Conservative Party

I

Introduction

Conservative Party, major political party in Great Britain, which evolved as the successor to the Tory Party in the 1830s. From 1912 its full title was the Conservative and Unionist Party. It has a sister organization, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Association, in Scotland, which has a separate but related existence. For decades the major political party in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party (latterly the Official Unionist Party), was an integral part of Britain’s Conservative Party, but the relationship weakened and was formally broken in March 1990.

Since 1885 the Conservative Party has won the majority of general elections. Its opponents have only had sizeable majorities six times since 1900 (Liberals 1906-1910; Labour 1945-1950, 1966-1970, 1997-2001, 2001-2005, 2005- ). From 1979 the Conservatives won four successive general elections (1979, 1983, 1987, and 1992). This has been the basis of the Conservative Party’s long-standing claim to be the natural party of government in Britain.

Conservatism is based upon three key themes: the defence of institutions (the State, the Monarchy, and the Church of England) and traditions; the preservation of society; and safeguarding the individual.

II

Organization

The Conservative Party is a hierarchical organization with the party leader at the top. It comprises three elements: the parliamentary party; the National Union; and Central Office.

The parliamentary party is made up of those Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in both Houses of Parliament. The Chief Whip and his or her officers manage these MPs and the business of the House. The 1922 Committee is the Conservative backbenchers’ “trade union”, serving to represent Conservative opinion in the House of Commons. Major issues of party policy are discussed, but votes are not normally taken.

The National Union is the voluntary side of the organization. It is a federal “club” for around 600 local constituency associations in England and Wales. Although Scotland has its own organization, its constituency associations are now affiliated to the National Union. These associations are responsible for the selection of prospective parliamentary candidates, and for helping to get voters to the polls. They also raise funds for the party. In 2001 party membership was estimated to be 318,000. An annual conference, lasting four days, is held every autumn and is the most important annual gathering of the party. It is not authorized to decide on policy and has no executive power; its resolutions are therefore not binding on the party leadership, but they have considerable influence.

Central Office is the bureaucracy responsible for the extra-parliamentary activities of the party. It comprises a head office in London, seven regional area offices, and a Conservative Research Department. A party chairman appointed by the leader oversees the running of the headquarters, and is also responsible for maintaining morale and activity in the constituencies. Central Office provides a range of services to the leader and party as a whole. It provides a list of approved candidates, assists in by-elections, is an important source for publicity material, and employs the local party agents. Since the outcome of a British general election rests upon the result in a number of key marginal seats, Central Office concentrates its resources on the marginals, and helps to ensure that the “hopeless” seats are able to forward a candidate at an election. For the leader, it provides a service by monitoring opinion in the party and constituencies, and helps to decide when to go to the polls if the party is in government. During a general election, it adopts a coordinating role for the leader, candidates, and constituencies. There is a separate Central Office in Scotland, with its own chairman.

With the expansion of British suffrage in 1832, 1867, 1884, 1918, and 1928, the party developed organizations to attract support from women, through the Primrose League (founded in 1883); from youth, through the Young Conservatives; and from workers, through the Tory Workingmen’s groups. At election time the Conservative Party consistently secures one third of working-class votes. Organization is a crucial instrument in the party’s electoral success.

The traditional culture of the Conservative Party emphasizes leadership; the party is regarded as the personal vehicle of the person selected, or elected (since 1965), to lead it. Hierarchy and respect for, and deference to, leaders have been the prevailing values of Conservatism, though this tradition was increasingly eroded during the premiership of John Major. In 1965 it was decided that the leader would be chosen through a majority ballot process, by the Conservative MPs. Edward Heath became the first leader by election in 1965. In the late 1990s the rules were revised so that the entire party membership (300,000 in 2001) were allowed to decide by a majority ballot between two candidates chosen (by a ballot, or series of ballots) by party MPs. When the party is in power the leader serves as prime minister and selects the Cabinet ministers. When in opposition, the leader appoints a shadow Cabinet, to be prepared for a return to government in the event of a victory in a general election.

III

History

The forebears of the present-day Conservatives were the Cavaliers of the 17th century and the Tories of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Conservative Party was formed from various conservative associations established throughout England following the 1832 Reform Act. This measure granted more parliamentary seats to industrial areas and lessened voting restrictions, resulting in a broader electorate. To attract these new voters Sir Robert Peel, then the leader of the Tory party, adopted the name “Conservative” and broadened the Tory programme with his Tamworth Manifesto (1834). His conversion to free trade led to his resignation from the premiership in 1846 and a split in the party. As a result the Conservatives were excluded from effective majority government until 1874 in favour of the Liberal Party, the main opposition to the Conservative Party from 1832 until after 1918.

A

Victorian Conservatism

The statesman Benjamin Disraeli further defined the party’s liberal conservatism. He rallied landed interests, expanded party organization, and included appeals to trade unionists. The National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations was formed in 1867; it grew into the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. Disraeli, with the help of John Gorst, between 1867 and 1872, succeeded in uniting the National Union and the Conservative Central Offices. Despite Disraeli’s programme of mild social reform, low taxation, and playing the nationalistic “patriotic” card, the Conservatives failed to win the 1880 general election.

The party organization was further expanded under the leadership of Lord Salisbury in response to the extension of the franchise following the 1884 Reform Act. In 1885 he appointed Captain Middleton as principal agent. In 1886 those in the Liberal Party led by Joseph Chamberlain, who rejected Irish Home Rule, allied with the Conservative Party, whose full name in 1912 became the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. The term Unionist has generally been used in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Salisbury was succeeded as prime minister by his nephew, Arthur James Balfour, in 1902. However, debates over protectionism, tariffs, and trade preference for internal trade within the British Empire fatally divided the party.