What was Progressive in ‘Progressive Conservatism'?

In January 2009 D avid C ameron announced that the ‘underlying philosophy’ of his government would be progressive conservatism. Despite the ambiguity about this term, it was generally interpreted as a signal that C ameron was moving his party to the left. To some commentators, C ameron was allying with the progressive ‘one nation’ strand of conservative thought. To others, particularly in the media, he was drawing on the more immediate influence of P hillip B lond's ‘ R ed T oryism’. However, the focus on the market (as opposed to state or community) found in both C ameron's speech and subsequent policies sits uneasily with both of these interpretations. C ameron's progressive conservatism has more in common with T hatcherism – an earlier conservative modernising project – than it does with centrist forms of conservative progressivism. C ameron's progressive conservatism is progressive, but only in particular, less commonly used, ways – not as a rediscovery of social justice.