Conservative Party (political party)
The Conservative Party is a major political party in the United Kingdom, embodying a conservative ideology that emphasizes private enterprise, property rights, and limited state interference in the economy. Founded in the early 19th century, it has played a significant role in British politics, often competing with the Labour Party for dominance. The party has historically aligned itself with traditional social values and a strong military presence. The term "Tory" is commonly used to refer to members of the Conservative Party, reflecting its long-standing heritage.
Notable leaders have included Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and David Cameron, each contributing to the party's evolution and policies over time. The Conservatives returned to power in the 21st century, with Cameron leading a coalition government in 2010, followed by a majority in 2015. However, significant internal divisions arose over Brexit, culminating in the resignation of key leaders and a shift in public sentiment. The party faced increasing challenges, particularly related to economic management and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately leading to a significant electoral defeat in 2024. The Conservative Party's legacy is marked by both its historical significance and contemporary challenges, reflecting a complex landscape in UK politics.
Conservative Party (political party)
The Conservative Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that follows a conservative ideology. Central to the party's outlook is the notion of private enterprise and property without the interference of the state, although factions—most notably the One Nation bloc—have supported various degrees of economic intervention. Traditional social and cultural values and support of the military are also longstanding core principals. The term Tory is often used when speaking about the Conservative Party, though generally in a more colloquial sense. Although "Tory" was used earlier than "Conservative," both words express the same party outlook, albeit that the connotations may be positive or negative depending on who is saying it and in what context.
The party's roots date back to the 1830s or earlier, but it began dominating British politics in the early twentieth century along with its main rival, the Labour Party. Famous Conservative Party leaders have included prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli (in office 1868 and 1874–80), Winston Churchill (1940–45 and 1951–55), Margaret Thatcher (1970–90), and David Cameron (2005–16). The Conservatives became the ruling party for the first time in the twenty-first century in 2010, ousting the Labour government. Conservative member of parliament (MP) David Cameron became prime minister, but he retired in 2016 due to interparty tensions over the vote for British withdrawal from the European Union (EU), a controversial process known as Brexit. Subsequent Conservative prime ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson made Brexit a key part of the party's platform. By the time that Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak called an early election in July 2024 that saw the Labour Party retake power in a landslide victory, however, many UK citizens had grown disillusioned with the state of affairs under Conservative leadership.
Brief History
Within the European context, the Conservative Party lays claim to being the oldest political party, with the Tories coming into prominence in the seventeenth century. "Tory" and "conservative" have often been used interchangeably. The former derives from an Irish Gaelic word meaning outlaw or bandit. The term "conservative" arose in 1830 as a way to describe the party and its beliefs. The prime minister of the late eighteenth century, William Pitt the Younger, supported free trade and paved the way for a political system of modern conservatism.
The modern Conservative Party is generally said to have emerged in the 1830s. The first government officially using the Conservative name was formed by Prime Minister Robert Peel in 1834. While the party was initially associated more predominantly with landowners and aristocratic classes, inclusion of the middle classes and later the working class occurred. Key to this growth was Disraeli, who is credited with establishing central party policies and ideas in the mid-to-late 1800s. The Conservatives vied with the Liberal Party as the major political groups of the era. The nineteenth century also saw an alliance of the Liberal Unionist Party with the Tories to form the Conservative and Unionist Party.
Though they struggled at times, the Conservatives remained a dominant force into the twentieth century, while the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as their chief rival by the 1920s. From the 1930s, however, there were various crises that began to affect the Conservative Party and its prime ministers. The abdication of King Edward VIII was a contributing factor, followed by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's attempt to pander to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler by amending policy, which proved to be disastrous for the party. World War II had a profound effect on the country and party, with Winston Churchill, the Conservative prime minister, striving to lift both from the brutal outcomes of war. Churchill is considered by many to be one of the greatest leaders of the party. Yet the Conservatives' rule ended with a surprise victory by Labour in 1945 as the people demanded change.
In 1951 Churchill and the Tories regained power. They remained the country's leading party for thirteen years, with prime ministers Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan, and Alec Douglas-Home succeeding Churchill. From 1964 there was a slide, with a recession, a scandal (Prufomo), and the party losing hold. Prime Minister Edward Heath brought the conservatives back in 1970 for a brief four years.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to be elected to this role, raised the Conservative Party to success from 1979 to 1990. Revered by many abroad but often controversial domestically for issues such as the 1982 Falklands War and austerity policies, Thatcher was called the Iron Lady by supporters and opponents alike. She was succeeded as party leader and prime minister by John Major, although various party scandals led to much criticism of his government, which was soundly defeated in the 1997 general election. Centrist Labour leader Tony Blair took over the country, and the Conservatives would remain in opposition for over a decade.
The Conservative Party in the Twenty-First Century
In the early twenty-first century, David Cameron emerged as a bright young Conservative Party candidate ready to rebrand the party. Though he often faced criticism for his privileged education, he became party leader in 2005 and advocated a new approach as the UK struggled with recession. This led to success in the 2010 general election, with Cameron becoming prime minister of a coalition government formed with the Liberal Democrats. In 2015 Cameron achieved a greater victory, with the Conservatives winning a majority. Cameron generally supported relatively liberal social policies, such as the legalization of marriage between people of the same sex, along with liberal economic policies such as the privatization of state industries.
In the 2010s, a significant rift emerged in the Conservative Party (and UK politics more generally) over British membership in the EU. While Cameron and some other party members, along with many political liberals, supported membership, an increasingly vocal faction of so-called Euroskeptics argued for withdrawal from the union. A referendum was held on the issue, and the "Leave" campaign won a narrow majority in the vote, leading Cameron to resign in 2016. He was replaced by Theresa May, who was faced with negotiating the complex process for withdrawal from the EU, popularly known as Brexit. A snap election in 2017 saw the Tories lose seats in Parliament, forcing them to form a coalition government with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland and making May's Brexit plans more difficult. She struggled to gain parliamentary approval of a deal with the EU, leading to her resignation in 2019.
May was replaced by Boris Johnson, a former mayor of London who had been a key leader of the Leave campaign. He expressed potential support of a no-deal Brexit, which many observers worried would have profound negative economic impacts on Great Britain. Johnson, too, struggled to finalize a Brexit proposal at first, but he won a major victory by holding a general election in December 2019. He led the Conservatives to landslide success, giving the party its largest majority since 1987. The election was seen as a mandate to complete Brexit by any means necessary, setting up a historic turning point in UK history. While Johnson did ultimately oversee the UK's full separation from the EU in 2021, a growing loss of support from the Conservative Party combined with public dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, the state of the country's economy amid rising inflation, and Johnson's ethical missteps led him to resign in 2022.
With the Conservative Party already weakened and decreasing in public popularity, a rapid change in party leadership and a perceived failure to deliver on proposed remedies for issues such as the economy and health care only further damaged its image. After newly elected party leader and prime minister Liz Truss, who had begun serving in September 2022, resigned in October, Rishi Sunak took her place as the UK's first prime minister of color. However, many commentators noted that by May 2024, when Sunak called an early election for July, the Conservative Party would likely struggle to retain power. Upon the Labour Party's landslide election victory, which saw the Conservative Party lose 251 seats in Parliament, Sunak conceded the office to Labour's Keir Starmer, ending the fourteen-year period of twenty-first-century Conservative power.
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