Rights statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: onsterdine, E. (2022), Walking the Tightrope: Private and Public Interests in Conservative Immigration Policy. The Political Quarterly, 93: 288-296. doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.13111 which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.13111 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Accepted author manuscript, 323 KB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Walking the Tightrope
T2 - Private and Public Interests in Conservative Immigration Policy
AU - Consterdine, Erica
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: onsterdine, E. (2022), Walking the Tightrope: Private and Public Interests in Conservative Immigration Policy. The Political Quarterly, 93: 288-296. doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.13111 which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.13111 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
PY - 2022/6/30
Y1 - 2022/6/30
N2 - The Conservatives have long been ideologically split on immigration between the business right and identity right of the Party. Appealing to the social right of its voter base, since 2010 immigration policy has been doggedly restrictive. Yet lobbying channelled through bureaucratic politics has led to subtle, but important, concessions to appease business interests. The Conservative administrations have legitimised these concessions by making distinctions between “good” and “bad” migrants. In the 2010s lobbying strategies, while shifting according to the political climate, predominantly consisted of insider lobbying. Yet with significant labour market shortages induced by the new immigration system and heightened by the pandemic, employers are ‘going public’ with their opposition, placing significant pressure on the Conservatives to perform a policy reversal. Meanwhile public opinion on immigration has softened and the saliency dwindled. Politicising immigration may not be an electoral winner anymore; business interests may override the identity wing of the Party.
AB - The Conservatives have long been ideologically split on immigration between the business right and identity right of the Party. Appealing to the social right of its voter base, since 2010 immigration policy has been doggedly restrictive. Yet lobbying channelled through bureaucratic politics has led to subtle, but important, concessions to appease business interests. The Conservative administrations have legitimised these concessions by making distinctions between “good” and “bad” migrants. In the 2010s lobbying strategies, while shifting according to the political climate, predominantly consisted of insider lobbying. Yet with significant labour market shortages induced by the new immigration system and heightened by the pandemic, employers are ‘going public’ with their opposition, placing significant pressure on the Conservatives to perform a policy reversal. Meanwhile public opinion on immigration has softened and the saliency dwindled. Politicising immigration may not be an electoral winner anymore; business interests may override the identity wing of the Party.
KW - Conservative Party
KW - immigration
KW - Brexit
KW - lobbying
KW - organised interests
U2 - 10.1111/1467-923x.13111
DO - 10.1111/1467-923x.13111
M3 - Journal article
VL - 93
SP - 288
EP - 296
JO - The Political Quarterly
JF - The Political Quarterly
SN - 0032-3179
IS - 2
ER -