June 15, 1977

British Workers Favor Woman Prime Minister

The most astonishing event in Great Britain during my recent tour there was a massive swing of voters from labor-socialist policies in a "by election" dominated by Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party and certain now to become the first woman prime minister.

Only a shaky coalition between the Labor and Liberal parties keeps a widely discredited James Callaghan in office.  Observers predict he will be toppled by a "no confidence" vote within months, thus triggering a general election.

Exactly ten years ago, when I last visited Great Britain, an overwhelming majority of people were enthusiastic about the cornucopia of social benefits showering on them by triumphant Laborites.

Major industries were taken over by the government, health services were free, welfare was greatly expanded, unions were handed blank checks and the ports thrown open to immigrants who rushed in to share the goodies.  In a few years, these spendthrift tactics created a 23 percent inflation and have come close to bankrupting the nation.

I recall vividly the rationalization of one English acquaintance for voting Labor: she had been given a sack of oranges after a pre-natal checkup in the free neighborhood clinic.

Now, a decade later, a typical comment is, "We've gone too far!"

The British translated this disenchantment with two-to-one approval of the conservative principles of Mrs. Thatcher in the big Midlands industrial cities, formerly Labor Party strong holds.

The stunning comeback of the Conservative Party once counted out forever - a feat American Republicans undoubtedly will study closely - is best explained by Mrs. Thatcher herself.

"Our belief, based on campaign reactions and on careful survey work, that there is a fundamental shift of political allegiance in industrial and mining areas, has since been strikingly confirmed by county election gains with unusually high polls.

"We won enough seats from Labour in Durham, Derbyshire, Manchester, Merseyside and the West Midlands to make it clear that the monolithic structure of the Labour heartlands is breaking up.

"Certainly a part of the swing represents a mid-term protest against the falling living standards caused by Labour's follies and failures.  But we are satisfied that a substantial number of traditional Labour voters have finally come to the conclusion that if Labour governments produce economic crises and heavy unemployment, Labour rule cannot be good for the average working man and his family.

"Nor is this conviction based solely on calculations of material advantage.  Since the derided 'middle class' values amounted simply to a conviction that skill and hard work should earn an adequate reward; that the rule of law, public order and self discipline are essential to a civilized society; that educational standards are important; that concern for the unfortunate should not be institutionalized in such a way as to destroy all individual responsibility - then it was always remarkably insulting to assert that these were not convictions instinctively held by a majority of working people.

"And so it has proved.  Few people really believe that a country - any more than an individual - can go on indefinitely living on borrowed money; or that a community can long continue to pay itself for producing less.  Commonsense is very far from being a middle-class monopoly.

"One essential message has been getting home to ordinary people: that not only jobs but all the social services, from health to pensions, have to be paid for by the creation of wealth - and that wealth is not created by the state.

"As living standards steadily fall, faith in the State as the preserver of jobs and the fount of largesse has also declined."

These are ringing sentiments; and, undoubtedly, the principles expressed were significant in the vote.

From my own observations of the attitude of the labor unionists I met I suspect something a little more personal also is involved.

Great Britain is nearing the end of its second year of government wage controls - Phase 2 as it is known.  During this period the Labor government has held pretty much to a 5 percent maximum increase for all unions.  This, and a $3 billion loan from the World Bank, has measurably slowed the rate of inflation.

Under Phase 2, public employees and the small private industry workers have fared relatively better than giant unions controlling critical goods and services.

Members of the big unions have discovered they are rapidly sliding down into a lower, country-wide average wage.  Union leaders are faced with the dilemma of whether they represent the special interest of their members or the "collectivist" interest of the state.

Len Murray, leader of the coal miners, views his role in the tradition of trade unionism: "We will see that the miners are a special case!"

Phase 3, and socialist Paradise, have lost their enchantment.

Having tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, British workers are packing up to move east of Eden, and a woman is the cause of it all.

Author: Lindsey Williams