How did David Cameron and Theresa May bring communitarian ideas back into British conservatism?

Following the era of Margaret Thatcher, whose governance was defined by a strong emphasis on individual initiative and a departure from traditional organic social views, the Conservative Party underwent a shift in orientation under her successors, David Cameron and Theresa May.1

Both leaders moved away from the extreme individualistic focus that characterized the Thatcherite period, which had famously asserted that there is no such thing as society. Instead, Cameron and May sought to reincorporate communitarian elements into their ideology. This approach signaled a return to more traditional conservative values, which emphasize the importance of community in understanding human identity, well-being, and the functioning of political institutions.12

By softening the party's previously strident libertarian stance, these leaders aimed to align modern British conservatism more closely with the organic view of society championed by thinkers such as Edmund Burke, who viewed the small communities or "little platoons" to which individuals belong as the foundation of public affection and social stability.12