Between new and liberal conservatism: debates about the social programme of the Conservative party of United Kingdom in 1920-1930s.

The article covers the theoretical approaches of the Conservatives to the social problems in interwar Britain. The author's objective is to analyze the peculiarities of the social concepts formation and evolution in British Conservative political thought in the context of the United Kingdom's socio-economic development in 1920-30s. The article is based on the philosophical, economic and journalistic works of the dominant political figures and theorists of Conservatives of that time - Stanley Baldwin, Ernest Benn, Harold Macmillan, etc., as well as their official and public speeches and memoirs. The economic hardship and social tension of the interwar period, as well as the growth of the popularity of left movements and organisations, the strongest of which was the Labour party, forced Conservatives to pay more attention to social policy. The foundations of New Conservatism were laid by then leader of the Conservative party Stanley Baldwin in 1924. He put social problems in the significant place in the party's programme. Baldwin called to the industrial peace, expansion of the system of insurance funds, encouragement of free enterprise for the economical development and creation of new workplaces. The social conception, formulated by Baldwin, was moderate enough. The leader of the party knew the attitudes of his colleges excellent and understood there was no unity of views to the problems of social policy among the Conservatives. As before there were many proponents of individualism and laissez-faire in the party. These views were pronounced in the works of the economist Sir Ernest Benn, who considered free enterprise as the basis of economic prosperity and material wellbeing and saw the causes of all social problems (unemployment, bad accommodation, poor quality of education) in superfluous state interference. The opposite view was expressed by left Conservatives and their leader of the interwar period - Harold Macmillan. He was a gifted coordinator and could united people, who shared his views. In 1920-30s he, alone or in co-authorship, published some books, where gave a detailed account of his notions of the social and economic policy of state. He believed that people had the right to living wage and only the system of the state regulation of economy and social sphere could ensure the proper level of the well-being of the society. Macmillan considered that in principle private enterprise had to remain, but grounded the concept of the planned capitalism, where state interference would guarantee economic stability and social prosperity. These two approaches laid the foundations of the Conservative social policy in the second half of the 20^th century.

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