Conservative Revolution

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The Centre for Policy Studies, one of the oldest and most influential think tanks in Westminster, is publishing a new book to mark its 50th anniversary, charting the development of Thatcherism and exploring what might be needed to revive Conservatism in the same way today.

Conservative Revolution, edited by Karl Williams and Robert Colvile, includes an extended interview with Charles Moore, Thatcher’s authorised biographer, about the role the Centre for Policy Studies played in developing her thinking. Sir Graham Brady reflects on the CPS as the home of Thatcherism as a ‘seamless garment’ – thinking which linked economic freedom with personal liberty. The Centre for Policy Studies, he argues, is ‘needed now just as much as it was in 1974. The challenge is the same.’

In later chapters:

• Niall Ferguson reflects on the 1970s, the era which formed Thatcherism and the Centre for Policy Studies, and asks if we are facing the same challenges today
• Dominic Sandbrook explores what Thatcherism actually was, and where we came from
• Paul Goodman writes about the need to reinvent and adapt Conservatism and conservative thinking for each generation
• Rachel Wolf argues that the most important task for a renewed Conservatism will be making the state work
• Anthony Seldon, Maurice Saatchi and David Willetts offer their personal reflections and provocations
• Alys Denby reflects on the importance of communication, from Keith Joseph’s university tours to the founding of CapX
• Tim Knox looks at his period at the CPS’ helm and the often ‘long and tortuous’ path from idea to implementation
• Charlotte Howell focuses on Sir Alfred Sherman, asking why his role in shaping Thatcherism is so often over-looked
• Ryan Bourne questions whether Thatcher’s economic reforms were an interlude between periods of swollen-state stagnation

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CPS - Tuesday, 4th June, 2024