Are the Tories the party of the working-class?

Prime Minister Theresa May eating a cone of chips

Identity over policy. Where you come from over what you believe. Your image over your ideas. These are battles all parties must face – and the Tories are no different. They’ve claimed again and again they are the real party of the working-class but spoken from the voices of privately educated aristocrats this claim fell flat with most. But Scotland is different: they have Ruth Davidson. She’s the young, working-class woman leading the Scottish Tories. Something never seen in England. So, maybe when she says the Tories are the party of the working-class, people will believe her. That’s the hope anyway.

In 2017 The Telegraph ran the headline: “Ruth Davidson: A gay, working class, bull riding, outspoken Scot...and the Tories' secret weapon”. She certainly is popular. But does this mean the Tories are the party of the working-class? Annie Wells thinks so. Like Davidson, Wells is from a working-class background, working in M&S before becoming a Tory MSP for Glasgow.

“I think when you look at Ruth Davidson and the sort of background she came from and just the sort of way Ruth is; she's from a working-class background. I think when I look at the UK Tories I see guys with grey hair and pinstriped suits. You don't see people like me or Thomas [Kerr] or Ruth really prominent in the party down there.

“And we've seen before in the press it's the Eton Boys and The Bullingdon Club. We are different. We have a very broad range of MSPs up here. We've got a sir, we’ve got a laird, we've got me. So, it is very different.”

But what about Tory policies? Do they benefit the working-class? Wells thinks so.

“Being a Tory in Glasgow, at first, I was a bit like ‘I can't really say anything to anybody; I don't really want to say anything.’ But when you actually look at what the Scottish Conservative values are, it is for people like me and my parents and my son who go out to work, earn a living and want to keep most of their money and they want to know that any opportunity they want to take is there for them.”

Polls show Ruth Davidson to be the most popular leader in Scotland, with well over 40% of Scots saying she’s doing her jobs well. And plenty of Scots have found a home in a party that’s pro-union. But in terms of tax policy, the so-called “rape clause” and devolved powers from the EU going back to London, the Tories have some deeply unpopular policies.

Policies such as lowering taxes on wealthier individuals and making a woman on her 3^rd child prove it wasn’t the product of rape can be a hard sell to working-class families.

“The Conservative Party north and south of the border is predominantly a middle-class party and people from a more working-class background are going to be relatively exceptional. The only person from a working-class background in the last Conservative cabinet was Patrick [McLoughlin], the English Tory chairman.

“One of the things that are true is that of a consequence of Brexit, on both sides of the border, the Conservative Party, because it’s appealing to Leave voters, and Leave voters are disproportionately older -well that’s fine the Conservative Party have no problem getting older voters- but also voters with less education and qualifications and are therefore more likely to be working-class voters. The Conservative vote on both sides of the border is now more working class than it was 2-3 years ago. In a sense, someone like Annie Wells will sort of symbolize that to some degree,” said John Curtice, Britain’s leading election expert.

“On both sides”. This is key because as John Curtice pointed out working-class cabinet members are very rare, and the Tories in England gained working-class votes. So, why the sudden outburst of working-class Tory politicians in Scotland? The truth is there hasn’t been an outburst, at least not anything substantial.

The Tories have Ruth Davidson and Annie Wells, but take a look at the rest of their MPs and MSPs then you start to see the same old picture you’ve always seen. 79% of Tory MSPs are men and dig in further you’ll be hard-pressed to find one who’s working-class.

Being a working-class party means more than simply having working-class Tories in the limelight though, it means actual policies that the working-class support, that would help the working-class. A recent study found that most Scots approve of Labour leader Richard Leonard’s policy goals which casts into doubt whether (aside from independence) the Tories have many popular policies at all.

With this in mind, it’s clear to see that the Scottish Tories are as working-class as the UK ones. And whether they are for the working-class depends on how you define it. If you’re not a Tory you’re likely to say no, if you are a Tory then it’s most likely a yes.

For most working-class people who vote Tory, the Leave vote and unionism overrides other policy goals. This explains why both sides of the border saw increased support, not because of more working-class policies or politicians. But the Tories are still plagued by Margaret Thatcher’s legacy, a plethora of Eton-educated politicians and leaders and policies that many working-class people thoroughly oppose.