Conservative Party (UK)
Conservative and Unionist Party | |
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Lords) | |
Chairman | Richard Holden |
Chief Executive | Stephen Massey[1] |
Founded |
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Merger of |
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Preceded by | Tories |
Headquarters | Conservative Campaign Headquarters 4 Matthew Parker Street, London SW1H 9HQ |
combined authority mayors. ) and Scotland, principal councils in Wales and local councils in Northern Ireland. |
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and colloquially known as the Tories,
The Conservative Party was founded in 1834 from the
The party has generally adopted
For much of modern British political history, the United Kingdom exhibited a wide
History
Origins
Some writers trace the party's origins to the
The term Tory was an insult that entered
The term "Conservative" was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830.[48] The name immediately caught on and was formally adopted under the aegis of Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto. The term "Conservative Party" rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845.[49][50]
1867–1914: Conservatives and Unionists
The widening of the electoral franchise in the 19th century forced the Conservative Party to popularise its approach under
Young Winston Churchill denounced Chamberlain's attack on free trade, and helped organise the opposition inside the Unionist/Conservative Party. Nevertheless, Balfour, as party leader, followed Chamberlain's policy introduced protectionist legislation.[51] Churchill crossed the floor and formally joined the Liberal Party (he rejoined the Conservatives in 1925). In December, Balfour lost control of his party, as the defections multiplied. He was replaced by Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman who called an election in January 1906, which produced a massive Liberal victory. Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith enacted a great deal of reform legislation, but the Unionists worked hard at grassroots organizing. Two general elections were held in 1910, one in January and one in December. The two main parties were now almost dead equal in seats, but the Liberals kept control with a coalition with the Irish Parliamentary Party.[52][53]
In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party. In Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged Unionists who were opposed to Irish Home Rule into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence, formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. In Britain, the Conservative party was known as the Unionist Party because of its opposition to home rule in Ireland.[54][55] Under Bonar Law's leadership in 1911–1914, the Party morale improved, the "radical right" wing was contained, and the party machinery strengthened. It made some progress toward developing constructive social policies.[56]
First World War
While the Liberals were mostly against the war until the invasion of Belgium, Conservative leaders were strongly in favour of aiding France and stopping Germany. The Liberal party was in full control of the government until its mismanagement of the war effort under the Shell Crisis badly hurt its reputation. An all-party coalition government was formed in May 1915. In late 1916 Liberal David Lloyd George became prime minister but the Liberals soon split and the Conservatives dominated the government, especially after their landslide in the 1918 election. The Liberal party never recovered, but Labour gained strength after 1920.[57]
Nigel Keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses. However, the war pulled the party together, allowing it to emphasise patriotism as it found new leadership and worked out its positions on the Irish question, socialism, electoral reform, and the issue of intervention in the economy. The fresh emphasis on anti-Socialism was its response to the growing strength of the Labour Party. When electoral reform was an issue, it worked to protect their base in rural England.[58] It aggressively sought female voters in the 1920s, often relying on patriotic themes.[59]
1920–1945
In 1922, Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin led the breakup of the coalition, and the Conservatives governed until 1923, when a minority Labour government led by Ramsay MacDonald came to power. The Conservatives regained power in 1924 but were defeated in 1929 as a minority Labour government took office. In 1931, following the collapse of the Labour minority government, it entered another coalition, which was dominated by the Conservatives with some support from factions of both the Liberal Party and the Labour Party (National Labour and National Liberals).[60] In May 1940, a more balanced coalition was formed[60]—the National Government—which, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, saw the United Kingdom through World War II. However, the party lost the 1945 general election in a landslide to the resurgent Labour Party.[61][62]
The concept of the "property-owning democracy" was coined by Noel Skelton in 1923 and became a core principle of the party.[63]
1945–1975: Post-war consensus
Popular dissatisfaction
While serving in Opposition during the late 1940s, the Conservative Party exploited and incited growing public anger at
Modernising the party
In 1947, the party published its
With a narrow victory at the
1965–1975: Edward Heath
Heath had come to power in
1975–1990: Margaret Thatcher
Loss of power weakened Heath's control over the party and Margaret Thatcher deposed him in the 1975 leadership election. Thatcher led her party to victory at the 1979 general election with a manifesto which concentrated on the party's philosophy rather than presenting a "shopping list" of policies.[77]
As Prime Minister, Thatcher focused on rejecting the mild liberalism of the post-war consensus that tolerated or encouraged nationalisation, strong labour unions, heavy regulation, high taxes, and a generous welfare state.[78] She did not challenge the National Health Service, and supported the Cold War policies of the consensus, but otherwise tried to dismantle and delegitimise it. To replace the old post-war consensus, she built a right-wing political ideology that became known as Thatcherism, based on social and economic ideas from British and American intellectuals such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. Thatcher believed that too much socially democratic-oriented government policy was leading to a long-term decline in the British economy. As a result, her government pursued a programme of economic liberalism, adopting a free-market approach to public services based on the sale of publicly owned industries and utilities, as well as a reduction in trade union power.
One of Thatcher's largest and most successful policies assisted council house tenants in public housing to purchase their homes at favourable rates. The "Right to Buy" had emerged in the late-1940s but was too great a challenge to the post-war consensus to win Conservative endorsement. Thatcher favoured the idea because it would lead to a "property-owning democracy", an important idea that had emerged in the 1920s.[63] Some local Conservative-run councils enacted profitable local sales schemes during the late-1960s. By the 1970s, many working-class people had ample incomes to afford to buy homes, and eagerly adopted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at a sizable discount. The new owners were more likely to vote Conservative, as Thatcher had hoped.[79][80]
Thatcher led the Conservatives to two further electoral victories in
The period of unpopularity of the Conservatives in the early 1980s coincided with a crisis in the Labour Party, which then formed the main opposition. Victory in the Falklands War in June that year, along with the recovering British economy, saw the Conservatives returning quickly to the top of the opinion polls and winning the 1983 general election with a landslide majority, due to a split opposition vote.[81] By the time of the general election in June 1987, the economy was stronger, with lower inflation and falling unemployment and Thatcher secured her third successive electoral victory.[84]
The introduction of the
1990–1997: John Major
On 16 September 1992, the Government suspended Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), after the pound fell lower than its minimum level in the ERM, a day thereafter referred to as Black Wednesday.[92] Soon after, approximately one million householders faced repossession of their homes during a recession that saw a sharp rise in unemployment, taking it close to 3 million people.[93] The party subsequently lost much of its reputation for good financial stewardship although the end of the recession was declared in April 1993.[94][93] From 1994 to 1997, Major privatised British Rail, splitting it up into franchises to be run by the private sector.
The party was plagued by internal division and infighting, mainly over the UK's role in the European Union. The party's Eurosceptic wing, represented by MPs such as John Redwood, opposed further EU integration, whilst the party's pro-European wing, represented by those such as Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke, was broadly supportive. The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions.[95] Major also had to survive a leadership challenge in 1995 by Redwood, then the Secretary of State for Wales. Major survived, but Redwood received 89 votes as well as the backing of The Sun newspaper. This further undermined Major's influence in the party.[96]
The Conservative government was also increasingly accused in the media of "
1997–2010: Political wilderness
John Major resigned as party leader and was succeeded by William Hague.[97] Shortly before the 2001 general election, Hague was much maligned for a speech in which he predicted that a re-elected Labour government would turn the UK into a "foreign land".[98] The 2001 general election resulted in a net gain of one seat for the Conservative Party and a Labour majority.[99] This was months after the fuel protests of September 2000 had seen the Conservatives briefly take a narrow lead over Labour in the opinion polls.[100]
In 2001,
Michael Howard then stood for the leadership unopposed on 6 November 2003.[104] Under Howard's leadership in the 2005 general election, the Conservative Party increased their total vote share and—more significantly—their number of parliamentary seats, reducing Labour's majority.[105] The day following the election, Howard resigned.
David Cameron won the 2005 leadership election.[106] He then announced his intention to reform and realign the Conservatives.[107][108] For most of 2006 and the first half of 2007, polls showed leads over Labour for the Conservatives.[109] Polls became more volatile in summer 2007 with the accession of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. The Conservatives gained control of the London mayoralty for the first time in May 2008 after Boris Johnson defeated the Labour incumbent, Ken Livingstone.[110]
2010–present: Return to government
In May 2010, the Conservative Party returned to government, first under a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and later as a series of majority and minority governments. During this period there were five Conservative Prime Ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. The initial period of this time, primarily under the premiership of David Cameron, was marked by the ongoing effects of the
After the 2015 general election, the government held a referendum on membership of the European Union; after the country voted to leave, David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister. His successor was Theresa May, whose premiership was marked by attempts to pass an EU withdrawal bill, a snap general election which resulted in the Conservatives losing their majority, and internal strifes within her party over her EU withdrawal bill. As she was unable to pass her EU withdrawall agreement she ultimately resigned in 2019.
After May's resignation, Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Conservative Party by its membership. Later that year he held a general election that resulted in the largest Conservative majority since 1987; subsequently Johnson's withdrawal bill passed a month later. Throughout 2020 Johnson presided over the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[112] From late 2021 onwards, Johnson received huge public backlash for the Partygate scandal, in which various senior members of government, aides, and Cabinet Office staff were revealed to be holding parties and other gatherings during lockdown contrary to Government guidance.[113] This, along with several other scandals, eventually led nearly 60 government officials resigning, which prompted Johnson's own resignation in July 2022.
Liz Truss was chosen by the party membership as Johnson's successor, but after a controversial 'mini-budget' prompted outrage she resigned after 44 days. She was succeeded by Rishi Sunak in late 2022.
The Conservatives time in office has been marked by several controversies. Allegations of
During the period of the Cameron
2010–2016: David Cameron
The 2010 election resulted in a hung parliament with the Conservatives having the most seats but short of an overall majority.[126] Following the resignation of Gordon Brown, Cameron was named the country's new Prime Minister, and the Conservatives entered government in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats—the first postwar coalition government.[127][128]
Cameron's premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the
At the
2016–2019: Theresa May
On 11 July 2016, Theresa May became the leader of the Conservative Party.[137] May promised social reform and a more centrist political outlook for the Conservative Party and its government.[138] May's early cabinet appointments were interpreted as an effort to reunite the party in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union.[139]
She began the process of withdrawing the UK from the European Union in March 2017.[140] In April 2017, the Cabinet agreed to hold a general election on 8 June.[141] In a shock result, the election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party needing a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP to support a minority government.[142][143]
Her Premiership was dominated by Brexit as she carried out negotiations with the European Union, adhering to the
Subsequent to the EU referendum vote, and through the premierships of May, Boris Johnson, and their successors, the party shifted right on the political spectrum.[26]
2019–2022: Boris Johnson
In July 2019, Boris Johnson became Leader of the party.[146] He became Prime Minister the next day amidst significant political turmoil. Johnson had made withdrawal from the EU by 31 October "with no ifs, buts or maybes" a key pledge during his campaign for party leadership.[147]
Johnson lost his working majority in the
The
Johnson presided over the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[154] From late 2021 onwards, Johnson received huge public backlash for the Partygate scandal, in which various senior members of government, aides, and Cabinet Office staff were pictured holding parties and other gatherings during lockdown contrary to Government guidance.[155] The Metropolitan Police eventually fined Johnson for breaking lockdown rules in April 2022.[156] In July 2022, Johnson admitted to appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip while being aware of allegations of sexual assault against him.[157] This, along with Partygate and increasing criticisms on Johnson's handling of the cost-of-living crisis, provoked a government crisis following a loss in confidence and nearly 60 resignations from government officials; eventually leading to Johnson announcing his resignation as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister on 7 July.[158][159]
2022: Liz Truss
Boris Johnson's successor as leader was confirmed as Liz Truss on 5 September, following a leadership election.[160] In a strategy labelled
2022–present: Rishi Sunak
Another
Policies
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in the United Kingdom |
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Economic policy
The Conservative Party believes that a free market and individual achievement are the primary factors behind economic prosperity. A leading economic theory advocated by Conservatives is supply-side economics. This theory holds that reduced income tax rates increase growth and enterprise (although a reduction in the budget deficit has sometimes taken priority over cutting taxes).[174] The party has recently focused on the social market economy in Britain, promoting a free market for competition with social balance to create fairness. This has included curbs on the banking sector, enterprise zones to revive regions in Britain and grand and extensive infrastructure projects, such as high-speed rail.[175]
One concrete economic policy of recent years has been opposition to the European single currency, the euro. With the growing Euroscepticism within his party, John Major negotiated a British opt-out in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which enabled the UK to stay within the European Union without adopting the single currency. All subsequent Conservative leaders have positioned the party firmly against the adoption of the euro.
The 50% top rate of
Social policy
Socially conservative policies such as tax incentives for married couples and the belief that benefits for those out of work should be reduced may have played a role in the party's electoral decline in the 1990s and early 2000s, and so the party has attempted to seek a new direction. As part of their coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative government did support the introduction of equal marriage rights for LGBT+ individuals in 2010, though 139 Conservative MPs, a majority, voted against the 2013 same-sex marriage act.[177][178][179] After the 2019 general election, there are now 20 LGBT+ Conservative MPs in Parliament, more than there were during the prior Parliament.[180]
Since 1997, debate has occurred within the party between 'modernisers' such as Alan Duncan,[181] who believe that the Conservatives should modify their public stances on social issues, and 'traditionalists' such as Liam Fox[182][183] and Owen Paterson,[184] who believe that the party should remain faithful to its traditional conservative platform. In the current parliament, modernising forces are represented by MPs such as Neil O'Brien, who has argued that the party needs to renew its policies and image, and is said to be inspired by Macron's centrist politics.[185] Ruth Davidson is also seen as a reforming figure. Many of the original 'traditionalists' remain influential, though Duncan Smith's influence in terms of Commons contributions has waned.[186]
The party has strongly criticised Labour's "state multiculturalism".[187] Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said in 2008 that state multiculturalism policies had created a "terrible" legacy of "cultural despair" and dislocation, which has encouraged support for "extremists" on both sides of the debate.[188] David Cameron responded to Grieve's comments by agreeing that policies of "state multiculturalism" that treat social groups as distinct, for example policies that "treat British Muslims as Muslims, rather than as British citizens", are wrong. However, he expressed support for the premise of multiculturalism on the whole, arguing that it was "absolutely right" to encourage society to integrate more "to build a strong British identity for the future".[188]
Official statistics showed that EU and non-EU
Foreign policy
For much of the 20th century, the Conservative Party took a broadly
Close
Though the US–British relationship in foreign affairs has often been termed a 'Special Relationship', a term coined by Winston Churchill, this has often been observed most clearly where leaders in each country are of a similar political stripe. Out of power and perceived as largely irrelevant by American politicians, Conservative leaders Hague, Duncan-Smith, and Howard each struggled to forge personal relationships with presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. However, the Republican 2008 presidential candidate, John McCain, spoke at the 2006 Conservative Party Conference.[198]
The Conservatives have proposed a Pan-African
Beyond relations with the United States, the Commonwealth and the EU, the Conservative Party has generally supported a pro free-trade foreign policy within the mainstream of international affairs. The degree to which Conservative Governments have supported interventionist or non-interventionist presidents in the US has often varied with the personal relations between the US president and the British Prime Minister.
Although stances have changed with successive leadership, the modern Conservative Party generally supports cooperation and maintaining friendly relations with the
In 2018, the party pledged to proscribe all wings of the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah and this was adopted as a UK-wide policy in 2019.[211][212] In 2019, the Conservative government under Boris Johnson announced plans to stop the influence of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on local politics which included prohibiting local councils in the United Kingdom from boycotting Israeli products.[213][214][215]
Defence policy
After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the Conservative Party supported the coalition military action in Afghanistan. The Conservative Party believed that success in Afghanistan would be defined in terms of the Afghans achieving the capability to maintain their own internal and external security. They have repeatedly criticised the former Labour Government for failing to equip British Forces adequately in the earlier days on the campaign—especially highlighting the shortage of helicopters for British Forces resulting from Gordon Brown's £1.4bn cut to the helicopter budget in 2004.[216]
The Conservative Party believes that in the 21st century defence and security are interlinked. It has pledged to break away from holding a traditional Strategic Defence Review and have committed to carrying out a more comprehensive Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) immediately upon coming into office. This review will include both defence and homeland security related matters. The Labour Government last conducted a review in 1998. To prevent a long gap in the future it also pledged to hold regular defence reviews every 4–5 years, and if necessary will put this requirement into legislation. Party officials claim that the SDSR will be a major improvement, and will ensure that Britain maintains generic and flexible capability to adapt to any changing threats. It will be a cross-departmental review that will begin with foreign policy priorities and will bring together all the levers of domestic national security policy with overseas interests and defence priorities.[217]
As well as an SDSR, the Conservative Party pledged in 2010 to undertake a fundamental and far-reaching review of the procurement process and how defence equipment is provided in Britain. The Conservative Party has said that there will be four aims for British defence procurement: to provide the best possible equipment at the best possible price; to streamline the procurement process to ensure the speedy delivery of equipment to the front line; to support our industry jobs at home by increasing defence exports; to provide defence procurement that underpins strategic relationships abroad and; to provide predictability to the defence industry. The Conservative Party also pledged to increase Britain's share of the global defence market as Government policy.[218]
NATO
The Conservative Party upholds the view that NATO remains and should remain the most important security alliance for the United Kingdom.[219]
It has advocated for the creation of a fairer funding mechanism for NATO's expeditionary operations and called for all NATO countries to meet their required defence spending 2% of GDP. As well as this, some Conservatives believe that there is scope for expanding NATO's Article V to include new threats such as
European defence
The Conservative Party aims to build enhanced bilateral defence relations with key European partners and believes that it is in Britain's national interest to cooperate fully with all its European neighbours. It has pledged to ensure that any EU military capability must supplement and not supplant British national defence and NATO, and that it is not in the British interest to hand over security to any supranational body.[220]
The Conservatives see it as a priority to encourage all members of the European Union to do more in terms of a commitment to European security at home and abroad. Regarding the defence role of the European Union, the Conservatives pledged to re-examine some of Britain's EU Defence commitments to determine their practicality and utility; specifically, to reassess UK participation provisions like Permanent Structured Cooperation, the European Defence Agency and EU Battlegroups to determine if there is any value in Britain's participation.
Nuclear weapons
The Conservatives support the UK's possession of nuclear weapons through the Trident nuclear programme.[220]
Health and drug policy
In 1945, the Conservatives declared support for universal healthcare.[221] Since entering office in 2010, they have introduced the Health and Social Care Act, constituting the biggest reformation that the NHS has ever undertaken.[222]
The Conservative Party supports
Education and research
In education, the Conservatives pledged to review the
In higher education, the Conservatives have increased tuition fees to £9,250 per year, however have ensured that this will not be paid by anyone until they are earning over £25,000. The Scottish Conservatives also support the re-introduction of tuition fees in Scotland. In 2016 the Conservative government extended student loan access in England to postgraduate students to help improve access to education.[226]
Within the EU, the UK is one of the largest recipients of research funding in the European Union, receiving £7 billion between 2007 and 2015, which is invested in universities and research-intensive businesses.[227] Following the vote to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May guaranteed that the Conservative government would protect funding for existing research and development projects in the UK.[228]
In autumn 2017 the Conservatives introduced the T Level qualification aimed at improving the teaching and administration of technical education.[229]
Family policy
As prime minister, David Cameron wanted to 'support family life in Britain' and put families at the centre of domestic social policymaking.[230] He stated in 2014 that there was 'no better place to start' in the Conservative mission of 'building society from the bottom up' than the family, which was responsible for individual welfare and well-being long before the welfare state came into play.[230] He also argued that 'family and politics are inextricably linked'.[230] Both Cameron and Theresa May have aimed at helping families achieve a work-home balance and have previously proposed to offer all parents 12 months parental leave, to be shared by parents as they choose.[231] This policy is now in place, offering 50 weeks total parental leave, of which 37 weeks are paid leave, which can be shared between both parents.[232]
Other policies have included doubling the free hours of childcare for working parents of three and four-year-olds from 15 hours to 30 hours a week during term-time, although parents can reduce the number of hours per week to 22 and spread across 52 weeks of the year. The government also introduced a policy to fund 15 hours a week of free education and childcare for 2-year-olds in England if parents are receiving certain state benefits or the child has a SEN statement or diagnosis, worth £2,500 a year per child.[233][234]
Jobs and welfare policy
One of the Conservatives' key policy goals in 2010 was to reduce the number of people in the UK claiming state benefits, and increase the number of people in the workforce. Between 2010 and 2014, all claimants of Incapacity Benefit were moved onto a new benefit scheme, Employment and Support Allowance, which was then subsumed into the Universal Credit system alongside other welfare benefits in 2018.[235][236][237]
Until 1999, Conservatives opposed the creation of a
Energy and climate change policy
In 2019, the Conservatives became the first national government in the world to officially declare a climate emergency (second in the UK after the SNP).[244] In November 2020, the Conservatives announced a 10-point plan for a 'green industrial revolution', with green enterprises, an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars, quadruple the amount of offshore wind power capacity within a decade, fund a variety of emissions-cutting proposals, and spurn a proposed green post-COVID-19 recovery.[246] In 2021, the Conservatives announced plans to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035.[247]
Justice, crime and security policy
In 2010, the Conservatives campaigned to cut the perceived bureaucracy of the modern police force and pledged greater legal protection to people convicted of defending themselves against intruders.
The party has also campaigned for the creation of a UK Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act 1998, but this was vetoed by their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. Some Conservatives, particularly within the socially conservative Cornerstone Group, support the re-introduction of the death penalty.
The Conservatives' 2017 manifesto pledged to create a national infrastructure police force, subsuming the existing British Transport Police; Civil Nuclear Constabulary; and Ministry of Defence Police "to improve the protection of critical infrastructure such as nuclear sites, railways and the strategic road network".[248]
European Union policy
No subject has proved more divisive in the Conservative Party in recent history than the role of the United Kingdom within the European Union. Though the principal architect of the UK's entry into the European Communities (which became the European Union) was Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, and both Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan favoured some form of European union, most contemporary Conservative opinion is opposed to closer economic and particularly political union with the EU. This is a noticeable shift in British politics, as in the 1960s and 1970s the Conservatives were more pro-Europe than the Labour Party: for example, in the 1971 House of Commons vote on whether the UK should join the European Economic Community, only 39 of the then 330 Conservative MPs were opposed to membership.[249][250]
The Conservative Party has members with varying opinions of the EU, with
In 2009 the Conservative Party actively campaigned against the
Constitutional policy
Traditionally the Conservative Party has supported the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom and its traditional Westminster system of politics. The party opposed many of Tony Blair's reforms, such as the removal of the hereditary peers,[253] the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, and the 2009 creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, a function formerly carried out by the House of Lords.
There was also a split on whether to introduce a British Bill of Rights that would replace the Human Rights Act 1998; David Cameron expressed support, but party grandee Ken Clarke described it as "xenophobic and legal nonsense".[254]
In 2019, the Conservatives' manifesto committed to a broad constitutional review in a line which read "after Brexit we also need to look at the broader aspects of our constitution: the relationship between the government, parliament and the courts".[255]
Organisation
Party structure
The Conservative Party comprises the voluntary party, parliamentary party (sometimes called the political party) and the professional party.
Members of the public join the party by becoming part of a local constituency
.The
The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) is effectively head of the Professional Party and leads financing, organisation of elections and drafting of policy.
The Conservative Party Board is the party's ultimate decision-making body, responsible for all operational matters (including fundraising, membership and candidates) and is made up of representatives from each (voluntary, political and professional) section of the Party.[257] The Party Board meets about once a month and works closely with CCHQ, elected representatives and the voluntary membership mainly through a number of management sub-committees (such as membership, candidates and conferences).
Membership
Membership peaked in the mid-1950s at approximately 3 million, before declining steadily through the second half of the 20th century.[260] Despite an initial boost shortly after David Cameron's election as leader in December 2005, membership resumed its decline in 2006 to a lower level than when he was elected. In 2010, the Conservative Party had about 177,000 members according to activist Tim Montgomerie,[261] and in 2013 membership was estimated by the party itself at 134,000.[262]
The membership fee for the Conservative Party is £25, or £5 if the member is under the age of 23. From April 2013 until the 2015 general election people could join Team2015 without being Party members, and take part in political campaigning for the party. At the 2018 Conservative Spring Forum, Party chairman Brandon Lewis announced that the party's membership stood at 124,000.[263]
According to an estimation of the right-wing Bow Group think-tank, in 2013 the Conservative Party lost 35–40% of its membership due to the Same Sex Marriage Bill.[264][265]
Prospective parliamentary candidates
Associations select their constituency's candidates.
Young Conservatives
Young Conservatives is the youth wing of the Conservative Party for members aged 25 and under. The organisation aims to increase youth ownership and engagement in local associations.[270] From 1998 to 2015, the youth wing was called Conservative Future, and had branches at universities and at parliamentary constituency level. It was shut down in 2015 after allegations that bullying by Mark Clarke had caused the suicide of Elliot Johnson, a 21-year-old party activist.[271][272][273] The current incarnation was launched in March 2018.
Conferences
The major annual party events are the Spring Forum and the Conservative Party Conference, which takes place in Autumn in alternately Manchester or Birmingham. This is when the National Conservative Convention holds meetings.
Funding
In the first decade of the 21st century, half the party's funding came from a cluster of fifty "donor groups", and a third of it from only fifteen.[274] In the year after the 2010 general election, half the Conservatives' funding came from the financial sector.[275] In 2013, the Conservative Party had an income of £25.4 million, of which £749,000 came from membership subscriptions.[276]
In 2015, according to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, the party had an income of about £41.8 million and expenditures of about £41 million.[277] Construction businesses, including the Wates Group and JCB, have also been significant donors to the party, contributing £430,000 and £8.1m respectively between 2007 and 2017.[278] The Advisory Board of the party represents donors who have given significant sums to the party, typically in excess of £250,000.[279] In December 2022 The Guardian reported 10% of Conservative peers were large party donors and gave nearly £50m in total.[280]
Financial ties to Russian oligarchs
The Conservative Party has received funding from
One of the first was Lubov Chernukhin, wife of former deputy finance minister and investment company
An investigation by the Good Law Project found that in spite of Johnson's claims that donations from those with links to the Russian government was to stop,[283] since the start of the war, the Conservatives have accepted at least £243,000 from Russia and Kremlin-associated donors.[287] In February 2022, the Labour Party used Electoral Commission information to calculate that that donors who had made money from Russia or Russians had given £1.93m to either the Conservative party or constituency associations since Boris Johnson's premiership began.[288] Then-party leader Liz Truss said that the donations would not be returned, stating that they had been "properly declared".[289]
International organisations
The Conservative Party is a member of a number of international organisations, most notably the
At a European level, the Conservatives are members of the
Logo
When Sir Christopher Lawson was appointed as a marketing director at Conservative Central Office in 1981, he was surprised to find that, apart from a few diverse symbols, there was no logo to represent the party. He developed a design based on the Olympic flame in the colours of the Union Jack,[291] which was intended to represent leadership, striving to win, dedication, and a sense of community.[292] The emblem was adopted for the 1983 general election.[291] In 1989, the party's director of communications, Brendan Bruce, found through market research that recognition of the symbol was low and that people found it old fashioned and uninspiring. It was decided to redesign the existing logo, rather than adopt an entirely new one which might be interpreted as signalling a change of the party's ethos. Using a design company headed by Michael Peters, an image of a hand carrying a torch was developed, which referenced the Statue of Liberty.[293]
In 2006, there was a rebranding exercise to emphasise the Conservatives' commitment to environmentalism; a project costing £40,000 resulted in a sketched silhouette of an oak tree, a national symbol, which was said to represent "strength, endurance, renewal and growth".[294] A change from green to the traditional Conservative blue colour appeared in 2007,[295] followed by a version with the Union Jack superimposed in 2010.[296] An alternative version featuring the colours of the Rainbow flag was unveiled for an LGBT event at the 2009 conference in Manchester.[297]
Party factions
The Conservative Party has a variety of internal factions or ideologies, including
One-nation Conservatives
Part of the Conservatism series |
One-nation conservatism |
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One-nation conservatism was the party's dominant ideology in the 20th century until the rise of Thatcherism in the 1970s. It has included in its ranks Conservative Prime Ministers such as Stanley Baldwin, Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath.[305] One-nation Conservatives in the contemporary party include former First Secretary of State Damian Green, the current chair of the One Nation Conservatives caucus.
The name itself comes from a famous phrase of
One-nation Conservatives often invoke
Free-market Conservatives
The "free-market wing" of
Whilst a number of party members are
Thatcher herself claimed philosophical inspiration from the works of Burke and
Part of the Politics series on |
Toryism |
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Traditionalist Conservatives
This
Prominent MPs from this wing of the party include Andrew Rosindell, Edward Leigh and Jacob Rees-Mogg—the latter two being prominent Roman Catholics, notable in a faction marked out by its support for the established Church of England.
Relationships between the factions
Sometimes two groupings have united to oppose the third. Both Thatcherite and traditionalist Conservatives rebelled over Europe (and in particular Maastricht) during John Major's premiership; and traditionalist and One Nation MPs united to inflict Margaret Thatcher's only major defeat in Parliament, over Sunday trading.
Not all Conservative MPs can be easily placed within one of the above groupings. For example, John Major was the ostensibly "Thatcherite" candidate during the 1990 leadership election, but he consistently promoted One-Nation Conservatives to the higher reaches of his cabinet during his time as Prime Minister. These included Kenneth Clarke as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Michael Heseltine as Deputy Prime Minister.[311]
Electoral performance and campaigns
National campaigning within the Conservative Party is fundamentally managed by the CCHQ campaigning team, which is part of its central office[312]
However, it also delegates local responsibility to Conservative associations in the area, usually to a team of Conservative activists and volunteers
The Voter Communications Department is line-managed by the
UK general election results
This chart shows the electoral performance of the Conservative Party in each general election since 1835.[315][316]
For all election results, including: devolved elections, London elections, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, combined authority elections and European Parliament elections see: Electoral history of the Conservative Party (UK)
For results of the Tories, the party's predecessor, see here.
Election | Leader | Votes | Seats | Position | Government | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | ||||
1835 | Robert Peel | 261,269 | 40.8% | 273 / 658
|
98 | 41.5% | 2nd | Whig |
1837 | 379,694 | 48.3% | 314 / 658
|
41 | 47.7% | 2nd | Whig | |
1841 | 379,694 | 56.9% | 367 / 658
|
53 | 55.8% | 1st | Conservative | |
1847 | Earl of Derby | 205,481 | 42.7% | 325 / 656 [a]
|
42 | 49.5% | 1st | Whig |
1852 | 311,481 | 41.9% | 330 / 654 [a]
|
5 | 50.5% | 1st | Conservative | |
1857 | 239,712 | 34.0% | 264 / 654
|
66 | 40.4% | 2nd | Whig | |
1859 | 193,232 | 34.3% | 298 / 654
|
34 | 45.6% | 2nd | Whig | |
1865 | 346,035 | 40.5% | 289 / 658
|
9 | 43.9% | 2nd | Liberal | |
1868[fn 1] | Benjamin Disraeli | 903,318 | 38.4% | 271 / 658
|
18 | 41.2% | 2nd | Liberal |
1874 | 1,091,708 | 44.3% | 350 / 652
|
79 | 53.7% | 1st | Conservative | |
1880 | 1,462,351 | 42.5% | 237 / 652
|
113 | 36.3% | 2nd | Liberal | |
1885[fn 2] | Marquess of Salisbury | 2,020,927 | 43.5% | 247 / 670
|
10 | 36.9% | 2nd | Liberal minority |
1886 | 1,520,886 | 51.1% | 317 / 670
|
70 | 47.3% | 1st | Conservative– Liberal Unionist
| |
1892 | 2,159,150 | 47.0% | 268 / 670
|
49 | 40.0% | 2nd | Liberal | |
1895 | 1,894,772 | 49.0% | 340 / 670
|
72 | 50.7% | 1st | Conservative–Liberal Unionist | |
1900 | 1,767,958 | 50.3% | 335 / 670
|
5 | 50.0% | 1st | Conservative–Liberal Unionist | |
1906 | Arthur Balfour | 2,422,071 | 43.4% | 131 / 670
|
204 | 19.6% | 2nd | Liberal |
January 1910 | 3,104,407 | 46.8% | 240 / 670
|
109 | 35.8% | 2nd | Liberal minority | |
December 1910 | 2,420,169 | 46.6% | 235 / 670
|
5 | 35.1% | 2nd | Liberal minority | |
Merged with Liberal Unionist Party in 1912 to become the Conservative and Unionist Party | ||||||||
1918[fn 3] | Bonar Law | 3,472,738 | 38.4% | 379 / 707 [b]
|
108 | 53.6% | 1st | Coalition Liberal –Conservative
|
1922 | 5,294,465 | 38.5% | 344 / 615
|
35 | 55.9% | 1st | Conservative | |
1923 | Stanley Baldwin | 5,286,159 | 38.0% | 258 / 625
|
86 | 41.3% | 1st | Labour minority |
1924 | 7,418,983 | 46.8% | 412 / 615
|
124 | 67.0% | 1st | Conservative | |
1929[fn 4] | 8,252,527 | 38.1% | 260 / 615
|
152 | 42.3% | 2nd | Labour minority | |
1931 | 11,377,022 | 55.0% | 470 / 615
|
210 | 76.4% | 1st | Conservative–Liberal–National Labour | |
1935 | 10,025,083 | 47.8% | 386 / 615
|
83 | 62.8% | 1st | Conservative–Liberal National–National Labour | |
1945 | Winston Churchill | 8,716,211 | 36.2% | 197 / 640
|
189 | 30.8% | 2nd | Labour |
1950 | 11,507,061 | 40.0% | 282 / 625
|
85 | 45.1% | 2nd | Labour | |
1951 | 13,724,418 | 48.0% | 302 / 625
|
20 | 48.3% | 1st | Conservative–National Liberal | |
1955 | Anthony Eden | 13,310,891 | 49.7% | 324 / 630
|
22 | 51.4% | 1st | Conservative–National Liberal |
1959 | Harold Macmillan | 13,750,875 | 49.4% | 345 / 630
|
21 | 54.8% | 1st | Conservative–National Liberal |
1964 | Alec Douglas-Home | 12,002,642 | 43.4% | 298 / 630
|
47 | 47.3% | 2nd | Labour |
1966 | Edward Heath | 11,418,455 | 41.9% | 250 / 630
|
48 | 39.7% | 2nd | Labour |
1970[fn 5] | 13,145,123 | 46.4% | 330 / 630
|
80 | 52.4% | 1st | Conservative | |
February 1974 | 11,872,180 | 37.9% | 297 / 635
|
33 | 46.8% | 2nd | Labour minority | |
October 1974 | 10,462,565 | 35.8% | 277 / 635
|
20 | 43.6% | 2nd | Labour | |
1979 | Margaret Thatcher | 13,697,923 | 43.9% | 339 / 635
|
62 | 53.4% | 1st | Conservative |
1983 | 13,012,316 | 42.4% | 397 / 650
|
38 | 61.1% | 1st | Conservative | |
1987 | 13,760,935 | 42.2% | 376 / 650
|
21 | 57.8% | 1st | Conservative | |
1992 | John Major | 14,093,007 | 41.9% | 336 / 651
|
40 | 51.6% | 1st | Conservative |
1997 | 9,600,943 | 30.7% | 165 / 659
|
171 | 25.0% | 2nd | Labour | |
2001 | William Hague | 8,357,615 | 31.7% | 166 / 659
|
1 | 25.2% | 2nd | Labour |
2005 | Michael Howard | 8,785,941 | 32.4% | 198 / 646
|
32 | 30.7% | 2nd | Labour |
2010 | David Cameron | 10,704,647 | 36.1% | 306 / 650
|
108 | 47.1% | 1st | Conservative–Liberal Democrats |
2015 | 11,334,920 | 36.9% | 330 / 650
|
24 | 50.8% | 1st | Conservative | |
2017 | Theresa May | 13,632,914 | 42.3% | 317 / 650
|
13 | 48.8% | 1st | Conservative minority with DUP confidence and supply |
2019 | Boris Johnson | 13,966,451 | 43.6% | 365 / 650
|
48 | 56.2% | 1st | Conservative |
- Note
- ^ The first election held under the Reform Act 1867.
- ^ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
- ^ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1918 in which all men over 21, and most women over the age of 30 could vote, and therefore a much larger electorate.
- Representation of the People Act 1928which gave all women aged over 21 the vote.
- ^ Franchise extended to all 18- to 20-year-olds under the Representation of the People Act 1969.
Associated groups
Ideological groups
|
Interest groups
|
Think tanks
Alliances
|
|
|
Party structures
|
See also
- History of the Conservative Party (UK)
- Electoral history of the Conservative Party (UK)
- List of conservative parties by country
- List of Conservative Party MPs (UK)
- List of Conservative Party (UK) general election manifestos
- List of political parties in the United Kingdom
- Politics of the United Kingdom
Notes
- ^ The Conservative Party was a founding member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party, leaving the party in 2021. Its members in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe sit with the European Conservatives Group and Democratic Alliance.[15][16]
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Further reading
- Bale, Tim. The Conservatives since 1945: the Drivers of Party Change. (2012, Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-923437-0)
- ISBN 978-0-7456-4858-3.
- Ball, Stuart. Portrait of a Party: The Conservative Party in Britain 1918–1945 (Oxford UP, 2013).
- Beer, Samuel. "The Conservative Party of Great Britain," Journal of Politics 14#1 (February 1952), pp. 41–71 in JSTOR Archived 15 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Blake, Robert (2011). The Conservative Party from Peel to Major (4th ed.). London: Faber Finds.
- Blake, Robert and Louis William Roger, eds. Churchill: A Major New Reassessment of His Life in Peace and War (Oxford UP, 1992), 581 pp; 29 essays by scholars on specialized topics
- Blake, Robert. The Conservative Party From Peel To Churchill (1970) online
- Bulmer-Thomas, Ivor. The Growth of the British Party System Volume I: 1640–1923 (1965); The Growth of the British Party System Volume II: 1924–1964, revised to 1966 Conservative-Labour Confrontation (1967)
- Campbell, John. Margaret Thatcher; Volume Two: The Iron Lady (Pimlico (2003). ISBN 0-7126-6781-4
- Charmley, John. "Tories and Conservatives." in David Brown, Robert Crowcroft, and Gordon Pentland eds., The Oxford Handbook of Modern British Political History, 1800–2000 (2018): 306.
- Dorey, Peter; Garnett, Mark; Denham, Andrew. From Crisis to Coalition: The Conservative Party, 1997–2010 (2011) Palgrave Macmillan.
- ——— . British conservatism: the politics and philosophy of inequality (IB Tauris, 2010), Covers more than just political party.
- Ensor, R. C. K. England, 1870–1914 online Archived 8 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, passim.
- Evans, Eric J. (2004). Thatcher and Thatcherism.
- Garnett, Mark, and Philip Lynch. The conservatives in crisis: the Tories after 1997 (1994)
- Green, E. H. H. Ideologies of conservatism: conservative political ideas in the twentieth century (2004)
- Green, E. H. H. The Crisis of Conservatism: The Politics, Economics and Ideology of the British Conservative Party, 1880–1914 (1995).
- ——— . The Crisis of conservatism: The politics, economics, and ideology of the British Conservative Party, 1880–1914 (1996)
- ISBN 978-0-593-06511-2
- Hayton, Richard, and Andrew Scott Crines, eds. Conservative orators from Baldwin to Cameron (2015).
- Hazell, Robert and Ben Yong, eds. The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government Works (Hart Publishing, 2012).
- Heppell, Timothy, and David Seawright, eds. Cameron and the Conservatives: The Transition to Coalition Government (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
- King, Anthony, ed. British Political Opinion 1937–2000: The Gallup Polls (2001)
- Lawrence, Jon. Electing Our Masters: The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair (Oxford University Press, 2009) excerpt and text search Archived 3 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- McKenzie, R. T., and A. Silver. Angels in Marble: Working-class Conservatives in Urban England (1968)
- Mowat, Charles Loch. Britain between the Wars, 1918–1940 (1955) 694 pp;
- Norton, Bruce F. Politics in Britain (2007) textbook
- Parry, J. P. "Disraeli and England," Historical Journal 43#3 (2000), pp. 699–728 in JSTOR Archived 9 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Paterson, David (2001). Liberalism and Conservatism, 1846–1905.
- Powell, David. British Politics, 1910–1935: The Crisis of the Party System (2004)
- Roberts, Andrew. Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2018), a fully detailed biography.
- Reitan, Earl Aaron. The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979–2001 (2003) Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-2203-2
- Searle, G. R. A New England?: Peace and War 1886–1918 (2005) 976pp broad survey
- Seldon, Anthony and Stuart Ball, eds. Conservative Century: The Conservative Party since 1900 (1994) 896pp; essays by experts Contents Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Shannon, Richard. The Age of Disraeli, 1868–1881: The Rise of Tory Democracy (A History of the Conservative Party Series) (1992)
- Shannon, Richard. The Age of Salisbury, 1881–1902: Unionism and Empire (A History of the Conservative Party) (1996)
- ISBN 978-0-00-730884-2
- Taylor, A. J. P. English History, 1914–1945 (1965), a standard political history of the era
- Thackeray, David. "Home and Politics: Women and Conservative Activism in Early Twentieth‐Century Britain," Journal of British Studies (2010) 49#4 pp. 826–48.
- Windscheffel, Alex. "Men or Measures? Conservative Party Politics, 1815–1951," Historical Journal Vol. 45, No. 4 (December 2002), pp. 937–51 in JSTOR Archived 15 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
Historiography
- Crowson, N. J., ed. The Longman Companion to the Conservative Party Since 1830 (2001); chronologies; relations with women, minorities, trade unions, EU, Ireland, social reform and empire.
- Harrison, Brian. "Margaret Thatcher's Impact on Historical Writing", in William Roger Louis, ed., Irrepressible Adventures with Britannia: Personalities, Politics, and Culture in Britain (London, 2013), 307–21.
- Kowol, Kit. "Renaissance on the Right? New Directions in the History of the Post-War Conservative Party." Twentieth Century British History 27#2 (2016): 290–304. online Kowol, Kit (2016). "Renaissance on the Right? New Directions in the History of the Post-War Conservative Party". Twentieth Century British History. 27 (2): 290–304. from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- Porter, Bernard. "'Though Not an Historian Myself…'Margaret Thatcher and the Historians." Twentieth Century British History 5#2 (1994): 246–56.
- Turner, John. "The British Conservative Party in the Twentieth Century: from Beginning to End?." Contemporary European History 8#2 (1999): 275–87.
External links
- Official website
- Conservatives.tv
- Conservatives in Northern Ireland Archived 3 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Conservatives in Scotland
- Constitution of the Conservative Party
- conservative-party.net – Conservative website directory
- Guardian Politics – Special Report: Conservative Party
- The Thatcher legacy 1979–2009 – International conference
- Conservative Party (UK) at Curlie