IESET.
Movements·uk_johnson_conservative_2019_2022

Johnson Conservative government (UK)

GBR·2019 – 2022·Conservative majority (80-seat majority after December 2019 general election)
Leaders: Boris Johnson (PM, 2019-2022) · Rishi Sunak (Chancellor, 2020-2022) · Sajid Javid (Chancellor, 2019-2020)
positionsempirical_pragmatistsocial_democratic

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Drew from a hybrid of post-referendum Eurosceptic Tory nationalism and a levelling-up dirigiste Keynesianism that broke with Cameron-Osborne austerity orthodoxy, pairing fiscal loosening and regional industrial policy with immigration restriction and regulatory divergence from the EU. Positioned on the centre-right but with a redistributive geographic axis aimed at Red Wall seats — socially conservative, culturally nationalist, fiscally expansionary. Key measures: ratification of the EU Withdrawal Agreement (31 January 2020) and TCA (24 December 2020); points-based immigration system from 1 January 2021; COVID furlough and CBILS/BBLS support (March 2020); planned corporate tax rise from 19% to 25% (announced March 2021 Budget for April 2023); Health and Social Care Levy (1.25pp NI rise, April 2022); Levelling Up White Paper (February 2022); Subsidy Control Act 2022. Entered office with 43.6% vote share (December 2019) and large approval bounce through early 2020 vaccine rollout, then collapsed through Partygate 2021-22 and cost-of-living erosion, triggering mass ministerial resignations and Johnson's own resignation July 2022. Programme was internally incoherent — levelling-up spend pulled opposite to fiscal-hawk Treasury instincts, and Brexit-driven labour tightness clashed with growth rhetoric.

Policy-content fingerprint — how the framework codes this movement on its axes

↑
spending level
fiscal.spending_level
General government spending as share of GDP, excluding transfers already captured under fiscal.transfer_expansion to avoid double-counting.
increased · strong
higher spending share
COVID fiscal response pushed spending to peacetime peak; levelling-up capital programmes sustained elevated baseline.
↑
tax corporate
fiscal.tax_corporate
Statutory and effective corporate tax rates, treatment of depreciation, and international competitiveness.
increased · moderate
higher corporate tax burden
Announced corporation tax rise 19% → 25% (later implemented under Sunak).
↓
immigration openness
regulatory.immigration_openness
Immigration policy openness — work visas, family reunification, asylum processing, border enforcement posture.
decreased · strong
more restrictive (lower caps, tighter enforcement)
End of EU free movement; points-based system from 2021.
↓
trade openness
regulatory.trade_openness
Trade policy openness — tariffs, non-tariff barriers, FTAs, industrial protection.
decreased · strong
more protectionist
TCA implementation created customs friction with UK's largest trading bloc.
↑
sectoral subsidy
fiscal.sectoral_subsidy
Targeted industrial and sectoral subsidies (renewable energy, chip manufacturing, agriculture, green hydrogen, etc).
increased · moderate
expanded sectoral subsidies
Levelling-up funds, freeports, Subsidy Control Act providing post-EU-state-aid framework.

Policies enacted

Schools of thought aligned or opposed

partial
empirical_pragmatist
opposed
social_democratic

References