{"id":16893,"date":"2025-04-19T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/?p=16893"},"modified":"2025-06-09T12:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T11:08:41","slug":"disraeli-one-nation-conservatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2025\/04\/19\/disraeli-one-nation-conservatism\/","title":{"rendered":"Disraeli and One Nation Conservatism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article our former colleague Dr Henry Miller explores the origins of the phrase ‘One Nation’, which is famously associated with the 19th<\/sup> century Conservative leader and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli<\/a> (1803-81). He also explains its relevance to Disraeli\u2019s career and its political legacy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u2018One Nation\u2019 comes from Disraeli\u2019s 1845 novel Sybil; or the two nations<\/em>. After the young aristocrat Charles Egremont complacently observes that Britain is the \u2018greatest nation that ever existed\u2019, Walter Gerard, a working-class radical, tells him that there are in fact<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018 \u201cTwo nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other\u2019s habits, thoughts and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou speak of \u2013\u201c said Egremont, hesitatingly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe RICH and the POOR.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Front<\/a>
Sybil; or, the Two Nations; Benjamin Disraeli (1845)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Disraeli never actually used the phrase \u2018One Nation\u2019, but it was certainly implied. His belief was that political leadership should aim to overcome the social divisions between classes to make the country \u2018One Nation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disraeli was one of a number of novelists and social critics to address the \u2018condition of England\u2019 question, the poverty and squalid living conditions of the urban working classes, in the 1840s. A Conservative backbencher at this time, Disraeli used his novels to sketch out a social critique of laissez-faire<\/em> philosophy. The selfish individualism propagated by Liberal manufacturers and Whig aristocrats influenced by Utilitarianism denied the organic, social ties that existed between people, classes and communities. Disraeli was a paternalist who stressed the social obligations of the nobility to the poor. In his view, social measures to improve the lot of the poor would be the best way of safeguarding traditional institutions such as the Church, the monarchy and the House of Lords. \u2018The palace is not safe when the cottage is not happy\u2019, he once wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his \u2018Young England\u2019 group of young aristocratic followers, Disraeli looked towards an alliance between a paternalistic nobility and the working classes against the selfish Liberal middle classes in the 1840s. As a political project this was a non-starter, but it was not without some successes. For example, the votes of paternalist Tory MPs, including Disraeli, were crucial in passing the 10 hour day for factory workers in 1847. The measure was popular with workers, but many Liberal MPs had opposed the measure as unjustifiable state interference.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/a>
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield; Sir John Everett Millais (1881); \u00a9 National Portrait Gallery, London<\/a>, CC BY-NC-ND<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite the success of his novels, Disraeli only came to political prominence in 1846 when the Conservative prime minister Sir Robert Peel<\/a> split his party by repealing the corn laws. Disraeli made his name with a series of witty attacks on Peel for betraying his party. By 1849 Disraeli was the undisputed leader of the Conservative party in the Commons, although Lord Derby remained in overall charge. Disraeli served as chancellor of the exchequer in Conservative minority governments in 1852, 1858-9, and 1866-8 and was prime minister in 1868 and 1874-80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How far the ideas of Disraeli\u2019s novels informed his political career continues to be debated. Disraeli was in government for a relatively short period due to the dominance of the Liberal party. However, in the 1870s his government passed a number of measures relating to working-class housing, sanitary improvements, education and other social issues. Whether Disraeli could claim much credit for them is debatable, as he was never a man for detailed policy making and most of the measures were due to the efforts of individual ministers. Furthermore, most of these social reforms were low-key, limited and permissive rather than compulsory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the social reforms of the 1870s were of considerable political importance. As a mass electorate was developing, these social reforms and the 10 hour day allowed Conservatives to highlight their record of supporting social measures to improve the lot of the working classes. After his death in 1881, the party developed a Disraeli personality cult.  Local branches of the Primrose League (named after his favourite flower) were established to attract the working classes, including women, with particular emphasis placed on Disraeli\u2019s support for social reform and empire. The Disraelian legacy has been invoked by Stanley Baldwin<\/a>, Conservative prime minister in the 1920s and 1930s, by the One Nation group of Conservative MPs founded in 1950, and by political leaders of both parties since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

R. Blake, Disraeli<\/em> (1966)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J. Parry, \u2018Disraeli, Benjamin\u2019, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography<\/em>, accessible from www.oxforddnb.com<\/a> (available free through many libraries)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. Pugh, The Tories and the people, 1880-1935<\/em> (1985) (on the Primrose League)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P. Smith, Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform<\/em> (1967)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J. Vincent, \u2018Was Disraeli a failure?\u2019, History Today<\/em>, 13 (1981), 5-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R. Walsha, \u2018The One Nation Group and One Nation Conservatism, 1950-2002\u2019, Contemporary British History<\/em>, 17 (2003), 69-120<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Lexden, ‘The centenary of One-Nation Conservatism’<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an updated version of an article originally published on the Victorian Commons website<\/a> on 5 October 2012, written by Dr Henry Miller.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article our former colleague Dr Henry Miller explores the origins of the phrase ‘One Nation’, which is famously associated with the 19th century Conservative leader and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli (1803-81). He also explains its relevance to Disraeli\u2019s career and its political legacy. The term \u2018One Nation\u2019 comes from Disraeli\u2019s 1845 novel Sybil; or the two nations. After the young aristocrat Charles Egremont … Continue reading Disraeli and One Nation Conservatism<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244848225,"featured_media":16896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[124494893,4706867,774275566,375808,774275561],"tags":[48538,34794],"class_list":["post-16893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-victorian-commons","category-19th-century-history","category-benjamin-disraeli","category-social-history","category-victorian","tag-conservative-party","tag-reform"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Benjamin-Disraeli-Earl-of-Beaconsfield.jpg?fit=575%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QYNW-4ot","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2330,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/05\/10\/the-1868-boundary-act\/","url_meta":{"origin":16893,"position":0},"title":"The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?","author":"Martin Spychal","date":"May 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Boundary Act. 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