Conservative Party History

Here follows a brief history of the Conservative party, the Party that governed Britain for 70 years between 1886 and 2003, gathered from a few sources referenced at the end

This set of notes is by no means comprehensive, nor do I claim all of it to be true. It has not been authorised by the Conservative party, although some of the sources may have been

The pictures are of famous Conservatives through the ages, point your mouse over each picture for the name of the featured Tory

The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in Europe. The term 'Conservative' has been in use since the 1830s, but the modern Party descends from the Royalist Tories of the 17th and 18th century.

The word Tories was originally used to describe rural bandits in Ireland. In the Stuart days of the 17th century it had become a term applied to monarchists in the House of Commons. By the 18th century the Tories were politicians who favoured royal authority, the established church and who sought to preserve the traditional political structure and opposed parliamentary reform. They believed that the powers of the Crown acted as a check on a wealthy vested interests in Parliament. The Whigs though, tended to support these interests in their demands on The Crown and wanted more Parliamentary power and control. After 1834 the Tories preferred to use the term Conservative.

At that time, it was Edmund Burke, a politician and writer who exclaimed the most famous of all statements of Conservative principles, stressing the need for a firm and undaunted defence of the country's traditional institutions and the Established Church, following the tragic events cross the English Channel.

Gradually, following a split in the Conservative Party caused by a controversial Corn Laws abolishment by Sir Robert's government, it was Benjamin Disraeli who rebuilt the Party. The first significant manoeuvre of The Lord Derby and Mr Disraeli's government was giving the voting power to working-class men in urban areas through the Second Reform Act 1867. Afterwards, whilst in the Opposition, Mr Disraeli strengthened his leadership and the Party's identity outside Parliament, and produced a distinctive programme which was aimed at improving (not abolishing) the traditional state institutions, improve the social conditions of the less well-off and extol the position of the United Kingdom in the world. The period of him being Prime Minister is largely remembered for his social legislation including two major Factory Acts, the Public Health Act and the first ever Act for slum clearance. There were also a couple of measures giving trade unionists rights of peaceful picketing and collective bargaining. His greatest achievement however, lay in the foreign affairs. Under his leadership, the Conservative Party became closely identified with an unequivocal and firm defence of British interests abroad which has remained one of the Party's principle elements of policy ever since.

In 1931 the second Labour Government were defeated. Labour dissidents, led by the former Socialist Ramsay McDonald, joined the Conservative Party to form the National Government to cope with the economic crisis. By 1933, the economic recovery had begun with the production and employment rising to unprecedented levels by 1937. The standards of living rose during the 1930s with the increased availability of things such as electrical goods and private housing.

In the immediate post-war period Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and R. A. Butler in the Shadow Cabinet, and Reginald Maulding, Iain Macleod, Enoch Powell, and others in the Party's reconstituted Research Department, dominated policy and research. Their restatement of Conservatism emphasised how incentives and freedom from State interference could contribute to economic expansion. The dramatic prosperity and advances in the social welfare fields achieved during the 1950s helped to ensure the Conservatives' thirteen years of power from 1951 to 1964. Conservatism had been redefined to be a product of three basic principles - freedom of the individual, respect for the three institutions of State (the Church of England, Parliament and the Monarchy) and limited Government.

The new Conservative Government, under Edward Heath, brought forward policies to tackle Britain's serious economic problems. Difficulties arose when the trade unions resisted the Industrial Relations Act, and were increased by the international economic crises caused by sharp rises in the price of oil. Mr Heath's great achievement was to take the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community, the forerunner of today's European Community.

A year later, the Conservative Party elected Margaret Thatcher as Leader. She embarked on a radical reassessment of policies in all areas. After the victory in May 1979, the Conservatives began transforming the United Kingdom, reversing the socio-communist policies of the 1970s and rebuilding Britain's shattered international position. In the 1980s our country underwent a remarkable period of change: living standards soared as the industry was rejuvenated and enterprise unleashed.

By strengthening the economic position of the United Kingdom, the Conservative Government also increased our country's influence in the wider world and Europe in particular, where our national interests have been, are, and will under any Conservative Government always be resolutely and rigidly defended.

Defeat came in the 1997 elections as 'New Labour' swept to power. However, the election of William Hague as leader lead to a reorganisation of the Party. He began his term under the slogan of 'Compassionate Conservatism', but soon turned to the traditional right under pressure to reform the Party. His greatest achievements during this time (not withstanding meeting myself...) include the creation of Conservtive Future to unite the youth in the party into one struggle, rather than leaving them separated and isolated in constituency associations where they're the only members under 30, and leading a revival of the Party in council elections on the same date of the second disasterous defeat in 2001. This new powerbase of local councilors will provide well-known local figures with which to fight the next election, the sheer numbers improving the chances of an excellent calibre of candidate. The joys of the market economy.

Of course, William Hague becoming the second leader of the Party in its history (after Austin Chamberlain) to not also hold the Premiership allowed another first - the first leader to have never previously held Government office - Iain Duncan Smith - the third leader never to hold office. IDS, as he was termed, became the first leader to have been elected with the help of the membership of the entire party. This lead to problems as he was percieved to have only thirty percent of MP's behind him. The final ballot was delayed by a week due to the events of September the 11th, 2001. He quickly silenced the Party's bickering over Europe, imposing a hardline but comprehensive policy on the issue. His style of leadership differed from previous party leaders in many ways. Over the handling of the repeal of section twenty-eight, for example, he imposed a three-line whip on members backing a tory amendment, but announced he would not be punishing MPs that defied it. Known as the Quiet Man of politics, his performances in the Commons were lacklustre at times, a distinct difference from William Hagues performances. His successes in local and Scottish elections of may 2002 suggested a reprieve from talk of his leadership, but in the end, his previous lack of experience showed as niave appointments of both friends and family in his personal staff lead to open rebuke from the party and a vote of confidence narrowly lost. The first leader of the twenty-first century also imposed some new systems on the party, including a trial in which local people had a say in the Party's choice of candidate for their constituency. This, along with the policy of appointed sherrifs, showed an interesting train of thought developing within the party to a more ingrained form of democracy. Perhaps the Party of Government in the twentieth century is due to be the Party of Governance in the twenty-first.

Michael Howard, previously Shadow Chancellor under IDS and Home Secretary under John Major, became the third leader of the party since the Labour Landside of 1997. He was unanimously backed for the position by MPs, removing the need for a leadership vote to be put to members. Infamous for having "Something of the night" (Anne Widdecombe) about him, the suave QC with the former Miss World wife found his loyalty to the office of the leader rewarded in the ballot that was never to be. He brought a new professionalism to the campaign to oust the Prime-minister, drafting in Lynton Crosby, who had successfully run John Howard's campaign for election in Australia. Maurice Saatchi, who had famously run Mageret Thatcher's 'Labour Isn't Working' campaign also returned to the party hierarchy to play a role in the campaign. The crisply presented campaign eventually fell back on the same old themes as had been presented by William Hague in the previous election battle, though the pledges Howard made through several newspapers were reflected on by the re-elected Tony Blair, as pointed out by Howard in a parliamentary attack after the election. The election brought the number of Conservative MPs up to just shy of 200, but fell well short of expectations against a Government heavily damaged by Iraq. Indeed, the increase in MPs is thought to have been due more to good targetting than an actual increase in voters for the party. Michael Howard announced his resignation from the party leadership after the election, and stayed on as a caretaker leader during the following leadership battle. He reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet to allow the leadership hopefuls to show off their talents before the contest was declared. The cabinet included the then hot favourate David Davis, George Osborne, thought to be a strong challenger from the Nottinghill Set of modern, young Conservatives, and the relative unknown David Cameron. After the dust from the leadership battle had settled, Howard announced his retirement from parliament, after a career stretching more than 26 years, to take effect from the next election. He left a strengthened party, which had been seen to conduct a genial and enlightening leadership campaign. He also supported the, in the end, winning candidate, David Cameron.

The leadership campaign of 2005 was unusual for the Conservatives in many ways. It was carried out very much in public, with good publicity surrounding the every move of the candidates at each stage of the contest. Alan Duncan, an openly gay MP, was touted as a possible contender, but chose to not put his candidacy forward in the end. George Osborne, the then Shadow Chancellor, also chose not to step forward, putting his weight behind his friend David Cameron. David Davis, a strong favourate amongst the parliamentary party, came into the contest as favourate. His gruff exterior, brashness in chasing votes and hyping himself up and the general feeling that he had been campaigning for the leadership for some years, gathering a large batch of supporters to do the shouting for him during times when no leadership contests existed for him to shout in, did not help Davis. Nor did a faltering speech at the party conference that was seen as robust, but not of leadership material. David Cameron's performance at the same conference seems to have been a turning point, when the public and party moved behind him. In the end, with Davis' support falling even in parliament, Cameron stepped out in the final ballot of the Davids, to present himself to the Party faithful, who duly presented him with the Party leadership. He immediately began to try and define his leadership, drawing on green issues and compasionate conservatism to highlight trends in his personal manifesto. He was seen as a bit of a Blair-lite at times, supporting the Prime Minister at times when he could've defeated him, but this was all a part of the rebranding, turning a party of opposition back into a party of government.

There will eventually be a page on Conservative Future

For more information on the Conservatives, visit the main website at:
www.conservatives.com

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Urgent Disclaimer: if mistakes have been made,please inform me - nothing is deliberate...

The majority of this history was taken, with kind permision from the author, from:

www.serve.com/lordgovernor/

The images are mostly from:

Alta-Vista image search

Except for the Iain Duncan Smith picture (My own photograph)
 Michael Howard (My own photograph)
John Major (My own photograph)
and William Hague (Conservatives.com)

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