How Right Wing is the Coalition Government?

When answering a question involving where a Political Party, Politician or Government resides on the political scale, (that is to say, Left Wing, Right Wing, or somewhere in between) it is important to remember that the placing is subjective. One persons placing may differ to anothers. For example, some people may argue that Hitler was as Right Wing as you can get, using the word Fascist almost as a slur, whilst others may say that he was actually halfway between the centre and Right Wing, deploying the fact that the Nazi Party was originally the German Workers Party, a Trade Union style political organization. Therefore, in order to place the coalition government of 2010 on the political scale in terms of how Right Wing it is, it is important to first define what it means to be Right Wing. Right Wing Politics are usually associated with Social, Economic and Political Conservatism. (There is a difference between following the ideology of conservatism and being a supporter or member of the conservative party, though there are links between the two). Conservatism is, in essence, the collective ideas of those who have interest in (benefit from) the status quo. Right Wing Politicians are also expected to be Patriotic or even Nationalistic on behalf of their own country. That is the belief that either their nation or their people are superior to others in someway. However, to be Right Wing is not to be Authoritarian, although it is possible to be a Right Wing Authoritarian. Whilst the political scale is assumed to be left wing to right wing, that is only one measurement. A completely separate scale needs to be made between authoritarian and liberalism, and position on the left to right wing scale has no effect on position of the authoritarian to liberal scale. Now that there is a (subjective) definition of what it means to be Right Wing, it is possible to assess the current Governments position on the Right to Left Wing Scale. The most important people to look at are David Cameron and Nick Clegg, leaders of the two Political Parties involved and Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively. As the leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron is expected to be fairly Right Wing, or at least further towards the right than the centre. Nick Clegg, being the leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, is expected to be in the dead centre of the scale. However, some people would argue that, actually, Nick Clegg is further to the right than David Cameron, but the majority of the Liberal Party are not as far to the Right as he is. This is odd, because in concept, it should be the Liberal Democrats holding the Conservatives closer to the center than the other way around. With 6 Liberal Democrats in the Cabinet, the Cabinets position could be thought of as roughly right off center. The Cabinet is the most important part of the Government, and makes the suggestions like the benefit cuts that have been suggested. These cuts are interpreted as very Right Wing, but the politicians that have put them through do not seem to be as far right as the policies would suggest. Because of this, it is too early to effectively judge the position of the current government on the political scale.