Socialism between 1870-1940 [7]

See also

• One-nation conservatism
• Paternalistic conservatism
• Red Tory
• Tory corporatism
• Yellow socialism

References

1. Rothbard, Murray. "Bill & Irving & Ken & Patrick". LewRockwell.com.
2. Rothbard, Murray. "Nixonian Socialism". Mises Institute.
3. Gelernter, David (7 February 2005). "The Inventor of Modern Conservatism". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
4. Bogdanor, Vernon (28 September 2004). "Less equal than others". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
5. Tyler, Colin (October 2012). "D. G. Ritchie on socialism, history and Locke". Journal of Political Ideologies. 17 (3): 262. doi:10.1080/13569317.2012.716615.
6. Judge, Tony (2013). Tory Socialist: Robert Blatchford and 'Merrie England.
7. Judge, Tony (2019), Tory Socialism in English Culture Politics and Society 1870-1940