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Immigration Policy
and Right-Wing Populism
in Western Europe
Anna McKeever
Immigration Policy and Right-Wing
Populism in Western Europe
Anna McKeever
Immigration Policy
and Right-Wing
Populism in Western
Europe
Anna McKeever
School of Education and Social Sciences
University of the West of Scotland
Glasgow, UK
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
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For Dave
Acknowledgements
This book has benefited from the guidance and support of many people.
It has its origins as a doctoral dissertation in political science in Ulster
University, and I would like to thank my supervisors Cathy Gormley-
Heenan and Markus Ketola for their invaluable academic advice and
encouragement during the process. A special thanks to my external exam-
iner Simon Usherwood for his insights into the British chapter. I would
also like to thank Arthur Aughey for his efforts to liaise me with
Conservative politicians. At Palgrave, I express my gratitude to my editors
Ambra Finotello and Anne-Kathrin Birchley-Brun for being patient with
me throughout this lengthy process and to anonymous reviewers for their
perceptive comments.
I am deeply grateful for the expertise and support provided by Lea
Sgier. I also owe gratitude to Emily-St Denny and Emile Chabal for
their insightful comments on the French case and to Charlotte
Orgebin-Salmon from Regional Council of Ile-de-France for doing her
best to liaise me with French politicians.
The research for this book was supported by the Vice-Chancellor’s
Scholarship and by the University Association of Contemporary European
Studies (UACES) that funded my fieldwork in Switzerland, for which I am
grateful. Thanks to the librarians from Ulster University, William, Jennie
and David, whom I countlessly tortured with document delivery requests.
I owe special gratitude to my interviewees who made this research possi-
ble. To name a few: Vince Cable, David Metcalf, Luzi Stamn, Thomas
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Aeschi, Ulrich Schluer, Hanz Fehr and many others who agreed to pro-
vide the insights into the black box of immigration policymaking.
Last, but not least, I offer my gratitude to my family, to David McKeever,
who is my best friend and my toughest critic, being a political scientist too.
He has read many drafts of this book and the dissertation that came before
it. This book is dedicated to him. I am grateful to Kononenko family for
always supporting my career path and investing in my education and to
McKeever family for their encouragement.
Contents
1 Introduction 1
7 Conclusion153
Index165
ix
Abbreviations
xi
List of Figures
xiii
List of Tables
xv
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
It is about time, however, that we turned the telescope around and, trained
it, too, on the parties that have a more direct impact on public policy at and
beyond the level of the state. In this respect, parties of the centre-right […]
have enjoyed nowhere near the scholarly attention of their more radical
counterparts, are an obvious point of departure.
Case Selection
Undoubtedly, anti-immigration rhetoric and policies are becoming more
pronounced in other countries, including Germany, Italy, Hungary and
Poland, but this change is only relatively recent. Brexit in the UK, the
Initiative Against Mass Migration in Switzerland and support for Marine
Le Pen in 2017 French presidential election point to the increased anti-
immigration attitudes both within the political establishment and general
public. All these events are the outcomes of the growing concerns over
immigration, which conservative parties in these countries identified as a
crucial issue much earlier, and these events represent a culmination of the
concerns that parties have had on immigration for a while.
In order to answer the central question of this book—What explains the
introduction of more restrictive immigration policies?—most different
systems design (MDSD) (Przeworski and Teune 1970; Rihoux and Ragin
2009; Anckar 2008) was chosen as a case selection strategy. The goal is to
discover relevant exogenous factors (Anckar 2008: 392) that explain posi-
tion change of the conservative parties on immigration. In general, three
countries do not vary on the outcome (Landman 2003: 29–34; Sartori
1991: 250) and exemplify the introduction of more restrictive immigra-
tion policies, which have undergone considerable tightening between
2002 and 2015. The cancellation of the post-study work visa for interna-
tional students in the UK and France, the introduction of financial require-
ment for spouse visa in the UK, banning the construction of minarets in
Switzerland and introducing automatic expelling for non-Swiss offenders
are just some examples how immigration policies have changed. Three
cases have a similar outcome but differ on a number of characteristics,
which might be able to partly explain the differences in conservative par-
ties’ approaches to immigration.
The UK, Switzerland and France vary with regard to two important
characteristics: country’s relationship with the EU and country’s citizen-
ship regime. The question of country’s relationship with the EU in the
context of Brexit and the Conservative Party’s role in it is not new. The
UK’s membership in the European Economic Community (EEC) was
first questioned under the Labour government, in non-binding 1975 ref-
erendum, where the population voted to be part of the EEC. However,
Switzerland not being a part of the EU enjoys some benefits such as the
free movement of people and access to EU’s single market for most of its
industries. Finally, France has always been a Europhile country, by and
8 A. MCKEEVER
large having a positive stance towards the EU, being one of its core found-
ers, viewing Europe as a platform to exert its influence (Drake 2011).
Second, three countries belong to different citizenship regimes, which
create opportunities or constraints for political parties to exploit identity
lens in the context of immigration. While Switzerland and France can be
described as assimilationist regime type, the UK belongs to a multicultural
regime. Here, it is important to emphasise that although all three coun-
tries are multicultural in nature and have diverse immigration inflows, they
differ in terms of their integration approach, which is largely determined
by the citizenship regime. Switzerland and France both relate to assimila-
tionist model, though with some differences. While France is a part of
civic-assimilationist model, combining a ‘civic conception of citizenship
and assimilationist view of cultural obligations’ (Guigni and Passy 2004:
59), Switzerland belongs to the ethnic-assimilationist model, which
requires ‘assimilation to the norms and values of the national community
on the ethnocultural basis and tend to exclude those who are not entitled
to sharing its norms, values and symbols’ (Guigni and Passy 2004: 58).
The UK differs from two other cases as it belongs to the multicultural citi-
zenship regime, where immigrants are allowed to ‘maintain their distinc-
tive cultures and form ethnic communities, providing they conform to
national laws’ (Castles and Miller 2009: 45), which does not place integra-
tion at the centre of immigration debate, at least not until latest terrorist
attacks that happened in the UK.
MDSD helps to explain what accounts for immigration policy change
as it aims to find shared factors (Anckar 2008: 396) that lead to this
change, which helps to generalise why countries adopt restrictive immigra-
tion policies. In this book, the application of MDSD relies on both deduc-
tive and inductive logics, where some of the factors that affect party policy
change are part of previous theoretical explanations while some of the
factors emerge during the data analysis. This aids in providing generalisa-
tions for other cases that share similar contextual attributes. By comparing
these three cases, the book explains the variance of the approaches by
drawing on the similarities and differences in the evolution of immigration
policy stances of conservative parties and subsequently immigration poli-
cies in the UK, France and Switzerland and the mechanisms that explain
policy change or policy deadlock.
1 INTRODUCTION 9
strength of radical right competitor. The second part of the chapter delves
into the comparison of causal mechanisms and explains the differences in
policymaking logics through examination of the type of democracy a
country belongs to.
Chapter 7, conclusion, summarises the findings of the book and points
out how they contribute to a number of broader discussions that relate to
party policy change pointing to the factors that shape their immigration
policy positions. The book also contributes to the theorisation of the
dynamics of policy change and policy deadlock, highlighting the role of
the institutions in it. The book concludes with offering some avenues for
further research.
References
Abou-Chadi, T. (2016). Niche Party Success and Mainstream Party Policy Shifts –
How Green and Radical Right Parties Differ in Their Impact. British Journal of
Political Science, 46(2), 417–436.
Afonso, A., & Papadopoulos, Y. (2015). How the Populist Radical Right
Transformed Swiss Welfare Politics: From Compromises to Polarization. Swiss
Political Science Review, 21(4), 617–635.
Akkerman, T. (2012). Comparing Radical Right Parties in Government:
Immigration and Integration Policies in Nine Countries (1996–2010). West
European Politics, 35(3), 511–529.
Akkerman, T. (2015). Immigration Policy and Electoral Competition in Western
Europe: A Fine-Grained Analysis of Party Positions Over the Past Two Decades.
Party Politics, 21(1), 54–67.
Albertazzi, D., & McDonnell, D. (2015). Populists in Power (1st ed.). Oxon and
New York: Routledge.
Alonso, S., & Da Fonseca, S. (2012). Immigration, Left and Right. Party Politics,
18(6), 865–884.
Anckar, C. (2008). On the Applicability of the Most Similar Systems Design and
the Most Different Systems Design in Comparative Research. International
Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11(5), 389–401.
Bale, T. (2008). Turning Round the Telescope. Centre-Right Parties and
Immigration and Integration Policy in Europe1. Journal of European Public
Policy, 15(3), 315–330.
Bale, T., Green-Pedersen, C., Krouwel, A., Luther, K. R., & Sitter, N. (2010). If
You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them? Explaining Social Democratic Responses to
the Challenge from the Populist Radical Right in Western Europe. Political
Studies, 58(3), 410–426.
12 A. MCKEEVER
Party Competition
Party competition is one of the most studied factors that make parties
change their positions (Norris 2005; Meguid 2007; Schain 2006). Parties
change their policies as they tend to respond to the shift(s) of rival parties
(Budge 1994). Threatened by a rise of the competitor, some parties
choose an accommodative strategy to prevent voter defection and maxi-
mise their vote share (Downs 1957; Laver 2005). Evidence suggests that
convergence of party policy positions is higher if parties belong to the
same ideological family (Adams and Somer-Topcu 2009: 835–837).
Mainstream parties tend to adopt more restrictive positions as a result of
presence of anti-immigrant parties (Sides and Citrin 2007: 477) to pre-
vent the loss of electorate. Electoral rise of radical right changed ‘the
structure of the political space’ (Rydgren 2003: 46), pressuring other par-
ties to adopt accommodative strategies (Meguid 2007). In responding to
the pressures from radical right, right-wing parties have been more recep-
tive because of their ideological proximity to competitors (Abou-Chadi
2016; Akkerman 2012); however, left-wing parties are not immune to
voter alienation either when it comes to immigration (Alonso and Da
Fonseca 2012; Goodwin and Ford 2017). When immigration gains
salience, other parties either hold onto their positions or co-opt the posi-
tions of the competitor (Bale et al. 2010). Issues like immigration have
entered mainstream politics and can no longer be disregarded by other
political parties. The rise of radical right parties’ electoral fortunes, which
creates subsequent threats for conservative parties, puts pressure on other
conservative parties, making them go hard-line on immigration.
In case study chapters, I explore if conservative parties changed their
immigration stances as a response to the rise of radical right, specifically
if the Conservative Party in the UK and Sarkozy in France have fac-
tored the concerns about the growing electoral rise of UKIP and FN
into their immigration policymaking logics. Party competition on the
right is not considered as a factor that influences SVP’s positions on
immigration because there has been no radical right competitor in
Switzerland that would threaten the electoral fortunes of the SVP since
2003, when it became the largest and the most popular conservative
party in the country.
18 A. MCKEEVER
Public Opinion
Parties also change their policies as a response to the shifts in public opin-
ion (Lahav 2004; McDonald and Budge 2005). There is evidence that
parties move away from their policy positions, when public opinion shifts
away from the party (Adams et al. 2004). While niche parties do not usu-
ally respond to change in public opinion (Adams et al. 2006), mainstream
parties do (Adams et al. 2009). Ezrow et al. (2011) demonstrate that
mainstream parties respond more to shifts in the attitudes of their sup-
porters rather than shifts in opinion of the general public. It is important
to highlight that there is a two-way relationship between public opinion
and policy, meaning that they both influence each other (Page and Shapiro
1983), and sometimes it is difficult to trace whether it is public opinion
that had an impact on policy development or vice versa. This book exam-
ines whether conservative parties incorporate concerns about public opin-
ion on immigration when altering their immigration policy stances, as
parties do not always change their policies, despite public dissatisfaction
with it (Page and Shapiro 1983).
et al. 2008; Luedtke 2005; McDaniel et al. 2011; McLaren 2001; Sides
and Citrin 2007). Without exception, existing studies demonstrate strong
evidence in support of the cultural threat hypothesis (Malhotra et al.
2013). Case study chapters explore if conservative parties changed their
policies as a response to economic anxieties (labour-market competition,
unemployment concerns) or as a response to national identity concerns
(cultural threat, anti-Islam sentiments).
include free movement of people, services, goods and capital, are defined
by international agreements, established by supranational bodies. The
freedom of movement is especially relevant to the case of immigration as
it increases intra-EU mobility, which alters the levels of migration certain
countries experience. This book operationalises the changes in political
and socio-economic environment through two EU enlargements—2004
and 2007 Eastern enlargements and subsequent effects of the EU inte-
gration such as the freedom of movement. EU integration is seen to have
an impact on countries’ immigration policies through two EU enlarge-
ments, 2004 and 2007, when a big chunk of Eastern Europe joined the
EU, increasing its population by 75 million residents (Kvist 2004: 301).
These enlargements brought anxieties about the jobs and welfare con-
cerns (Kahanec et al. 2009). Widening of the EU and increased intra-EU
migration did not only bring more opportunities for EU citizens to find
work in other member states, but it also brought labour market and wel-
fare concerns.
emerge’ (Ragin 1987: 25). The causes of immigration policy change are
not limited to the factors derived from the literature and described in this
chapter. Other factors that contribute to immigration policy change might
emerge through the analysis of interview data, which brings contribution
to the existing theories on party policy change.
Causes of party position and policy change have been extensively covered
in party politics literature, yet there has been less attention paid to identi-
fication of the mechanisms that explain policy change and policy deadlock
(Bennett 2010; Falleti and Lynch 2008; Falleti and Lynch 2009). While
the causes driving policy change have been documented, the processes
that explain this change remain unclear (Afonso 2014: 568). Mechanisms
are crucial in explaining how certain conditions produce a specific out-
come (Mayntz 2004) and this book aims to identify the mechanisms that
explain policy change or the absence thereof.
There is no single agreed definition of a causal mechanism, but this
book takes an approach in viewing a mechanism as a process: a causal path-
way, which links causes with the outcomes (Gerring 2008: 178; Bengtsson
and Hertting 2014: 4–5). It is important to note that while identifying
and describing mechanisms, only specific parts of the causal process are
described and the goal is to elucidate crucial details of the process by
rejecting irrelevant details (Hedström and Ylikoski 2010: 53). Identifying
causal mechanisms responsible for policy change is possible with the use of
process tracing (Collier 2011; George and Bennett 2004; Beach and
Pedersen 2013; Bennett and Checkel 2015; Goertz and Mahoney 2012).
It helps to open the black box of causality (Trampusch and Palier 2016)
and figure out ‘who knew what, when, and what they did in response’
(Bennett 2010: 209), examining the change over time (Collier 1993).
While some (Mahoney 2001: 580–581) postulate that mechanisms work
the same in different contexts, following a deterministic approach to
understanding mechanisms, others (Falleti and Lynch 2009: 1144) argue
that context is crucial in explaining the change, following the probabilistic
understanding of a mechanism, which means that mechanism does not
always operate the same, but can work differently, depending on the con-
text. The book views causal mechanisms as probabilistic, meaning that
22 A. MCKEEVER
Framing
Originally developed in the area of social movements, the concept of
‘frame’ originated from the work of Goffman (1974) and was later extrap-
olated to other areas, including party politics and policymaking. Muller
(1997) describes a frame as ‘a set of cognitive and moral maps that orient
an actor within a policy sphere’. Frames are used to socially construct spe-
cific assumptions about certain groups or issues. As Bleich (2011: 60)
points out:
frames help actors identify problems and specify and prioritise their interests
and goals; they point actors towards causal and normative judgements about
effective and appropriate policies in ways that tend to propel policy down a
particular path. […] frames give direction to policy making and help account
for policy outcomes.
Framing represents the way political actors present their policy posi-
tions and how they articulate their views on certain issues. Framing is an
argumentative mechanism that enables politicians to justify their views on
specific policies as frames:
However, political parties do not adopt frames randomly, they are care-
ful in selecting which to choose because they are seeking to adopt the
2 EXPLAINING CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF POLICY CHANGE AND POLICY… 23
Departmental Competition
Departmental competition has been used to explain policymaking
process. In a nutshell departmental competition occurs when, depart-
ments protect their own interests rather than contribute to the over-
all development of a policy, creating a path-dependency and holding
their ground on specific policies (Cole and Fenwick 2003; Kavanaugh
and Richards 2001; Hampshire and Bale 2015). Departments develop
specific cultures of policymaking and, when working together, would
oppose the change or the practices that would differ from their exist-
ing set of experiences (Kavanaugh and Richards 2001). Departments
are often characterised by the ‘long held practices of protecting bud-
gets and maintaining departmental “turf”—where a department seeks
to maintain or extend the range of responsibilities—have only exac-
erbated the isolation of departments and in turn dissagregated gov-
erning’ (Consterdine 2018: 163). Departmentalism helps to explain
not only why and how policy advances in a specific direction, but also
how, at times, a policy comes to a dead end because policymakers and
bureaucrats ‘see things differently from colleagues in other departments
because their organizations have different objectives, ways of doing
things, and because they have been socialized into thinking and acting
in a different way’ (Page 2005: 143). Departmental tensions can be
a result of the political relationships between actors (Suleiman 1978)
where different departments want to reassure their centrality in policy-
making process (Bezes 2009). The competition can also be structured
by power relations within institution, where different departments have
unequal policy influence because of the lack of financial resources or the
lack of information to assert influence (Suleiman 1974). The competi-
tion can be aggravated by the autonomy that civil servants working in
these departments acquire (Genieys 2005).
Chapters 3 and 5 explain how departmental competition led to the
domination of restrictive immigration policy choices in the UK and to
integration policy deadlock in case of Sarkozy’s integration policy.
Explaining UK immigration policy change under the Conservative-Liberal
24 A. MCKEEVER
Institutional Layering
While previously institutional layering has been used to explain policy
change (Thelen 2003; Streeck and Thelen 2005), in this book institu-
tional layering is a mechanism that explains policy deadlock any progress
on a given policy development. As institutions ‘both constrain and condi-
tion the behaviour of political actors’ (Consterdine 2015: 131), institu-
tional change has a direct impact on a policy change or on the absence
thereof. Therefore, the book examines how institutional layering, which
aimed to change integration policy in France, led to departmental compe-
tition within layered institutions, creating integration policy deadlock.
The essence of institutional layering is ‘the introduction of new rules on
top of existing ones’ (Mahoney and Thelen 2009: 15), which affects the
behaviour of the actors in that institution (Thelen 2003). While Mahoney
and Thelen (2009: 17) posit that institutional layering can lead to sub-
stantial policy change, where old core is usually replaced by new core
(Streeck and Thelen 2005: 31), this book argues that it is not necessarily
the case and that new layers can be pushed out by the old core, leading to
policy deadlock and further institutional change. In this book, institu-
tional layering explains integration policy deadlock during Sarkozy’s time
in the office, both as a minister of the Interior and as a president of the
Republic.
Methods
This book takes qualitative approach to opening the black box of immigra-
tion policymaking as it enables to explain not only why specific factors
mattered but how they did so. Using case study method, the book sheds
light on immigration decision-making by illuminating ‘why they were
taken, how they were implemented, and with what result’ (Schramm 1971
cited in Yin 2003: 12). As the focus is on explaining the logic of conservative
2 EXPLAINING CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF POLICY CHANGE AND POLICY… 25
Data
In order to document immigration policy change, the book examines elec-
toral manifestos of the three conservative parties and these countries’
respective immigration policies. The change in SVP’s position on immi-
gration is evidenced by examining 2007, 2011 and 2015 federal elections
manifestos, immigration initiatives launched by the SVP or by its party
members, immigration laws and referendums. The evolution of the UK
Conservative Party immigration stance is demonstrated with the reference
to 2005, 2010 and 2015 general election manifestos and by examining
immigration policies adopted under 2010–2015 Coalition government.
Finally, French immigration policy change is explored through Sarkozy’s
immigration laws, adopted during his time as the minister for the Interior,
his 2007 and 2012 presidential programmes and integration laws that
were adopted under his presidency between 2007 and 2012.
The explanation of immigration policy change comes from semi-
structured elite interviews that I conducted in the UK, Switzerland and
France between 2015 and 2017. Semi-structured elite interviews allow to
shed light on the logic of immigration policy change and are crucial in
allowing to get first-hand accounts of certain processes and decisions
(Tansey 2007: 767). They help to generate ‘unique data to investigate the
complexities of policy and politics’ (Beamer 2002: 86). I conducted forty-
five semi-structured elite interviews in the UK, Switzerland and France.
The interviewees were chosen by targeted sampling. I identified the elites
who belonged to the conservative parties and those who were part of the
immigration policymaking process or those who exerted certain influence
on political elites or on immigration decision-making. Across three cases,
interviews were conducted with conservative politicians, civil servants,
ministers, members of the Coalition government, special advisors and,
where possible, pressure group representatives. Interviewees were con-
tacted mostly by email, sometimes via the phone and in person during
party events. While understanding that targeted sampling can cause a
selection bias (King et al. 1994), it is the best strategy to explain the logic
of the right-wing parties’ positions on immigration, as ‘certain categories
of individuals may have a unique, different or important perspective on
the phenomenon in question and their presence in the sample should be
ensured’ (Robinson 2014: 32). Snowballing technique was employed at a
later stage to increase the number of interviews. In Switzerland, the
response rate was higher compared to the UK and, especially, compared to
2 EXPLAINING CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF POLICY CHANGE AND POLICY… 27
References
Abou-Chadi, T. (2016). Niche Party Success and Mainstream Party Policy Shifts –
How Green and Radical Right Parties Differ in Their Impact. British Journal of
Political Science, 46(2), 417–436.
Adams, J., & Somer-Topcu, Z. (2009). Policy Adjustment by Parties in Response
to Rival Parties’ Policy Shifts: Spatial Theory and the Dynamics of Party
2 EXPLAINING CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF POLICY CHANGE AND POLICY… 29
Saldaña, J. (2013). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (2nd ed.).
London: SAGE.
Schain, M. (2006). The Extreme-Right and Immigration Policy-Making:
Measuring Direct and Indirect Effects. West European Politics, 29(2), 270–289.
Scheve, K., & Slaughter, M. (2001). Labour Market Competition and Individual
Preferences Over Immigration Policy. The Review of Economics and Statistics,
83(1), 133–145.
Sides, J., & Citrin, J. (2007). European Opinion About Immigration: The Role of
Identities, Interests and Information. British Journal of Political Science,
37(3), 477–504.
Somer-Topcu, Z. (2009). Timely Decisions: The Effects of Past National Elections
on Party Policy Change. The Journal of Politics, 71(1), 238–248.
Streeck, W., & Thelen, K. (2005). Beyond Continuity. Institutional Change in
Advanced Political Economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Suleiman, E. (1974). Politics, Power and Bureaucracy in France: The Administrative
Elite. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Suleiman, E. (1978). Elites in French Society: The Politics of Survival. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tansey, O. (2007). Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case for Non-
probability Sampling. PS: Political Science and Politics, 40(4), 765–772.
Tesch, R. (1990). Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software. New York:
Falmer Press.
Thelen, K. (2003). How Institutions Evolve: Insights from Comparative-Historical
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Analysis in the Social Sciences (pp. 208–240). New York: Cambridge
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Trampusch, C., & Palier, B. (2016). Between X and Y: How Process Tracing
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21(5), 437–454.
Ward, H., Ezrow, L., & Dorussen, H. (2011). Globalization, Party Positions and
the Median Voter. World Politics, 63(3), 509–547.
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CHAPTER 3
In June 2016, the UK voted to leave the EU. As the analysis of the vote
demonstrates, immigration was the key driver of Brexit vote (Goodwin
and Milazzo 2017; Goodwin and Heath 2016) and Leave campaign’s slo-
gan ‘Take back control’ was primarily about taking control over immigra-
tion (Gietel-Basten 2016: 673–674). Britain’s exit from the EU has been
brought on the political agenda in 2013, when Cameron promised to
hold a referendum, delivering the so-called Bloomberg speech (Clarke
et al. 2017: 2). This demonstrated a stark contrast with the position of the
Conservative Party that argued for softening its stance on certain issues
including immigration as previously its positions have alienated voters
(Clarke et al. 2017: 2). What has triggered this change? In order to under-
stand this change, we need to examine the Conservative’s Party changing
stance on immigration that preceded Brexit debate, where immigration
has been a defining theme. The question that needs answered is what
changed the Conservative Party’s mind on immigration?
When David Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party in
2005, he came in on a platform of ‘detoxification’, pledging to change the
image of the Conservatives as the ‘nasty’ party (Partos and Bale 2015: 2).
Its political slogan for 2005 general election, ‘Are you thinking what we
are thinking? It’s not racist to impose limits on immigration’ (The
Conservative Party 2005: 1, 17–18) was not well received within the
British public and the party lost 2005 general election. After being out of
government for thirteen years, the Conservative Party was desperate to
The Co-operative movement has ever been rich in men and women
who have given to it devoted, whole-hearted, and able service. There
have always been men with sufficient faith in the principles on which
the movement is based to spend themselves, their energies and their
money, in furthering it, from the days when Robert Owen, working
to better the conditions of the miserable creatures who were helping
to pile up wealth for himself and his partners, discovered that it was
through striving to help others that man could best help himself, and
devoted his wealth and the remainder of his life to the promulgation
of this doctrine. In men whose faith in this principle was great and
whose work for its enthronement in the councils of the world was
arduous the United Co-operative Baking Society has been rich. They
have all of them been men who believed that Co-operation was the
true principle of progress, and in their own way and time each one
did his best to further the cause he had at heart.
GABRIEL THOMSON.
It is peculiar that of the man who played perhaps the most
prominent part in the work of establishing the United Baking Society
little has been placed on record. Mr Gabriel Thomson was a man in
late middle life when the proposal to establish the S.C.W.S. was
being discussed. He was a representative of St Rollox Society at the
meeting at which it was finally decided that a Scottish Wholesale
Society should be established, and moved the resolution to that
effect. When the committee was being formed he was appointed
treasurer, and when the proposal for a federated bread baking
society was being discussed he read a paper on the subject which
went far to decide the delegates in favour of the proposal to establish
the United Baking Society, there also moving the resolution in favour
of its formation. He was appointed first chairman of the Society, thus
acting as chairman of the U.C.B.S. and treasurer of the S.C.W.S. at
the one time; but he only remained at the head of affairs for the first
year, and his official connection with the Society then severed. He
died in the Townhead district about the end of the century.
JAMES BORROWMAN.
Those who knew James Borrowman have described him as one of
the most effective Co-operative propagandists and platform men that
the movement in Scotland has produced. He was a man of boundless
energy and enthusiasm, and was filled with a lofty idealism which
caused him to look ever ahead beyond the petty difficulties of the
moment. Unfortunately, his abounding faith in the possibilities of
Co-operation caused him to overlook sometimes the immediate and
practical difficulties in the way and, reversing the position of the men
who are unable to see the wood for the trees, his gaze was fixed so
firmly on the beautiful vista ahead that he failed to observe the rocks
in the pathway on which he trod until he had stumbled over them.
Mr Borrowman was one of the pioneers of Crosshouse Society, but at
the time when the Baking Society was being discussed he had just
been appointed manager of the newly formed Wholesale Society and
had joined the Anderston Society. He worked faithfully as secretary
of the Baking Society until pressure of work for the S.C.W.S. caused
him to resign, and but a few years later his unquenchable optimism
caused him to make the mistake of allowing the Ironworks Society to
overdraw largely on the Wholesale Society. This finished his
outstanding work for the cause of Co-operation.
DAVID SMITH.
When Mr Borrowman resigned the secretaryship of the Baking
Society he was succeeded by Mr David Smith, who had been acting as
assistant secretary for some months before the resignation took
place. Mr Smith was a representative of St Rollox Society on the
board of the U.C.B.S., making his first appearance as a representative
from that society at the committee meeting which was held on 15th
March 1872. On the resignation, in the summer of 1875, of Mr Robert
Craig from the management of the Society, Mr Smith was appointed
manager, and continued to act in that capacity until the end of 1889,
when he resigned in order to start in business as a baker in Maryhill.
Unfortunately, he did not succeed, and shortly afterwards went to
South Africa. Evidently he did not find things to his liking there, for
in a year or two he was back in Scotland again, and was acting as
master of works in connection with the reconstruction work of the
Drapery and Furnishing Society. He died almost exactly seven years
after severing his connection with the Baking Society.
ROBERT CRAIG.
Mr Robert Craig was only a short time—two and a half years—in
the service of the Society, but during that short period he did such
good work as to cause a general regret on the part of those who knew
him when ill-health caused him to sever his connection with it. In a
vain effort to restore his health he went to Spain, but, finding that he
was not benefiting by the change, he returned to Glasgow again,
where he died in 1877. Mr Craig was a native of Barrhead, and before
taking up his duties as cashier to the Baking Society he acted as
bookkeeper with the Wholesale Society. He seems to have been of a
most lovable disposition, beloved by all who came into contact with
him.
WILLIAM BARCLAY.
The name of William Barclay will always be associated with the
Scottish Co-operative Convalescent Homes Association, which he
helped to found, and for which he worked earnestly and
enthusiastically. In the early days of the U.C.B.S. he was associated
with St Rollox Society, and it was as a member of that society that he
was appointed to the chair of the Baking Society in 1870. He
continued to act as chairman for fifteen months only, and then
severed his connection with the committee. In his later years he was
associated with Kinning Park Society, and it was as a member of that
society that he did his work in connection with the Homes
Association.
THOMAS SLATER.
When Mr David Smith resigned the secretaryship of the Society to
take up its management he was succeeded by Mr Thomas Slater, who
represented London Road Society on the board, and Mr Slater
continued to act as secretary until the end of 1887. During his term
of office Mr Slater had proven himself a most efficient and
painstaking secretary, and it was due to his initiative that the ground
annual of the St James Street property was purchased by the Society.
After ceasing his official connection with the Society he continued to
take a keen interest in its affairs and at times even to criticise the
policy of the directors through the columns of the press.
ANDREW BROWN.
It is probable that it was to the wise guidance of Mr Andrew Brown
more than to the work of any other man that the Baking Society was
able to overcome the difficulties of its early days. He was appointed
to the chair in 1872, and continued to act as president during all the
strenuous days when the proposals for building a branch bakery
farther west were being discussed with vigour. When he became
president the Society had many difficulties to contend with, not the
least of which were inefficient workmen, while shortage of money
retarded its operations to a very great extent. Mr Brown continued to
act as chairman until his society—Paisley Provident—withdrew from
membership at the end of 1880. All those who had the pleasure of
knowing him speak of him as a cautious leader, shrewd and clear-
sighted, who always took a business view of the proposals which
came before the committee. Thus he was able to steer clear of the
many pitfalls which lined the pathway of his Society.
ALEXANDER FRASER.
Mr Alexander Fraser succeeded Mr Brown in the chair. At the time
of his appointment to the chair he had been continuously a member
of the board of the Society from March 1873, as the representative of
Busby Society, and he continued to perform the duties of president of
the Society until the quarterly meeting which was held in December
1887. Mr Fraser had thus an unbroken connection with the
committee of the Society for the long period of fourteen years, until
then the longest period during which any member had filled a seat
on the board. During his term of office he had seen the Society grow
wondrously. He had seen it become too big for its home at St James
Street, and had steered it safely to its new home, erected specially for
its occupation, at M‘Neil Street, and he felt that, that task
accomplished, he did well to lay aside his task. He was a worthy
successor to Mr Brown and a worthy predecessor of the men who
followed him.
JOHN FERGUSON.
Mr Fraser was succeeded by Mr John Ferguson, of Glasgow
Eastern Society. Before Mr Ferguson came to the Baking Society’s
board he had filled many positions of responsibility in the Eastern
Society. He was member of the committee for a number of years, a
member of the first educational committee of the society when it was
formed in 1876, and was also president of the society for a number of
years. In his own society and in the Baking Society he did good work
for Co-operation, and was much respected by all who came into
contact with him. He, too, joined the great majority a number of
years ago.
DUNCAN M‘CULLOCH.
Mr Duncan M‘Culloch was born in the little village of Carfin in
Lanarkshire. After serving his apprenticeship as a joiner in Wishaw,
he came to Glasgow, and on marrying became connected with
Kinning Park Society. In 1887 he was made president of the society,
and afterwards a member of the then newly formed educational
committee. He took a prominent part in the formation of the first
branch of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild—Kinning Park
Central branch—and came to be known amongst the ladies of the
guild as “The Father of the Guild,” a title of which he was justly
proud. After having been for a short time a member of the committee
of the Baking Society, he was elected chairman in 1889, and
continued to occupy that honourable position for the long period of
fifteen years. During these years the Baking Society entered on a
period of expansion which raised it from the position of a moderately
sized bakery, doing a trade of 700 sacks a week, to that of the largest
institution of its kind, with a trade of almost 4,000 sacks weekly. He
saw the biscuit factory started, and during his term of office the
Clydebank branch was opened and the Belfast branch was
commenced. Mr M‘Culloch also took a warm interest in the affairs of
the Convalescent Homes Association, and he served for many years,
until his death in the summer of 1915, as a director of this, “the
brightest jewel in the Co-operative crown,” as the chairman of the
Homes Association sometimes describes it. Mr M‘Culloch became
again a president of Kinning Park Society, and there, as in the work
of the Baking Society, he displayed enterprise, acumen, and
firmness. He was a man of strong will and dominant personality, and
his work on the various boards of the Co-operative movement with
which he was associated was always marked by strong common
sense. On the Co-operative Defence Committee and on the Scottish
Sectional Board he was also a tower of strength; never favouring
schemes or policies which were far in advance of the times, but never
holding back when he thought action was for the benefit of the
movement to which he had devoted the leisure moments of his life.
For some time in 1915 he had been laid aside with illness, and as the
Congress of that year met for its first session the news of his death
arrived and cast a gloom over the minds of the Scotsmen present,
who felt that one who had been all a man had gone from them.
JAMES H. FORSYTH.
The genial cashier of the Baking Society is one of the best known
and most highly respected business men in the Co-operative
movement. His balance-sheets are models of lucidity, and this
feature is often commented on in the columns of the financial press.
Mr Forsyth has had a lifelong acquaintance with Co-operative
accounting. As a lad he entered the office of the Wholesale Society,
and waited there until, as he himself has put it, he began to
understand what double entry bookkeeping really was. Then a desire
to see other lands possessed him for a time, and he voyaged to the
great Republic of the West. He had been there for only two years,
however, when the homing instinct possessed him, and returning to
Glasgow, after a short interval, entered the office of the Baking
Society as bookkeeper. Here he had been for some four years when
Mr David Smith retired from the management of the Society, and the
board, deciding that they were going to try and work the Society for a
time at least without a manager, appointed Mr Forsyth cashier and
bookkeeper, and cashier and bookkeeper he has been ever since. Mr
Forsyth is one of those officials who treat the business for which they
work as if it was their own. He is indefatigable in his efforts to
maintain and even to improve the wellbeing and to accelerate the
progress of the Baking Society, and during the strenuous years of the
war, when the demands of the War Office were depleting his staff,
nevertheless he “carried on” in a manner which won the approval of
management and delegates alike. He is one of those careful,
painstaking officials who are assets of great value to the societies
fortunate enough to possess them.
JAMES YOUNG.
Mr James Young, the widely respected manager of the Baking
Society, is an idealist turned business man. He has the vision of the
poet, and is ever looking forward from the sordid to-day to the
brighter and better to-morrow; but he is none the less a business
man. He served on the board of the Baking Society as a
representative of Uddingston Society for some three years before he
was appointed, in 1899, manager of the Society. Since then he has
conducted the business of the Society wisely and well, and his advice
is eagerly sought after in matters connected with the trade. He is very
popular with all with whom business brings him into contact, for he
is recognised by all to be a man of high principle, who is incapable of
stooping to anything mean. To this aspect of his character is
probably due the remarkably good terms which have always existed
between the Society and the employees, for he is kind and
considerate to those whom fortune has placed under his charge.
Unfortunately, in these latter years his health has not been quite as
robust as his friends would like, but one and all hope that many years
of service yet remain to him.
PETER GLASSE.
Mr Peter Glasse succeeded Mr Slater as secretary. He was the
representative of St George on the board of the Baking Society at the
time of Mr Slater’s resignation, and was for many years one of the
most active Co-operators in the West of Scotland. He took a very
active part in all the strenuous work which fell to the lot of good
platform men during and after the boycott of 1896–97. On several
occasions he served with distinction in the chair of his own society,
and was for many years a member of the board of the Wholesale
Society. He demitted office as secretary of the Baking Society in the
spring of 1895. From 1896 until the merging of the West of Scotland
Co-operative Defence Committee in the National Co-operative
Defence Association, Mr Glasse acted as chairman of the committee,
and then as chairman of the National Association until its work was
merged in that of the Scottish Sectional Board. He died early in 1917
after a life which had been full of service to Co-operation.
D. H. GERRARD, J.P.
Mr Daniel H. Gerrard, J.P., is one of the best known figures in the
Co-operative movement, and it is a matter for sincere regret to his
many friends that he is not able to go out and in amongst them as of
yore, and doubly regrettable that illness should have stricken him
down two months before the Society for which he had worked so
hard completed its fiftieth year of existence. Mr Gerrard is a
Southerner, but he has lived so long in Scotland that he has become
acclimatised. His first connection with Co-operation was with the
second Maryhill Society, in the formation of which he took an active
part, and of which he was president for many years. When that
society amalgamated with St George he threw himself with equal
vigour and success into the work of his new society, and ere long was
appointed to the presidency. Then fifteen years ago he was elected to
the chair of the Baking Society, and continued to act in that capacity
until he was compelled by the orders of his medical man to give it up.
He was an able and earnest advocate of Co-operation, and took an
active part in the strenuous work of the boycott days as well as in Co-
operative missionary work in Ireland and elsewhere. It is the earnest
wish of all friends that in his retirement he will be long spared to
look back with complacency over his many fights for the cause he
loved.
JAMES BAIN.
Mr James Bain, the genial secretary of the Baking Society, has had
a long and active connection with the cause of Co-operation in
Glasgow. He succeeded Mr John Ferguson as chairman of Glasgow
Eastern Society, and was chairman of that society when the
Dalmarnock Road premises were opened in 1893. He was also
treasurer of the society for a number of years. In the spring of 1895
he was elected secretary of the Baking Society in succession to Mr
Glasse, and that position he continues to fill with honour to himself
and profit to the Society. Nor, although the secretaryship of the
Baking Society would seem to be enough spare-time work for any
man, does he rest content with that. Ever since its formation he has
acted as president of that beneficent Co-operative institution, the Co-
operative Veterans Association. In his work for the Bakery he has
always been conscientious and clear, and has also done much work
which lies outside his special work as secretary. For example, he read
a paper a number of years ago at a conference of representatives of
the Glasgow societies, in which he advocated strongly the desirability
of establishing a system of bread baking which would enable the
bakers to begin their work at a reasonable hour. He is getting on in
years now, but his minutes are as clearly written as ever, and his
many friends hope that it will be long ere he has to lay down his
secretarial pen.