Conservatism in the United Kingdom is related to its counterparts in other Western nations, but has a distinct tradition and has encompassed a wide range of theories over the decades ofconservatism. TheConservative Party, which forms the mainstreamright-wing party in Britain, has developed many different internal factions and ideologies.
Edmund Burke is often considered the father of modern English conservatism in theEnglish-speaking world.[1][2][3] Burke was a member of a conservative faction of theWhig party;[note 1] the modernConservative Party however has been described byLord Norton of Louth as "the heir, and in some measure the continuation, ofthe old Tory Party",[4] and the Conservatives are often still referred to asTories.[5] TheAustralian scholar Glen Worthington has said: "For Edmund Burke and Australians of a like mind, the essence of conservatism lies not in a body of theory, but in the disposition to maintain those institutions seen as central to the beliefs and practices of society."[6]
The old established form of English and, after theAct of Union, British conservatism, was theTory Party. It reflected the attitudes of a rural landowning class, and championed the institutions of the monarchy, theAnglican Church, the family, and property as the best defence of the social order. In the early stages of theIndustrial Revolution, it seemed to be totally opposed to a process that seemed to undermine some of these bulwarks, and the new industrial elite were seen by many as enemies to the social order. It split in 1846 following the repeal of theCorn Laws (the tariff on imported corn). Proponents of free trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries failed to make much headway as "tariff reform" resulted in new tariffs. The coalition of traditional landowners and sympathetic industrialists constituted the newConservative Party.[7]
Conservatism evolved after 1820, embracing imperialism and realisation that an expanded working-class electorate could neutralise the Liberal advantage among the middle classes. Disraeli defined the Conservative approach and strengthened Conservatism as a grassroots political force. Conservatism no longer was the philosophical defence of the landed aristocracy but had been refreshed into redefining its commitment to the ideals of order, both secular and religious, expanding imperialism, strengthened monarchy, and a more generous vision of the welfare state as opposed to the punitive vision of the Whigs and Liberals.[8] As early as 1835, Disraeli attacked the Whigs and utilitarians as slavishly devoted to an industrial oligarchy, while he described his fellow Tories as the only "really democratic party of England" and devoted to the interests of the whole people.[9] Nevertheless, inside the party there was a tension between the growing numbers of wealthy businessmen on the one side, and the aristocracy and rural gentry on the other.[10] The aristocracy gained strength as businessmen discovered that they could use their wealth to buy a peerage and a country estate.
Disraeli set up aConservative Central Office, established in 1870, and the newly formed National Union (which drew together local voluntary associations), gave the party "additional unity and strength", and Disraeli's views onsocial reform and thewealth disparity between the richest and poorest in society allegedly "helped the party to break down class barriers", according to the Conservative peer Lord Norton.[4] As a young man, Disraeli was influenced by theromantic movement andmedievalism, and developed a critique of industrialism. In his novels, he outlined an England divided into two nations, each living in perfect ignorance of each other. He foresaw, likeKarl Marx, the phenomenon of an alienated industrial proletariat. His solution involved a return to an idealised view of a corporate or organic society, in which everyone had duties and responsibilities towards other people or groups.[11]
This"one nation" conservatism is still a significant tradition in British politics, in both the Conservative Party[12][13][14] andLabour,[note 2][15] especially with the rise of theScottish National Party during the2015 general election.[16]
Although nominally a Conservative, Disraeli was sympathetic to some of the demands of theChartists and argued for an alliance between thelanded aristocracy and the working class against the increasing power of the middle class, helping to found theYoung England group in 1842 to promote the view that the rich should use their power to protect the poor from exploitation by the middle class. The conversion of the Conservative Party into a modern mass organisation was accelerated by the concept ofTory Democracy attributed toLord Randolph Churchill, father ofWinston Churchill.[17]
Winston Churchill, although best known as the most prominent conservative since Disraeli, crossed the aisle in 1904 and became a Liberal for two decades. As one of the most active and aggressive orators of his day, he thrilled the left in 1909 by ridiculing the Conservatives as, "the party of the rich against the poor, of the classes ... against the masses, of the lucky, the wealthy, the happy, and the strong against the left-out and the shut-out millions of the weak and poor." His harsh words were hurled back at him when he rejoined the Conservative Party in 1924.[18]
The shock ofa landslide defeat in 1906 forced the Conservatives to rethink their operations, and they worked to build grassroots organisations that would help them win votes.[19] Responding to their defeat, the Conservative Party created the Workers Defence Union (WDU), which was designed to frighten the working class into voting for them. Though the WDU initially promotedtariff reform to protect domestic factory jobs, it soon switched to launchingxenophobic andantisemitic attacks on immigrant workers and business owners, achieving considerable success by arousing fears of "alien subversion". The WDU's messages found recipients among the middle and upper classes as well, broadening their voter base.[20]
Women played a new role in the early twentieth century, as was signalled in 1906 with the establishment of the Women's Unionist and Tariff Reform Association (WUTRA). When the Liberals failed to support women's suffrage, the Conservatives acted, especially by passing theRepresentation of the People Act 1918 and theEqual Franchise Act of 1928.[21] They realised that housewives were often conservative in outlook, were averse to the aggressive tone of socialist rhetoric, and supported imperialism and traditional values.[22] Conservatives claimed that they represented orderly politics, peace, and the interests of the ex-serviceman's family.[23]The 1928 Act added five million more women to the electoral roll and had the effect of making women a majority, 52.7%, of the electorate in the1929 general election,[24] which was termed the "Flapper Election".[25]
A Neo-Tory movement flourished in the 1930s as part of a pan-European reaction against modernity. A network of right-wing intellectuals and allied politicians ridiculed democracy, liberalism and modern capitalism as degenerate. They warned against the emergence of a corporate state in Britain imposed from above. The intellectuals involved followed trends in Italy, France and especially Germany. The exchange of ideas with the continent was at first a source of inspiration, reassurance and hope. After Hitler's rise in 1933 it meant their downfall. War with Germany in 1939 ended British participation in transnational radical conservatism.[26]
During and after World War II, the Conservative Party made concessions to the social democratic policies enacted by the previous Labour government. This compromise was a pragmatic measure to regain power, but also the result of the early successes ofcentral planning and state ownership forming a cross-party consensus. The conservative version was known asButskellism, after the almost identicalKeynesian policies ofRab Butler on behalf of the Conservatives andHugh Gaitskell for Labour. The "post-war consensus" emerged as an all-party national government under Churchill, who promised Britons a better life after the war. Conservatives especially promoted educational reforms to reach a much larger population. The foundations of the post-war consensus was theBeveridge Report. This was a report byWilliam Beveridge, a Liberal economist who in 1942 formulated the concept of a more comprehensivewelfare state in Great Britain.[27] The report sought widespread reform by identifying the "five giants on the road of reconstruction": "Want… Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness".[28] In the report were labelled a number of recommendations: the appointment of a minister to control all the insurance schemes; a standard weekly payment by people in work as a contribution to the insurance fund; old age pensions, maternity grants, funeral grants, pensions for widows and for people injured at work; a new national health service to be established.
In the period between 1945 and 1970 (the years of the consensus), unemployment averaged less than 3%. The post-war consensus included a belief inKeynesian economics,[27] amixed economy with thenationalisation of major industries, the establishment of theNational Health Service and the creation of the modern welfare state in Britain. The policies were instituted by all governments, both Labour and Conservative, in the post-war period. The consensus has been held to characterise British politics until the economic crises of the 1970s (seeSecondary banking crisis of 1973–1975) which led to the end of thepost-war economic boom and the rise ofmonetarist economics. The roots of Keynes's economics, however, lie in a critique of the economics of the depression of the interwar period. Keynesianism encouraged a more active role of the government in order to "manage overall demand so that there was a balance between demand and output".[29]
The post-war consensus in favour of the welfare state forced conservative historians, typified byHerbert Butterfield, to re-examine British history. They were no longer optimistic about human nature, nor the possibility of progress, yet neither were they open to liberalism's emphasis on individualism. As a Christian, Butterfield could argue that God had decided the course of history but had not necessarily needed to reveal its meaning to historians.[30] Thanks toIain Macleod,Edward Heath andEnoch Powell, special attention was paid to "One-nation conservatism" (coined by Disraeli) that promised support for the poorer and working-class elements in the Party coalition.[31]
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However, in the 1980s, under the leadership ofMargaret Thatcher, and the influence ofKeith Joseph, there was a dramatic shift in the ideological direction of British conservatism, with a movement towardsfree-market economic policies andneoliberalism (commonly referred to asThatcherism).[32] As one commentator explains, "Theprivatisation of state owned industries, unthinkable before, became commonplace [during Thatcher's government] and has now been imitated all over the world."[33] Thatcher was described as "a radical in a conservative party",[33] and her ideology has been seen as confronting "established institutions" and the "accepted beliefs of the elite",[33] both concepts incompatible with the traditional conception of conservatism as signifying support for the established order and existingsocial convention (status quo).[34]
Following a third consecutive general election defeat in2005, the Conservative Party selectedDavid Cameron as party leader, followed byTheresa May in 2016, both of whom have served asPrime Minister and sought to modernise and change the ideological position of British conservatism.[35] From the 2010s to the present, the party has occupied a position on theright-wing of the political spectrum.[43]
In efforts to rebrand and increase the party's appeal, both leaders have adopted policies which align withliberal conservatism.[44][45] This has included a "greener" environmental and energy stance, and adoption of some socially liberal views, such as acceptance ofsame-sex marriage, which the Liberal Democrat MPLynne Featherstone initially put forward. Many of these policies have been accompanied by afiscal conservatism, in which they have maintained a hard stance on bringing down the deficit, and embarked upon a programme of economic austerity.
Other modern policies which align withone-nation conservatism[46] andChristian democracy[47][48] include education reform, extending student loan applicants to postgraduate applicants, and allowing those from poorer backgrounds to go further, whilst still increasing tuition fees and introducing a higher cap. There has also been an emphasis onhuman rights, in particular theEuropean Convention on Human Rights,[49] whilst also supporting individual initiative.
In 2019 the Conservatives became the first national government in the world to officially declare a climate emergency.[50] A law was passed in 2019 thatUK greenhouse gas emissions will benet zero by 2050.[51] The UK was the first major economy to embrace a legal obligation to achieve net zero carbon emissions.[52]
The 2010s saw greater division within the Conservative Party, almost exclusively overBrexit and the direction of theBrexit negotiations. Ahead of the2016 referendum on membership of theEuropean Union, 184 of the 330 Conservative MPs (55.7%) backed Remain, compared to 218 of the 232 Labour MPs (97%), and all MPs from theSNP and Liberal Democrats. Following thevote to leave on the morning of 24 June, Cameron said that he would resign as Prime Minister, and was replaced by Theresa May. In 2019, two new parliamentary caucuses were formed;One Nation Conservatives andBlue Collar Conservatives.[53]
...the financial crisis and the political instability it generated is not enough on its own to explain this turn to the right...there is a consensus throughout this issue that the party has emerged from this junction by steering itself along the road to the right
...the Conservative Party's history in incorporating ethnic minorities, and the recent post-racial turn within the party whereby increasing party diversity has coincided with an increasing turn to the Right
[...] rather than the installation of a supposedly more 'technocratic' cabinet halting and even reversing any transformation on the part of the Conservative Party from a mainstream centre-right formation into an ersatz radical right-wing populist outfit, it could just as easily accelerate and accentuate it. Of course, radical right-wing populist parties are about more than migration and, indeed, culture wars more generally. Typically, they also put a premium on charismatic leafership and, if in office, on the rights of the executive over other branches of government and any intermediate institutions. And this is exactly what we have seen from the Conservative Party since 2019
right-wing parties are also increasing the presence of women within their ranks. Prominent female European leaders include Theresa May (until recently) and Angela Merkel, from the right-wing Conservative Party in the UK and the Christian Democratic Party in Germany respectively. This article examines the extent to which women in right-wing parties are similar to their male colleagues, or whether they have a set of distinctive opinions on a range of issues
In particular, there is a clear partisan division between the main left-wing party (Labour) and political parties with pronounced pro-market preferences, such as the right-wing Conservative Party
...alignment to the Liberal Democrats (centre to left wing) and the Green Party (left wing) are positively associated with charitable behaviour at both the extensive and intensive margins, relative to being aligned with the right wing Conservative Party.
the right-wing Conservative Party in government supported TTIP...This logic reproduced also a government-opposition dynamic, whereby the right-wing Conservative Party championed the agreement
