Conservative Party

Conservative Party Meaning

The Conservative Party (sometimes referred to as the Tory Party) is, along with the Labour Party, one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom. Historically, conservatism, is the ideology that supports private property, religious institutions and social hierarchy, for the UK this meant the monarchy and the aristocracy.

However, while Conservative parties tend to be right-wing, in the UK the Conservative party is centre-right due to its support of liberal social and economic policies such as the free-market economy, deregulation, and lower taxes.

History of the Conservative Party

The Conservative Party of Great Britain has undergone several changes over the decades. In this section, we will briefly cover the early period of the Conservative Party and then move on to detail the era of modern conservatism.

Early Period of the Conservative Party

Britain's Conservative Party was the successor of the Tory Party, whose members began forming conservative associations in 1832. These associations coincided with Britain's 1832 Reform Bill, which extended voting privileges to the middle class. The first conservative government was established in 1834. Sir Robert Peel served two terms as prime minister and penned the ‘Tamworth Manifesto’. This contained the new Conservative Party's reform principles related to law and order and argued for a more structured tax system.

The first divisions within the party surfaced as a result of the Corn Laws in 1846. The Corn Laws were a series of laws established between 1815 and 1846 that were part of a protectionist policy that kept corn prices artificially high. The purpose of such laws was to safeguard British farmers from less expensive grain imports from abroad. This led to a split within the party over whether the law should be repealed or not.

Modern Era of the Conservative Party

Benjamin Disraeli, who defined the party's main values and principles in 1870, is widely viewed as the founder of the modern British Conservative Party. He is also credited with introducing the concept of one-nation conservatism in Great Britain. Disraeli defended on-nation conservatism as both morally right, and in the interest of the ruling upper class.

Fig. 1 Benjamin Disraeli

One-nation conservatism helped the Conservative Party maintain power for almost two decades. However, a series of controversial decisions over tariffs resulted in a significant loss of support until after the First World War. As a result, they were forced to form a coalition with the Liberals to maintain a unified front for the war and to bolster their support. This proved to be a useful decision because, by 1918, the party enjoyed much greater support. By 1922 the coalition had ended.

The Conservative Party continued to hold power for the majority of the 20th century, with Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill helping to lead the country to victory during the war. However, the party lost to the Labour Party in the 1945 election due to Labour's social reform policies. By 1955 the Conservative Party was back in power and enjoyed 13 years of dominance.

Post-war British politics was characterised by post-war consensus. However, the post-war consensus came to an end in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. She led the country in a new direction (see Thatcherism below).

Thatcher resigned in 1990 as her leadership had been challenged when she refused to integrate Britain further with the European Union.

She was followed by John Major, who was Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997. Despite achieving a temporary ceasefire in the long-term conflict with Ireland, Major's premiership was the last step in the decline of popular support for the Conservative Party. This was compounded by an economic recession, a rise in taxation and further division over the UK's relationship with the EU.

After John Major, the Labour Party governed up to 2010. In 2010, Conservative leader and Prime Minister David Cameron began to liberalise some of its social policies. His approach to same-sex marriage and social divisions suggested that the party would be heading in a new direction.

Whilst the Conservative Party's majority in the House of Commons fluctuated over the years, the party won an 80-seat majority in the British Parliament at the 2019 general election. This victory gave Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party a mandate to move forward with the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit).

As we have seen in this section, some core values such as one-nation conservatism have remained throughout the history of the Conservative party. However, over time, new ideologies, such as Thatcherism, have introduced a new political direction for the Conservative Party to follow.

Policies of the Conservative Party

The UK Conservative party describes what it stands for as “personal liberty, democracy, and the rule of law¹”.

Although policies of the UK Conservative Party have evolved over the years, these principles, as well as conservative views on Europe and immigration, have remained a constant. Let's have a closer look.

One of the most memorable yet divisive eras of conservative leadership was the Thatcher years.

Under David Cameron (2010-2016), the ‘New Tories’ movement was born. This was essentially a rebranding in which the party took on an increasingly liberal position on both social and economic issues. David Cameron oversaw the push to legalise same-sex marriage in 2011. Despite strong internal opposition, the bill was passed in 2013.

However, being a Conservative leader, he also:

• Initiated austerity measures, which included cuts in public spending to reduce the nation's budget deficit and decrease the size of Britain's welfare state.

• Imposed limits on immigration from outside the European Union

One of the most controversial aspects of Cameron's premiership was his willingness to hold a national referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union. The referendum, held in 2016 resulted in a narrow victory for those supporting Britain's departure from the EU. Soon after the results were announced, David Cameron resigned.

Fig. 2 Brexit, The UK leaving the EU

Like Thatcher, Boris Johnson (2019-present) is another polarising British leader. Johnson's government would preside over the official departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union in January 2020.

Johnson also:

• Reduced austerity measures by increasing spending on police/law enforcement;

• Enacted stricter immigration laws via the introduction of a points-based immigration system;

• Increased national health tax to help fund the NHS;

• Introduced harsher laws and prison sentences for criminals;

• Continues to reject the decriminalising drugs;

• Provided economic/military aid to Ukraine to help in the war with Russia.

Conservative Party UK

Unlike other conservative parties in the world, the UK conservative party includes several principles from modern liberal thinking, rather than strictly conservative policies.

Another element that is specific to UK politics, is the history of conflict between England and Northern Ireland. As far as this is concerned, the UK Conservative party is generally unionist and resists granting further devolved powers.

Fig. 3 Map of the countries of the United Kingdom

Importance of the Conservative Party

The importance of the conservative party in the United Kingdom lies in the fact that it is one of the two main parties in a two-party system.