The Conservative Party was founded in 1834 from theTory Party and was one of two dominant political parties in the 19th century, along with theLiberal Party. UnderBenjamin Disraeli it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of theBritish Empire. In 1912 theLiberal Unionist Party merged with the party to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Its rivalry with theLabour Party has shaped modern British politics for the last century.David Cameron sought to modernise the party afterhis election as leader in 2005, and the party governed from 2010 to 2024 under five prime ministers, latterlyRishi Sunak.
For much of modern British political history the United Kingdom exhibited a wideurban–rural political divide;[34] the party's voting and financialsupport base has historically consisted primarily of homeowners, business-owners, farmers, real-estate-developers andmiddle-class voters, especially in rural and suburban areas ofEngland.[35][36][37][38][39] Sincethe EU membership referendum in 2016 the Conservatives have targetedworking-class voters from traditional Labour strongholds.[40][41][42][43] The party's domination of British politics throughout the 20th century made it one of the most electorally successful political parties in history.[44][45][46][47]
Some writers trace the party's origins to theTory Party, which it soon replaced. Other historians point to a faction, rooted in the 18th-centuryWhig Party, that coalesced aroundWilliam Pitt the Younger in the 1780s. They were known as "Independent Whigs", "Friends of Mr Pitt" or "Pittites", and never used terms such as "Tory" or "Conservative". From about 1812 the name "Tory" was commonly used for a new party that, according to the historian Robert Blake, "are the ancestors of Conservatism". Blake adds that Pitt's successors after 1812 "were not in any sense standard-bearers of 'true Toryism'".[48]
Tory was an insult that enteredEnglish politics during theExclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681, which derived from theMiddle Irish wordtóraidhe (modernIrish:tóraí) meaningoutlaw orrobber, which in turn derived from the Irish wordtóir, meaningpursuit, since outlaws were "pursued men".[49][50]
The term "Conservative" was suggested as a title for the party in an article byJ. Wilson Croker published in theQuarterly Review in 1830.[51] The name immediately caught on and was formally adopted under the aegis ofRobert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of theTamworth Manifesto. The term "Conservative Party" rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845.[52][53]
YoungWinston Churchill denounced Chamberlain's attack on free trade, and helped to organise the opposition inside the Unionist/Conservative Party. Nevertheless, Balfour, as party leader, introduced protectionist legislation.[54] 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 MinisterHenry Campbell-Bannerman who calledan election in January 1906, which produced a massive Liberal victory. Liberal Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith enacted a great deal of reform legislation, but the Unionists worked hard at grassroots organizing. Two general elections were held in 1910,in January andin December. The two main parties were now almost dead equal in seats, but the Liberals kept control with a coalition with theIrish Parliamentary Party.[55][56]
In 1912 the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party. In Ireland theIrish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged Unionists who were opposed toIrish Home Rule into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservativewhip at Westminster, essentially forming 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.[57][58] UnderBonar 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.[59]
While theLiberals were mostly against theFirst World War until the invasion of Belgium, Conservative leaders were strongly in favour of aidingFrance and stoppingGermany. The Liberal party was in full control of the government until its mismanagement of the war effort under theShell Crisis badly hurt its reputation. An all-party coalition government was formed in May 1915. In late 1916 the LiberalDavid Lloyd George became prime minister, but the Liberals soon split and the Conservatives dominated the government, especially after theirlandslide in the 1918 election. The Liberal party never recovered, but theLabour Party gained strength after 1920.[60]
Nigel Keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914 but 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 onanti-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.[61] It aggressively sought female voters in the 1920s, often relying on patriotic themes.[62]
In 1922 Bonar Law andStanley Baldwin led the breakup of the coalition, and the Conservatives governed until 1923, when a minority Labour government led byRamsay 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 andNational Liberals).[63] In May 1940, during theSecond World War, a more balanced coalition was formed[63]—theNational Government—which, under the leadership ofSir Winston Churchill, saw the United Kingdom through the Second World War. However, the party lost the1945 general election in a landslide to the resurgent Labour Party.[64][65]
The concept of the "property-owning democracy" was coined byNoel Skelton in 1923 and became a core principle of the party.[66]
While serving in Opposition during the late 1940s, the Conservative Party exploited and incited growing public anger atfood rationing, scarcity, controls,austerity and government bureaucracy. It used the dissatisfaction with thesocialist andegalitarian policies of the Labour Party to rally middle-class supporters and build a political comeback that won them the1951 general election.[67]
Modernising the party
Harold Macmillan is closely associated with the post-war settlement.
In 1947 the party published itsIndustrial Charter which marked its acceptance of the "post-war consensus" on themixed economy andlabour rights.[68]David Maxwell Fyfe chaired a committee into Conservative Party organisation that resulted in the Maxwell Fyfe Report (1948–49). The report required the party to do more fundraising, by forbidding constituency associations from demanding large donations from candidates, with the intention of broadening thediversity of MPs. In practice it may have had the effect of lending more power toconstituency parties and making candidates more uniform.[69]Winston Churchill, the party leader, brought in aparty chairman to modernise the party:Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton, rebuilt the local organisations with an emphasis on membership, money, and a unified national propaganda appeal on critical issues.[70]
With a narrow victory at the1951 general election, despite losing the popular vote, Churchill was back in power. Apart from rationing, which was ended in 1954, most of thewelfare state enacted by Labour was accepted by the Conservatives and became part of the "post-war consensus" that was satirised asButskellism and that lasted until the 1970s.[71][72] The Conservatives were conciliatory towardstrade unions, but they did privatise the steel and road haulage industries in 1953.[73] During the Conservatives' thirteen-year tenure in office, pensions went up by 49% in real terms, sickness and unemployment benefits by 76% in real terms, and supplementary benefits by 46% in real terms. However, family allowances fell by 15% in real terms.[74] "Thirteen Wasted Years" was a popular slogan attacking the Conservative record, primarily from Labour. In addition, there were attacks by the right wing of the Conservative Party itself for its tolerance of socialist policies and reluctance to curb the legal powers of labour unions.
The Conservatives were re-electedin 1955 andin 1959 with larger majorities. The Conservative prime ministers Churchill,Anthony Eden,Harold Macmillan andAlec Douglas-Home promoted relatively liberal trade regulations and less state involvement throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. TheSuez Crisis of 1956 was a humiliating defeat for Eden, but his successor, Macmillan, minimised the damage and focused attention on domestic issues and prosperity. Following controversy over the selections of Macmillan and Douglas-Home via a process of consultation known as the 'Magic Circle',[75][76] a formal election process was created andthe first leadership election was held in 1965, won byEdward Heath.[77]
Heath's 1970–74 government was known for taking the UK into theEuropean Economic Community (EEC), although the right-wing of the party objected to his failure to control the trade unions at a time when a declining British industry saw many strikes, as well as the1973–75 recession. Since accession to the EEC, which developed into the European Union, British membership has been a source of heated debate within the party.
Heath had come to power inJune 1970 and the last possible date for the next general election was not until mid-1975.[78] However, a general election was held inFebruary 1974 in a bid to win public support duringa national emergency caused by the miners' strike. Heath's attempt to win a second term at this "snap" election failed, as a deadlock resultleft no party with an overall majority. Heath resigned within days, after failing to gainLiberal Party support to form a coalition government. Labour won theOctober 1974 election with an overall majority of three seats.[79]
As prime minister, Thatcher focused on rejecting the mild liberalism of thepost-war consensus that tolerated or encouraged nationalisation, strong labour unions, heavy regulation, and high taxes.[81] She did not challenge theNational Health Service, and supported theCold War policies of the consensus, but otherwise tried to dismantle and delegitimise it. She built a right-wing political ideology that became known asThatcherism, based on social and economic ideas from British and American intellectuals such asFriedrich Hayek andMilton 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 ofeconomic 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.[66] Some local Conservative-run councils enacted profitable local sales schemes during the late 1960s. By the 1970s many working-class people could afford to buy homes, and eagerly adopted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at a sizeable discount. The new owners were more likely to vote Conservative, as Thatcher had hoped.[82][83]
Thatcher led the Conservatives to two further electoral victoriesin 1983 andin 1987. She was deeply unpopular in certain sections of society due to high unemployment and her response to theminers' strike. Unemployment had doubled between 1979 and 1982, largely due to Thatcher'smonetarist battle against inflation.[84][85] At the time of the1979 general election inflation had been at 9% or under for the previous year, then increased to over 20% in the first two years of the Thatcher ministry, but it had fallen again to 5.8% by the start of 1983.[86]
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 theFalklands War in June 1982, 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.[84] 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.[87]
The introduction of theCommunity Charge (known by its opponents as thepoll tax) in 1989 is often cited as contributing to her political downfall. Internal party tensions led to a leadership challenge by the Conservative MPMichael Heseltine and she resigned on 28 November 1990.[88]
1990–1997: John Major
John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1990–1997)
John Major won the party leadership election on 27 November 1990, and his appointment led to an almost immediate boost in Conservative Party fortunes.[89] Theelection was held on 9 April 1992 and the Conservatives won a fourth successive electoral victory, contrary to predictions from opinion polls.[90][91] The Conservatives became the first party to attract 14 million votes in a general election.[92][93]
On 16 September 1992 the Government suspended Britain's membership of theEuropean Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), after the pound fell lower than its minimum level in the ERM, a day thereafter referred to asBlack Wednesday.[94] 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.[95] The party subsequently lost much of its reputation for good financial stewardship. The end of the recession was declared in April 1993.[96][95] From 1994 to 1997 Majorprivatised British Rail.
The party was plagued by internal division and infighting, mainly over the UK's role in theEuropean Union. The party'sEurosceptic wing, represented by MPs such asJohn Redwood, opposed further EU integration, whilst the party's pro-European wing, represented by those such as Chancellor of the ExchequerKenneth Clarke, was broadly supportive. The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions.[97] Major survived a leadership challenge in 1995 by Redwood, but Redwood received 89 votes, further undermining Major's influence.[98]
The Conservative government was increasingly accused in the media of "sleaze". Their support reached its lowest ebb in late 1994. Over the next two years the Conservatives gained some credit for the strong economic recovery and fall in unemployment.[99] But an effective opposition campaign by the Labour Party culminated in a landslide defeat for the Conservativesin 1997, their worst defeat since the1906 general election. The 1997 election left the Conservative Party as an England-only party, with all Scottish and Welsh seats having been lost, and not a single new seat having been gained anywhere.
1997–2010: Political wilderness
Major resigned as party leader and was succeeded byWilliam Hague.[100] The2001 general election resulted in a net gain of one seat for the Conservative Party and returned a mostly unscathed Labour Party back to government.[101] This all occurred months after thefuel protests of September 2000 had seen the Conservatives briefly take a narrow lead over Labour in the opinion polls.[102]
In 2001Iain Duncan Smith waselected leader of the party.[100] Although Duncan Smith was a strongEurosceptic,[103] during his tenure, Europe ceased to be an issue of division in the party as it united behind calls for a referendum on the proposedEuropean Union Constitution.[104] However, before he could lead the party into a general election, Duncan Smith lost the vote on amotion of no confidence by MPs.[105] This was despite the Conservative support equalling that of Labour in the months leading up to his departure from the leadership.[99]
Michael Howard thenstood for the leadership unopposed on 6 November 2003.[106] Under Howard's leadership at the2005 general election, the Conservative Party increased their total vote share and—more significantly—their number of parliamentary seats, reducing Labour's majority.[107] The day following the election, Howard resigned.
David Cameron won the2005 leadership election.[108] He then announced his intention to reform and realign the Conservatives.[109][110] For most of 2006 and the first half of 2007, polls showed leads over Labour for the Conservatives.[111] Polls became more volatile in summer 2007 with the accession ofGordon Brown as prime minister. The Conservatives gained control of theLondon mayoralty for the first time in 2008 afterBoris Johnson defeated the Labour incumbent,Ken Livingstone.[112]
2010–2025: Austerity, Brexit, and the pandemic
In May 2010, following the2010 general election, the Conservative Party came to government, first undera coalition with theLiberal Democrats and later as a series of majority and minority governments. During this period there were five Conservative Prime Ministers: Cameron,Theresa May, Johnson,Liz Truss andRishi Sunak. The initial period of this time, primarily duringCameron's premiership, was marked by the ongoing effects of the2008 financial crisis and the implementation ofausterity measures in response. From 2015 the predominant political event was theBrexit referendum and the process to implement the decision to leave the trade bloc.
The Conservatives' time in office was marked by several controversies. The presence ofIslamophobia in the Conservative Party, including allegations against its policies, fringes, and structure, was often in the public eye. These include allegations against senior politicians such as Johnson,Michael Gove, May andZac Goldsmith.
During the period of the Cameron[113][114][115] and Johnson governments,[116] a number of Conservative MPs were accused or convicted of sexual misconduct, with cases including the consumption of pornography in parliament, rape, groping and sexual harassment.[117][118][119] In 2017 a list of 36 sitting Conservative MPs accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour was leaked. The list is believed to have been compiled by party staff.[120] Following accusations of multiple cases of rape against an unnamed Conservative MP in 2023[121] and allegations of a cover-up,[122][123]Baroness Warsi, who has served as the party's co-chairman under Cameron, stated that the Conservative Party has had a problem handling complaints of sexual misconducts against members appropriately.[124]
Cameron's premiership was marked by the effects of the2008 financial crisis; these involved a large deficit in government finances that his government sought to reduce through controversialausterity measures.[128][129] In September 2014 the Unionist side, championed by Labour as well as by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, won in theScottish Independence referendum by 55% No to 45% Yes on the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?"[130][131]
At the2015 general election the Conservatives formed a majority government under Cameron.[132] After speculation of a referendum on the UK's EU membership throughout his premiership, a vote was announced for June 2016 in which Cameron campaigned to remain in the EU.[133][134] On 24 June 2016 Cameron announced his intention to resign as prime minister after he failed to convince the British public tostay in the European Union.[135]
On 11 July 2016Theresa May became the leader of the Conservative Party.[136] May promised social reform and a more centrist political outlook for the Conservative Party and its government.[137] May's early cabinet appointments were interpreted as an effort to reunite the party in the wake of the UK'svote to leave the European Union.[138]
May's premiership was dominated by Brexit as she carried out negotiations with the European Union, adhering to theChequers Plan, which resulted in her draftBrexit withdrawal agreement.[143] May survived two votes of no confidence in December 2018 and January 2019, but after versions of her draft withdrawal agreement wererejected by Parliament three times, May announced her resignation on 24 May 2019.[144]
Subsequent to the EU referendum vote, and through the premierships of May, Johnson and their successors, the party shifted right on the political spectrum.[31]
In July 2019Boris Johnson became the leader of the party.[145] He became prime minister the next day. Johnson had made withdrawal from the EU by 31 October "with no ifs, buts or maybes" a key pledge duringhis campaign for the party leadership.[146]
The2019 general election resulted in the Conservatives winning a majority, the party's largest since1987.[150] It won several constituencies, particularly informerly traditional Labour seats.[40][41] On 20 December 2019, MPs passed an agreement for withdrawing from the EU; the United Kingdom formally left on 31 January 2020.[151][152]
Johnson presided over the UK's response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[153] From late 2021 onwards, Johnson received huge public backlash for thePartygate scandal, in which staff and senior members of government were pictured holding gatherings during lockdown contrary to Government guidance.[154] TheMetropolitan Police eventually fined Johnson for breaking lockdown rules in April 2022.[155] In July 2022 Johnson admitted to having appointedChris Pincher as deputy chief whip while being aware of allegations of sexual assault against him.[156] This, along with Partygate and increasing criticisms on Johnson's handling of the cost-of-living crisis, provokeda government crisis following a loss in confidence and nearly 60 resignations from government officials, eventually leading to Johnson announcing his resignation on 7 July.[157][158]
Johnson's successor as leader was confirmed asLiz Truss on 5 September, followinga leadership election.[159] In a strategy labelledTrussonomics she introduced policies in response to thecost-of-living crisis,[160] including price caps on energy bills and government help to pay them.[161]Truss's mini-budget on 23 September faced severe criticism and markets reacted poorly;[162] the pound fell to a record low of 1.03 against the US dollar, andUK government gilt yields rose to 4.3 per cent, prompting theBank of England to trigger an emergency bond-buying programme.[163][164] After condemnation from the public, the Labour Party and her own party, Truss reversed some aspects of the mini-budget, including the abolition of the top rate of income tax.[165][166] Followinga government crisis Truss announced her resignation as prime minister on 20 October[167] after 44 days in office, the shortest premiership in British history.[167][168] Truss also oversaw the worst polling the Conservatives had ever received, with Labour polling as high as 36 per cent above the Conservatives amidst the crisis.[169]
On 24 October 2022Rishi Sunak was declared leader, the firstBritish Asian leader of the Conservatives and the first British Asian prime minister. On 22 May 2024 Sunak announced a general election to be held on 4 July 2024.[170]
During the2024 general election, public opinion in favour of a change in government was reflected by poor polling from the Conservative Party, withReform UK making strong polling gains.[171] The Conservative manifesto focused on the economy, taxes, welfare, expanding free childcare, education, healthcare, environment, energy, transport and crime.[172][173] It pledged to lower taxes, increase education and NHS spending, deliver 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors, introduce a new model ofNational Service, and to treble Britain's offshore wind capacity and support solar energy.[174][175] The final result was the lowest seat total at a general election in the history of the Conservative Party, with well below the previous record low of 156 seats won at the1906 general election.[176]Kemi Badenoch became party leader following Sunak's defeat and resignation.[177]
The Conservative Party believes that afree market and individual achievement are the primary factors behind economic prosperity. A leading economic theory advocated by Conservatives issupply-side economics, which holds that reduced income tax rates increase growth and enterprise (although a reduction in the budget deficit has sometimes taken priority over cutting taxes).[178] The party focuses on thesocial market economy, promoting a free market for competition with social balance to create fairness. This has included education reform, vocational skills reform, expandingfree childcare, curbs on the banking sector, enterprise zones to revive regions in Britain, and grand and extensive infrastructure projects, such as high-speed rail.[179][180]
One concrete economic policy of recent years has been opposition to the European single currency, theeuro. With the growingEuroscepticism within his party,John Major negotiated a British opt-out in the 1992Maastricht 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 theeuro.
The 50% top rate ofincome tax was reduced to 45% by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition.[181] Alongside a reduction in tax and commitments to keep taxation low, the Conservative Party has significantly reduced government spending, through theausterity programme which commenced in 2010, subsequent to the2008 financial crisis. In 2019 and during the election campaign that year, Boris Johnson signalled an end to austerity with increased public expenditure, in areas including healthcare, education, transport, welfare, and the police.[182][183]
Jobs and welfare policy
One of the Conservatives' key policy goals in 2010 was to reduce the number of people unemployed, and increase the number of people in the workforce, by strengthening apprenticeships, skills and job training.[184] Between 2010 and 2014, all claimants ofIncapacity Benefit were moved onto a new benefit scheme,Employment and Support Allowance, which was then subsumed into theUniversal Credit system alongside other welfare benefits in 2018.[185][186][187] The Universal Credit system came under immense scrutiny following its introduction. Shortly after her appointment to theDepartment for Work and Pensions, the then Secretary of StateAmber Rudd acknowledged there were real problems with the Universal Credit system, especially the wait times for initial payments and the housing payments aspect of the combined benefits.[188] Rudd pledged specifically to review and address the uneven impact of Universal Credit implementation on economically disadvantaged women, which had been the subject of numerous reports by the Radio 4You and Yours programme and others.[188]
Until 1999 Conservatives opposed the creation of anational minimum wage, as they believed it would cost jobs, and businesses would be reluctant to start business in the UK from fear of high labour costs.[189] However the party have since pledged support and in theJuly 2015 budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced aNational Living Wage of £9/hour.[190] The National Minimum Wage in 2024 was £11.44 for those over 21.[191] The party support, and have implemented, the restoration of the link between pensions and earnings, and seek to raise retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2028.[192]
Transport and infrastructure policy
The Conservatives have invested in public transport and infrastructure, aimed to promoting economic growth.[193] This has included rail (includinghigh-speed rail), electric vehicles, bus networks, andactive transport.[194]
In 2020 new funding for active travel infrastructure was announced by the Conservatives.[195] The party's stated aim was for England to be a "great walking and cycling nation" and for half of all journeys in towns and cities being walked or cycled by 2030. The plan was accompanied by £2 billion in additional funding over the following five years for cycling and walking. The plan also introduced new inspectorate, known asActive Travel England.[196][197]
In 2021 the Conservatives announced a white paper that would transform the operation of the railways. The rail network will be partly renationalised, with infrastructure and operations brought together under the state-owned public bodyGreat British Railways.[198] On 18 November 2021, the government announced the biggest ever public investment in Britain's rail network costing £96 billion and promising quicker and more frequent rail connections in the North and Midlands: theIntegrated Rail Plan includes substantially improved connections north–south as well as east–west and includes three new high speed lines.[199][200]
Energy and climate change policy
David Cameron brought several 'green' issues to the forefront of his 2010 campaign. These included proposals designed to impose a tax on workplace car parking spaces, a halt to airport growth, a tax on cars with exceptionally poor petrol mileage, and restrictions on car advertising. Many of these policies were implemented in the Coalition—including the 'Green Deal'.[201] A law was passed in 2019 thatUK greenhouse gas emissions will benet zero by 2050.[202] The UK was the first major economy to embrace a legal obligation to achieve net zero carbon emissions.[203]
In 2019 the Conservatives became the first national government in the world to officially declare a climate emergency (second in the UK after theSNP).[202] In November 2020 the Conservatives announced a 10-point plan for a 'green industrial revolution', withgreen enterprises, an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars, quadruple the amount ofoffshore wind power capacity within a decade, fund a variety of emissions-cutting proposals, and spurn a proposedgreen post-COVID-19 recovery.[204] In 2021, the Conservatives announced plans to cutcarbon emissions by 78% by 2035.[205]
Social policy
Conservative Party supporters at Pride London in 2010
Socially conservative policies such as tax incentives for married couples 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 againstthe 2013 same-sex marriage act. Thus the extent to which this policy represented a more liberal Conservative party has been challenged.[212]
Since 1997 debate has occurred within the party between 'modernisers' such asAlan Duncan,[213] who believe that the Conservatives should modify their public stances on social issues, and 'traditionalists' such asLiam Fox[214][215] andOwen Paterson,[216] who believe that the party should remain faithful to its traditional conservative platform. In the previous parliament, modernising forces were represented by MPs such asNeil O'Brien, who has argued that the party needs to renew its policies and image, and is said to be inspired byMacron's centrist politics.[217]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.[218]
The party has strongly criticised what it describes as Labour's "statemulticulturalism".[219] 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.[220] 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.[220]
Official statistics showed that EU and non-EUmass immigration, together withasylum seeker applications, all increased substantially during Cameron's term in office.[221][222][223] However, this was not solely as a result of intentional government policy – during this period, there were significant refugee flows into the UK and an increased level of asylum applications due to conflict and persecution globally.[224][225] In 2019 former Conservative Home SecretaryPriti Patel announced that the government would enact stricter immigration reforms, crack down on illegal immigration, and scrap freedom of movement with theEuropean Union following the completion ofBrexit.[226] In the four years following this announcement, net migration increased annually, in large part due to the number of health care workers, and their dependents, that were invited into the country because of recruitment problems caused by Brexit and the pandemic.[227][228] The number of asylum seekers dropped as a proportion of total net migrants, whereas the number of people coming to the UK to study increased during that time period.[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 andTheresa May 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]
Health and drug policy
In 1945 the Conservatives declared support for universal healthcare.[235] They introduced theHealth and Social Care Act 2012, constituting the biggest reformation that the NHS has ever undertaken.[236]
The Conservative Party supportsdrug prohibition.[237] Legalisation ofcannabis for some medical uses is favoured by some Conservative politicians.[238] The party has rejected both decriminalising drugs for personal use and the creation ofsafe consumption sites.[239] In 2024 the Conservative government passed a law to phase out smoking by banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born in or after 2009.[240]
Foreign policy
Margaret Thatcher (second left),Ronald Reagan (far left) and their spouses in 1988. Thatcher and Reagan developed a close relationship against the Soviet Union.
For much of the 20th century, the Conservative Party took a broadlyAtlanticist stance in relations with theUnited States, Members ofEU andNATO, favouring close ties with the United States and similarly aligned nations such asCanada,Australia,New Zealand,South Africa,Korea,Taiwan,Singapore andJapan. The Conservatives have generally favoured a diverse range of international alliances, ranging from theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to theCommonwealth of Nations. The Conservatives have proposed a Pan-AfricanFree Trade Area, which it says could helpentrepreneurial dynamism of African people.[241] The Conservatives pledged to increase aid spending to 0.7% of national income by 2013.[241] They met this pledge in 2014, when spending on aid reached 0.72% of GDP and the commitment was enshrined in UK law in 2015.[242]
CloseAnglo-American Relationship have been an element of Conservative foreign policy since the Second World War. Though the Anglo–American relationship in foreign affairs has often been termed a 'Special Relationship', a term coined byWinston Churchill, this has often been observed most clearly where leaders in each country are of a similar political stripe.David Cameron had sought to distance himself from formerUS PresidentBush and hisneoconservative foreign policy.[243] Despite traditional links between the UK Conservatives and USRepublicans, London MayorBoris Johnson, a Conservative, endorsedBarack Obama in the 2008 election.[244] However, after becoming prime minister, Johnson developed a close relationship withRepublican PresidentDonald Trump.[245][246][247] This has been described as a reestablishing of theSpecial Relationship with the United States following Britain's withdraw from theEuropean Union, as well as returning to the links between the Conservatives and Republican Party.[248] Beyond relations with the United States, the Commonwealth and theEU, the Conservative Party has generally supported a pro free-trade foreign policy within the mainstream of international affairs.
Although stances have changed with successive leadership, the modern Conservative Party generally supports cooperation and maintaining friendly relations withIsrael. Historic Conservative statesmen such asArthur Balfour andWinston Churchill supported the idea of national home for the Jewish people. UnderMargaret Thatcher Conservative support for Israel was seen to crystallise.[249][250] Support for Israel has increased under the leaderships ofTheresa May andBoris Johnson, with prominent Conservative figures within the May and Johnson ministries strongly endorsing Israel. In 2016, Theresa May publicly rebutted statements made by US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry over the composition of the Israeli government.[251][252] In 2018 the party pledged to proscribe all wings of the Lebanese-based militant groupHezbollah and this was adopted as a UK-wide policy in 2019.[253][254] In 2019, the Conservative government under Boris Johnson announced plans to stop the influence of theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on local politics which included prohibiting local councils from boycotting Israeli products.[255][256][257]
Defence policy
After theterrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the Conservative Party supported the coalition military action inAfghanistan. 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 formerLabour 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 fromGordon Brown's £1.4bn cut to the helicopter budget in 2004.[258]
The Conservative Party believes that in the 21st century defence and security are interlinked. It has pledged to break away from holding a traditionalStrategic Defence Review and committed to carrying out a more comprehensiveStrategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).[259] 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, and to increase Britain's share of the global defence market as Government policy.[260]
The Conservative Party upholds the view thatNATO remains and should remain the most important security alliance for the United Kingdom.[261] 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. Some Conservatives believe that there is scope for expanding NATO's Article V to include new threats such ascybersecurity.
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 andNATO, and that it is not in the British interest to hand over security to any supranational body.[262]
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, theEuropean Defence Agency and EU Battlegroups to determine if there is any value in Britain's participation.
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 theEuropean Communities (which became the European Union) was Conservative Prime MinisterEdward Heath, 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.[263][264]
The Conservative Party has members with varying opinions of the EU, withpro-European Conservatives joining the affiliateConservative Group for Europe, while some Eurosceptics left the party to join theUnited Kingdom Independence Party. Whilst the vast majority of Conservatives in recent decades have been Eurosceptics, views among this group regarding the UK's relationship with the EU have been polarised between moderate, soft Eurosceptics who support continued British membership but oppose further harmonisation of regulations affecting business and accept participation in amulti-speed Europe, and a more radical, economically libertarian faction who oppose policy initiatives from Brussels, support the rolling back of integration measures from the Maastricht Treaty onwards, and have become increasingly supportive of a complete withdrawal.[263]
There was also a split on whether to introduce a British Bill of Rights that would replace theHuman Rights Act 1998; David Cameron expressed support, but partygrandee Ken Clarke described it as "xenophobic and legal nonsense".[266]
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".[267]
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 theHuman Rights Act 1998, but this was vetoed by their coalition partners theLiberal Democrats.[268] The Conservatives' 2017 manifesto pledged to create a national infrastructure police force, subsuming the existingBritish Transport Police;Civil Nuclear Constabulary; andMinistry of Defence Police "to improve the protection of critical infrastructure such as nuclear sites, railways and the strategic road network".[269]
Education and research
In education, the Conservatives pledged to review theNational Curriculum, introduce the English Baccalaureate, and reformGCSE,A-level, other national qualifications, apprenticeships and training.[270] The restoration of discipline was also highlighted, as they want it to be easier for pupils to be searched for contraband items, the granting of anonymity to teachers accused by pupils, and the banning of expelled pupils being returned to schools via appeal panels.
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.[271]
Within the EU, the UK was one of the largest recipients of research funding in theEuropean Union, receiving £7 billion between 2007 and 2015, which is invested in universities and research-intensive businesses.[272] Following the vote to leave the EU, Prime MinisterTheresa May guaranteed that the Conservative government would protect funding for existing research and development projects in the UK.[273] In 2017, the Conservatives introduced theT Level qualification aimed at improving the teaching and administration of technical education.[274]
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 constituencyConservative Association.[275] The country is also divided into regions, with each region containing a number of areas, both having a similar structure to constituency associations. TheNational Conservative Convention sets the voluntary party's direction. It is composed of all association chairs, officers from areas and regions, and 42 representatives and the Conservative Women's Organisation.[276] The Convention meets twice a year. Its Annual General Meeting is usually held at Spring Forum, with another meeting usually held at theConservative Party Conference. In the organisation of the Conservative Party, constituency associations dominate selection of local candidates, and some associations have organisedopenparliamentary primaries.
The1922 Committee consists ofbackbench MPs, meeting weekly while parliament is sitting. Frontbench MPs have an open invitation to attend. The 1922 Committee plays a crucial role in the selection of party leaders. All Conservative MPs are members of the 1922 Committee by default. There are 20 executive members of the committee, agreed by consensus among backbench MPs.
TheConservative Party Board is the party's ultimatedecision-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.[276] 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).
Leadership
The leader of the Conservative Party has beenKemi Badenoch since 2 November 2024.
The leader of a party that wins an election invariably becomes Prime Minister. The political task of the leader of the Conservative Party is, if possible, to win ageneral election for, or at least to secure the survival of, the Conservative and Unionist party.[277] William Hague has described the Tory Party leadership selection process as "absolute monarchy moderated by regicide".[277]
Historically the leader of the Conservative Party was chosen by a "Magic Circle" of senior figures from which, after a "customary processes of consultation" within the Party, an opaque process led to a new leader "emerging".[278] In 1957Anthony Eden resigned, and was expected to be succeeded byRab Butler, who was expected to win, orHarold Macmillan. UnexpectedlyAlec Douglas-Home was chosen.Iain Macleod inThe Spectator suggested that the leadership race had been fixed by the "Magic Circle" of nine senior Conservatives, eight out of whom wereOld Etonians.[279]
Douglas-Home saw the need for democratisation, and in the mid-1960s instituted a new mechanism for selecting a leader: they would be elected by Conservative MPs in a process presided over by the Chairman of the1922 Committee. To stand, an MP needed a proposer and a seconder. After a first ballot, a candidate with both an overall majority and 15% more of the votes cast than any other candidate would become leader. Otherwise there would be a second ballot, with the winner of an overall majority becoming leader. If still no winner, the three top candidates would take part in a final ballot, with MPs voting for their first and second preferences.Edward Heath won the first election under these rules.
In 1998, whenWilliam Hague was party leader, he introduced reforms intended to make the election more democratic. MPs would vote repeatedly to whittle the contenders down to two, one of whom would be picked by a vote of the entire party membership. These rules, current as of 2025, are explained in detail in a House of Commons research briefing, with brief description of earlier procedures.[280] Once a leader has been elected, they cannot be challenged for the leadership for one year[277] (although they can be pressed to resign).
Membership
Share of the vote received by Conservatives (blue), Whigs/Liberals/Liberal Democrats (orange), Labour (red) and others (grey) in general elections since 1832[281][282]
Membership peaked in the mid-1950s at approximately 3 million, before declining steadily through the second half of the 20th century.[283] Despite an initial boost shortly afterDavid 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 activistTim Montgomerie,[284] and in 2013 membership was estimated by the party itself at 134,000.[285] The Conservative Party had a membership of 124,000 in March 2018.[286] In May 2019 its membership was thought to be around 160,000, with over half of its members being over 55.[287][288] Its membership rose to 200,000 in March 2021.[289] In July 2022 it had 172,437 members.[290] In July 2025, it was revealed that the party's membership had fallen to 123,000.[2]
Associations select their constituency's candidates.[275][291] Some associationshave organised open parliamentary primaries. A constituency Association must choose a candidate using the rules approved by, and (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) from a list established by, the Committee on Candidates of theBoard of the Conservative Party.[292] Prospective candidates apply to theConservative Central Office to be included on the approved list of candidates, some candidates will be given the option of applying for any seat they choose, while others may be restricted to certain constituencies.[293][294] A Conservative MP can only be deselected at a special general meeting of the local Conservative association, which can only be organised if backed by a petition of more than fifty members.[293]
Young Conservatives is theyouth wing of the Conservative Party for members aged 25 and under. The organisation aims to increase youth ownership and engagement in local associations.[295] From 1998 to 2015, the youth wing was calledConservative Future, and had branches at universities and at parliamentary constituency level. It was shut down in 2015 after allegations that bullying byMark Clarke had caused the suicide of Elliot Johnson, a 21-year-old party activist.[296][297][298] The current incarnation was launched in March 2018.
In the first decade of the 21st century, half theparty's funding came from a cluster of fifty "donor groups", and a third of it from only fifteen.[299] In the year after the 2010 general election, half the Conservatives' funding came from the financial sector.[300]
For 2013 the Conservative Party had an income of £25.4 million, of which £749,000 came from membership subscriptions.[301] In 2015, according to accounts filed with theElectoral Commission, the party had an income of about £41.8 million and expenditures of about £41 million.[302]
Construction businesses, including theWates Group andJCB, have also been significant donors to the party, contributing £430,000 and £8.1m respectively between 2007 and 2017.[303]
TheAdvisory Board of the party represents donors who have given significant sums to the party, typically in excess of £250,000.[304]
In December 2022The Guardian reported 10% of Conservative peers were large party donors and gave nearly £50m in total. 27 out of the party's 274 peers had given over £100,000 to the Conservatives. At least 6 large donor peers got government jobs in the 10 years to 2022.[305]
One of the first was Lubov Chernukhin, wife of former deputy finance minister and investment companyVEB.RF founderVladmir Chernukhin, who had donated north of £2.2 million as of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[309][310] Donations to British political parties is only legal for citizens; the individuals who donated to the party had dual UK-Russian citizenship, and the donations were legal and properly declared.[311] However, an investigation conducted byThe New York Times shortly after the invasion of Ukraine determined that a £399,810 donation made by British-Israeli businessmanEhud Sheleg in 2018 was in fact given directly to him by his father-in-law, Russian oligarchSergei Kopytov. Kopytov, a former minister in Russian-occupied Crimea, has strong ties to Vladimir Putin's government.[306]Barclays Bank reported that in January 2021, they "[traced] a clear line back from this donation to its ultimate source", and reported it accordingly to theNational Crime Agency.[306]
An investigation by theGood Law Project found that in spite of Johnson's claims that donations from those with links to the Russian government was to stop,[308] since the start of the war, the Conservatives have accepted at least £243,000 from Russia and Kremlin-associated donors.[312] In February 2022, the Labour Party used Electoral Commission information to calculate that donors who had made money from Russia or Russians had given £1.93m to either the Conservative party or constituency associations sinceBoris Johnson's premiership began.[313] Then-party leader Liz Truss said that the donations would not be returned, stating that they had been "properly declared".[314]
At a European level, the Conservatives were members of theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), which unites conservative parties in opposition to a federalEuropean Union, through which the Conservatives have ties to theUlster Unionist Party and the governing parties of Israel and Turkey,Likud and theJustice and Development Party respectively. In the European Parliament, the Conservative Party's MEPs sat in theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group), which is affiliated to the ACRE. Party leader David Cameron pushed the foundation of the ECR, which was launched in 2009, along with the CzechCivic Democratic Party and the PolishLaw and Justice, before which the Conservative Party's MEPs sat in theEuropean Democrats, which had become a subgroup of theEuropean People's Party in the 1990s. Since the2014 European election, the ECR Group has been the third-largest group, with the largest members being the Conservatives (nineteen MEPs), Law and Justice (eighteen MEPs), theLiberal Conservative Reformers (five MEPs), and theDanish People's Party andNew Flemish Alliance (four MEPs each). In June 2009 the Conservatives required a further four partners apart from the Polish and Czech supports to qualify for officialfraction status in the parliament; the rules state that a European parliamentary caucus requires at least 25MEPs from at least seven of the 27EU member states.[315] In forming the caucus, the party broke with two decades of co-operation by the UK's Conservative Party with the mainstream European Christian Democrats and conservatives in the European parliament, theEuropean People's Party (EPP). It did so on the grounds that it is dominated by Europeanfederalists and supporters of theLisbon treaty, which the Conservatives were generally highly critical of.[315]
Logo
When Sir Christopher Lawson was appointed as a marketing director at Conservative Central Office in 1981, he developed a logo design based on theOlympic flame in the colours of theUnion Jack,[316] which was intended to represent leadership, striving to win, dedication, and a sense of community.[317] The emblem was adopted for the 1983 general election.[316] In 1989, the party's director of communications, Brendan Bruce, found throughmarket research that recognition of the symbol was low and that people found it old fashioned and uninspiring. Using a design company headed byMichael Peters, an image of a hand carrying a torch was developed, which referenced theStatue of Liberty.[318]
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 anoak tree, a national symbol, which was said to represent "strength, endurance, renewal and growth".[319] A change from green to the traditional Conservative blue colour appeared in 2007,[320] followed by a version with the Union Jack superimposed in 2010.[321] An alternative version featuring the colours of theRainbow flag was unveiled for anLGBT event at the 2009 conference in Manchester.[322]
The name itself comes from a famous phrase ofDisraeli. Ideologically, one-nation conservatism identifies itself with a broadpaternalistic conservative stance. One-nation Conservatives are often associated with theTory Reform Group and theBow Group. Adherents believe insocial cohesion and support social institutions that maintain harmony between different interest groups, classes, and—more recently—different races or religions. These institutions have typically included thewelfare state, theBBC, and local government.
One-nation Conservatives often invokeEdmund Burke and his emphasis oncivil society ("little platoons") as the foundations of society, as well as his opposition to radical politics of all types. The Red Tory theory ofPhillip Blond is a strand of the one-nation school of thought; prominent Red Tories include former Cabinet MinistersIain Duncan Smith andEric Pickles andParliamentary Under-Secretary of StateJesse Norman.[333] There is a difference of opinion among supporters regarding the European Union. Some support it perhaps stemming from an extension of the cohesion principle to the international level, though others are strongly against the EU (such asPeter Tapsell).
Free-market Conservatives
The "free-market wing" ofeconomic liberals achieved dominance after the election of Margaret Thatcher as party leader in 1975. Their goal was to reduce the role of the government in the economy and to this end, they supported cuts in direct taxation, theprivatisation ofnationalised industries and a reduction in the size and scope of the welfare state. Supporters of the "free-market wing" have been labelled as "Thatcherites". The group has disparate views of social policy: Thatcher herself wassocially conservative and a practisingAnglican but the free-market wing in the Conservative Party harbour a range of social opinions from thecivil libertarian views ofMichael Portillo,Daniel Hannan, andDavid Davis to thetraditional conservatism of former party leadersWilliam Hague andIain Duncan Smith. The Thatcherite wing is also associated with the concept of a "classless society".[334]
Whilst a number of party members arepro-European, some free-marketeers areEurosceptic, perceiving most EU regulations as interference in the free market and/or a threat to British sovereignty. EU centralisation also conflicts with the localist ideals that have grown in prominence within the party in recent years. Rare Thatcherite Europhiles includedLeon Brittan. Many take inspiration from Thatcher's Bruges speech in 1988, in which she declared that "we have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain only to see them reimposed at a European level". A number of free-market Conservatives have signed theBetter Off Out pledge to leave the EU.[335] Thatcherites andeconomic liberals in the party tend to supportAtlanticism, something exhibited between Margaret Thatcher andRonald Reagan.
Thatcher herself claimed philosophical inspiration from the works of Burke andFriedrich Hayek for her defence of liberal economics. Groups associated with this tradition include theNo Turning Back Group andConservative Way Forward, whilst Enoch Powell andKeith Joseph are usually cited as early influences in the movement.[336] Some free-market supporters andChristian Democrats within the party tend to advocate theSocial Market Economy, which supports free markets alongside social and environmental responsibility, as well a welfare state. Joseph was the first to introduce the model idea into British politics, writing the publication:Why Britain needs a Social Market Economy.
Thissocially conservative right-wing grouping is currently associated with theCornerstone Group (or Faith, Flag and Family), and is the oldest tradition within the Conservative Party, closely associated withHigh Toryism. The name stems from its support for three social institutions: theChurch of England, theunitary British state and the family. To this end, it emphasises the country'sAnglican heritage, oppose any transfer of power away from the United Kingdom—either downwards to the nations and regions or upwards to the European Union—and seek to place greater emphasis ontraditional family structures to repair what it sees as a broken society in the UK. It is a strong advocate of marriage and believes the Conservative Party should back the institution with tax breaks and have opposed the alleged assaults on both traditional family structures and fatherhood.[337]
Prominent MPs from this wing of the party includeAndrew Rosindell,Edward Leigh andJacob 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) duringJohn 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 the1990 leadership election, but he consistently promoted One-Nation Conservatives to the higher reaches of his cabinet during his time as prime minister. These includedKenneth Clarke as Chancellor of the Exchequer andMichael Heseltine as deputy prime minister.[338]
Election results and campaigns
National campaigning within the Conservative Party is fundamentally managed bythe CCHQ campaigning team, which is part of its central office[339]However, it also delegates local responsibility to Conservative associations in the area, usually to a team of Conservative activists and volunteers[339] in that area, but campaigns are still deployed from and thus managed byCCHQNational campaigning sometimes occurs in-house by volunteers and staff atCCHQ inWestminster.[340]
TheVoter Communications Department is line-managed by the Conservative Director of Communications who upholds overall responsibility, though she has many staff supporting her, and the whole of CCHQ at election time, her department being one of the most predominant at this time, including project managers, executive assistants, politicians, and volunteers.[341] The Conservative Party also has regional call centres and VoteSource do-it-from-home accounts.
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, seehere.
^The first election held under theRepresentation 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.
^abHoll-Allen, Genevieve (23 July 2025)."Tory membership falls under Badenoch".The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved25 July 2025.At the time of the leadership election last year, the Tories had 131,000 members but this has since fallen to 123,000.
^Webb, Paul; Bale, Tim (2014)."Why Do Tories Defect to UKIP? Conservative Party Members and the Temptations of the Populist Radical Right".Political Studies.62 (4):961–970.doi:10.1111/1467-9248.12130.ISSN0032-3217.For one thing, as we have already suggested, the problems posed by UKIP for the Conservatives are akin to those posed to other European centre-right parties by populist radical right challengers: there is no prima facie reason to think that if large numbers of the Tory rank-and-file are considering switching their vote to UKIP that the same does not apply to, say, members of the ÖVP in Austria (who might switch to the FPÖ), or of the Dutch VVD and CDA (who might vote for the PVV), or of Denmark's Venstre (who might cast their ballot for the DF), or of KOK in Finland (who might be tempted by the Finns Party), or even of the French UMP (who might plump for Marine Le Pen's FN).
^Abou-Chadi, Tarik; Cohen, Denis; Wagner, Markus (2021). "The centre-right versus the radical right: the role of migration issues and economic grievances".Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.48 (2):366–384.doi:10.1080/1369183X.2020.1853903.Specifically, the centre-right contains Christian Democratic parties such as the German CDU, Conservative parties such as the British Tories or the French Gaullists, and classically Liberal parties such as Venstre in Denmark or the VVD in the Netherlands.
^abBale, Tim (March 2023).The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation. Cambridge:Polity. pp. 3–8, 291,et passim.ISBN9781509546015.Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved12 September 2023.[...] 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 leadership 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
^de Geus, Roosmarijn A.; Shorrocks, Rosalind (2022). "Where Do Female Conservatives Stand? A Cross-National Analysis of the Issue Positions and Ideological Placement of Female Right-Wing Candidates". In Och, Malliga; Shames, Shauna; Cooperman, Rosalyn (eds.).Sell-Outs or Warriors for Change? A Comparative Look at Conservative Women in Politics in Democracies. Abingdon/New York:Routledge. pp. 1–29.ISBN9781032346571.[R]ight-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.
^Goodlad, Graham D. (1998). "The 'Crisis' of Edwardian Conservatism".Modern History Review.9 (4):10–13.
^J. A. R. Marriott,Modern England, 1885–1945 (4th ed. 1949) pp 375–432online free
^Keohane, Nigel (2010).The Party of Patriotism: The Conservative Party and the First World War. Ashgate.
^Jarvis, David (1992). "Mrs. Maggs and Betty: The Conservative Appeal to Women Voters in the 1920s".Twentieth Century British History.5 (2):129–52.doi:10.1093/tcbh/5.2.129.
^abBogdanor, Vernon (1983).Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution. Cambridge University Press.
^Blake, Robert.The Conservative Party from Peel to Major (1997) pp. 260–64.
^Toye, Richard. "From 'Consensus' to 'Common Ground': The Rhetoric of the Postwar Settlement and its Collapse",Journal of Contemporary History (2013) 48#1 pp. 3–23.
^The Economist, 'Mr Butskell's Dilemma', 13 February 1954.
^W, Tony Blair, Cameron, Gordon Brown, Labour Party, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, John Redwood, Kenneth Clarke, Diana, Princess of Wales, George."Lecture 5 The Blair Revolution ppt download".slideplayer.com.Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved25 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^The Conservative Party – From Thatcher to Cameron
^In the recession year of 1981, for example, the Conservatives raised taxes to reduce the budget deficit, with the aim of a reduction of interest rates.
^abShepheard, Marcus (20 April 2020)."UK net zero target".Institute for Government.Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved20 November 2020.
^[206][207][208][209][210] After the 2019 general election, there are now 20 LGBT+ Conservative MPs in Parliament, more than there were during the prior Parliament.[211]
^Tempest, Matthew (11 September 2006)."Cameron: I'm no neo-con".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved20 April 2007.
^Mulholland, Hélène (5 October 2010)."Tories voice fears over falling membership".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved22 November 2011.Tim Montgomerie, the editor of the influential grassroots Tory website ConservativeHome, told a fringe event that two separate sources had told him party membership was now 177,000—down 80,000 on the 2005 figure of 257,000 ... The Conservative party refused to confirm the figure
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*Co-operative Party candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party.‡5 independent MPs work together in theIndependent Alliance, 3 of whom are also involved inYour Party.†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but asabstentionists do not take their seats.
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