Cicero Policy Briefer

Issue 13, June 2007

Lessons in Re-education: Cameron’s Conservatives and grammar schools

By James Allen

As the sun sets on the Blair era and Gordon Brown packs his boxes ready to move into No 10, the Conservative Party is stepping up its efforts to present itself as the natural ‘heir’ to Blairism—particularly in the field of public services.

The Tories have already provoked the ire of many in their grassroots by signalling their approval for City Academies at the expense of building new grammar schools. This policy announcement is not new: the Tories’ commitment to grammar schools has been ambivalent at best for the last decade. However, the furious backlash from many in the Conservative Party has come from more explicit support for traditional Labour policies and the provocative language of the announcements—David Cameron has referred to some supporters of grammar schools as engaging in “ideological self-indulgence” and being “delusional”. Grammar schools may be more a symbolic, emotive issue than a substantive policy matter for many, but they are important to the Tory grassroots—just as Clause 4 was to Labour activists and Trade Unionists in the mid 1990s. Cameron’s language towards his party echoes Blair’s approach towards the Labour Party in the early days of his leadership. Cameron further risks opening himself up to the accusation that, as an old Etonian, he does not understand the social mobility that grammar schools allegedly offer for the aspirational working classes.

The motivation for this risky strategy is threefold. Firstly, the Conservative Party needs to demonstrate to an electorate which may be fed up with Labour, but which is still not turning to the Tories in droves, that the party really has changed and moved beyond the days of cutting taxation at the expense of public service investment. Secondly, the Conservatives are attempting to expose perceived divisions between Blair and Brown on the pace and direction of public service reform, so as to paint Brown as being substantially to the left of others in New Labour. The third motivation lies in Cameron seeking his ‘Clause 4’ moment—which is linked to a desire to demonstrate how the party has changed by picking a fight with his own membership. While attempting to paint the Government as divided and showing a changed party to the public will be essential for the Conservative Party if they are serious about winning the next election, though, it may be that Cameron has underestimated the backlash from within.

James Allen can be contacted on +44 (0)20 7665 9530 or click here to email.

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