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Robert M. Page takes an authoritative look at the policies and politics of Britain's Conservative Party to discover if it has developed a distinctive approach to the postwar welfare state. He begins with the progressive One Nation Conservatism wing of the party, exploring how it strove to embrace the features of the welfare state that were compatible with its underlying philosophy. Page then turns to the neoliberal conservatives, who sought to undo the welfare state, before placing the spotlight on the strategy behind David Cameron's progressive neoliberal conservative version.

Following significant electoral defeats in 2010, both the British Labour Party and the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) have been re-considering their approach to the welfare state. This article outlines some of the key themes of social democracy and social democratic social policy before discussing the evolution of the latter in both Sweden and Britain. The paper explores the cumulative effect of the revisionist approaches adopted by both parties over time which has resulted in a distancing from a welfare state strategy based on equality, universalism and publicly provided services. It is concluded that both parties now have little road left to construct a modern welfare state narrative that reflects "core" social democratic principles.

This paper explores the diverse ways in which the Conservative Party has responded to the notion of progress in relation to social policy during its periods in government since the Second World War. It identifies three distinctive approaches – one nation progressive conservatism (1945–74), neo-liberal (anti-progressive) conservatism (1979–97) and progressive neo-liberal conservatism (2010–present), highlighting the dilemmas and difficulties the party has faced in engaging with a concept that it has always found to be problematic.

This article focuses on the development of David Cameron's Modern Conservative approach to poverty and social justice in the period since his election as Party leader in December 2005. It will be argued that the path that Cameron has followed in these areas reflects his determination to move the Conservative Party towards the political 'centre' in order to enhance its electoral prospects in the post-Thatcher era. In the concluding section of the article, the question of whether the 'Modern' Conservative approach to poverty and social justice can be said to represent a return to the Party's 'One Nation' approach is explored.