The ideology of the coalition: More ‘muscular’ than ‘liberal’?

Abstract

Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have described their politics as ‘muscular liberalism’. This article examines the rhetoric of the Coalition Government vis-a-vis, Michael Freeden’s concept of decontestation, to unearth whether the ideology of the Coalition is merely ‘liberal rhetoric’ or whether the language is consonant with an ideology of liberalism. Despite the widely-held belief that the Coalition marks a matrimony of liberalisms, the article argues that, despite the preponderance of liberal rhetoric, the substantive aims of the Coalition can be derived from conservative ideology.