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Hearts and Minds: The Battle for the Conservative Party from Thatcher to the Present
An important new book by one of Britain's great liberal thinkers, Hearts and Minds is part memoir, part political history and part history of ideas.
In it, former Cabinet minister Oliver Letwin explains how the central ideas and policies of the modern Conservative party came into being, how they have played out over the period from Mrs Thatcher to Mrs May, and what needs to happen next in order to make the country a better place to live.
Far from being a sugar-coated version of events, Letwin tells a story that he hopes will persuade readers that politicians are capable of recognising their mistakes and learning from them – and will show that social and economic liberalism, if correctly conceived, are capable of addressing the issues that confront us today.
The book also describes Letwin’s own journey from a remarkable childhood with American academic parents, via Margaret Thatcher’s policy unit, into the very centre of first the Conservative—Liberal Democrat coalition, and then the Cameron government, where, as Minister for Government Policy and then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, every piece of government policy crossed his desk.
It includes Letwin’s personal reflections on two devastating electoral events: the EU referendum and the general election of June 2017.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
356 pages, Hardcover
Published October 2, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 22, 2021
Took me quite a few months of dipping in and out to read this book. It's quite a dry read; part memoir (Letwin is a former Conservative MP and minister), and part history of the Conservative party from the shift towards Monetarism/Thatcherism to the 2017 election, with reflections on what went well and wrong.
On the whole, Letwin comes across well; the book is clearly aimed at politics nerds, not the general public, and feels refreshingly honest, like a politician talking to another politician in private, without fear of losing reputation by saying the wrong thing. By the time of writing, Letwin had been sacked from the Cabinet by Theresa May, and so was no longer in the centre of government, but he had not yet rebelled against the government during the Brexit votes (which eventually led to him being expelled from the party).
The experience of reading this book was often frustrating, because while Letwin gave the impression of being a well-meaning and compassionate guy, he has been shaped by the frankly shocking amount of privilege he grew up with and has been surrounded with for his entire life.
When discussing 'The Intellectual Origins of Thatcherism', he remarks that the story is also his own intellectual origins, because his parents were well-connected rightwing economists with many influential friends in politics. His parents were friends with Milton Friedman; he shares an anecdote of the future Nobel laureate teaching him some free market economics when he was a child. This is all described very casually, as though having such wealthy and well-connected parents is standard; indeed, I gets the impression that for most of his social circle throughout his life, it probably is the norm.
Letwin describes how he got his first job in politics. Keith Joseph, then Education Secretary, was a friend of his parents. Joseph was round for dinner, and Letwin had recently finished university, and Joseph offered him a job at the Department for Education.
Inspirational.
Later, he transfers to the Policy Unit, and casually remarks that his new boss was another friend of his parents. This does not warrant reflection on his own lucky circumstances, or on the insular culture of Westminster politics.
He does, however, reflect on why free market policies have made many people's lives worse. Thatcherite ideas were thought up by a bunch of rich people whose blissful ignorance of what living in poverty was like meant that the actual lived reality of poor people was excluded from their economic modelling, which largely assumed that 'economic freedom' ('Free to Choose' is the title of a Friedman book) applied to everyone equally, conveniently ignoring how much poverty limits people's freedom and choices. Such economic beliefs, which assume equal freedom between individuals, therefore lead to the false narrative that poverty is due to individual choice and personal failings.
'The attachments of the party to free market theory had unnecessarily become a reason for placing far too little emphasis on social justice, and that this in turn gave the party the appearance of callousness.'
Later chapters of the book - which deal with Letwin's experience in government after 2010, are rather more tedious, with descriptions of a lot of bureaucracy, meetings, discussions, phone calls, showing how extremely tedious a lot of political work is.
While reflecting on the Coalition, Letwin remarks that he found himself having far more in common with the Lib Dems than those further right in the Conservative Party, highlighting that the two major parties are already coalitions of different groups - hence the ongoing Labour civil war, and how different Letwin feels compared to today's Conservative party (which Letwin was kicked out of), dominated as it now is by a different faction.
Overall, I found this an informative look at politics 'behind the scenes' from the refreshing (to me) perspective of a reflective Tory who means well but who has been shaped by, and whose worldview has therefore been limited by, a life of wealth and privilege.
On the whole, Letwin comes across well; the book is clearly aimed at politics nerds, not the general public, and feels refreshingly honest, like a politician talking to another politician in private, without fear of losing reputation by saying the wrong thing. By the time of writing, Letwin had been sacked from the Cabinet by Theresa May, and so was no longer in the centre of government, but he had not yet rebelled against the government during the Brexit votes (which eventually led to him being expelled from the party).
The experience of reading this book was often frustrating, because while Letwin gave the impression of being a well-meaning and compassionate guy, he has been shaped by the frankly shocking amount of privilege he grew up with and has been surrounded with for his entire life.
When discussing 'The Intellectual Origins of Thatcherism', he remarks that the story is also his own intellectual origins, because his parents were well-connected rightwing economists with many influential friends in politics. His parents were friends with Milton Friedman; he shares an anecdote of the future Nobel laureate teaching him some free market economics when he was a child. This is all described very casually, as though having such wealthy and well-connected parents is standard; indeed, I gets the impression that for most of his social circle throughout his life, it probably is the norm.
Letwin describes how he got his first job in politics. Keith Joseph, then Education Secretary, was a friend of his parents. Joseph was round for dinner, and Letwin had recently finished university, and Joseph offered him a job at the Department for Education.
Inspirational.
Later, he transfers to the Policy Unit, and casually remarks that his new boss was another friend of his parents. This does not warrant reflection on his own lucky circumstances, or on the insular culture of Westminster politics.
He does, however, reflect on why free market policies have made many people's lives worse. Thatcherite ideas were thought up by a bunch of rich people whose blissful ignorance of what living in poverty was like meant that the actual lived reality of poor people was excluded from their economic modelling, which largely assumed that 'economic freedom' ('Free to Choose' is the title of a Friedman book) applied to everyone equally, conveniently ignoring how much poverty limits people's freedom and choices. Such economic beliefs, which assume equal freedom between individuals, therefore lead to the false narrative that poverty is due to individual choice and personal failings.
'The attachments of the party to free market theory had unnecessarily become a reason for placing far too little emphasis on social justice, and that this in turn gave the party the appearance of callousness.'
Later chapters of the book - which deal with Letwin's experience in government after 2010, are rather more tedious, with descriptions of a lot of bureaucracy, meetings, discussions, phone calls, showing how extremely tedious a lot of political work is.
While reflecting on the Coalition, Letwin remarks that he found himself having far more in common with the Lib Dems than those further right in the Conservative Party, highlighting that the two major parties are already coalitions of different groups - hence the ongoing Labour civil war, and how different Letwin feels compared to today's Conservative party (which Letwin was kicked out of), dominated as it now is by a different faction.
Overall, I found this an informative look at politics 'behind the scenes' from the refreshing (to me) perspective of a reflective Tory who means well but who has been shaped by, and whose worldview has therefore been limited by, a life of wealth and privilege.
February 13, 2022
After the knock about of Alan Duncan's memoir it was a relief to read a serious tome about the Conservative Party and it's approach to governing my country. Letwin performed a number of policy and delivery coordination roles for David Cameron in Government. and before that Iain Duncan Smith, William Hague and Michael Howard in opposition. It is civilised, thoughtful, optimistic and entertaining - a cracking example of a popular but serious political biography. I have long regarded the period of the Conservative-Liberal coalition of 2010-2015 as the time during which we were governed best in the past thirty years, and Letwin was at the heart of that, working closely with equally sensible Liberal Democrat Ministers and officials. His belief in the importance of welfare policies to actually help people out of poverty is spot on, as is his strong conviction that those can only be afforded within a liberal economic framework driving growth. He ends the book with an analysis of the rise of populism (Trump, UKIP etc) and some despair over the result of the 2015 referendum which saw Cameron resign, and ushered in the tragic period of BREXIT, May and latterly Johnson. However he is optimistic, noting that we are still suffering the consequences of public anger with the implications of the 2008 crash, and a strong belief that the pendulum will swing back once growth and prosperity returns. I desperately hope so.
April 6, 2021
A fascinating read...
Full of insight about the development of political thought in the Conservative Party over the past half century. Unlike many politicians, Oliver Letwin acknowledges mistakes made and rarely takes the credit he deserves for much of what was achieved during the six years he was in government from 2010. This is a fair minded, well written and stimulating account of Conservative politics by an author whose decency and dedication to making the world a better place shines through every page.
Full of insight about the development of political thought in the Conservative Party over the past half century. Unlike many politicians, Oliver Letwin acknowledges mistakes made and rarely takes the credit he deserves for much of what was achieved during the six years he was in government from 2010. This is a fair minded, well written and stimulating account of Conservative politics by an author whose decency and dedication to making the world a better place shines through every page.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews