by Chris Allen

Created on: October 19, 2010   Last Updated: October 20, 2010

The Conservative Party was created in 1834, following the publication of the Tamworth Manifesto by Sir Robert Peel. The members of the new Conservative Party were broadly supporters of Tory MP's. They were all supporters of the monarchy, the established Church (Church of England) and of landed interest. Peel appealed to the new, emerging, industrial middle-class. He argued that the new Conservative Party would uphold the Tory traditions and would in addition be the party of moderate reform, political & economic stability and law & order. The Conservatives/Tories do not have a single philosophical base; they are pragmatic people and, from Robert Peel to David Cameron, the great strength of the Conservatives is that they have often reinvented themselves around the broad principles mentioned previously. They are therefore electorally flexible and often appeal to the interests of the political establishment.

In 1841, Peel won the general election and it appeared as if his party would dominate British politics for the foreseeable future. However, in 1845, Peel proposed to remove the protection given to British agriculture in order to support freedom of trade. This protection favoured land-owners and the Conservative Party split, between Peelites and protectionists, who supported protection of British agriculture. From 1846-66, the Conservatives returned to opposition. Benjamin Disraeli was head of the party in 1866. He had been a protectionist and supported "Tory values". He modernised these values for the late 19th century and named the culmination of them "one nation Conservatism". He argued there were common values for all classes; respect for the State, a distrust of radical reform, paternalism (the rich having social responsibility for the poor) and a strong sense of Britain's greatness and its role in the world.

Between 1870 and 1903, the Conservatives would hold power for 22 years. In 1902, they would split once again, over the question of preferential trade for the colonies. In the 20th century, the Conservative party learnt about the dangers of party splits and remained united around a number of core issues; retained one nation Conservatism, remained pragmatic, remained the party of the establishment and (after WWII) they embraced the welfare state. They also accepted that a government's primary aim was to keep unemployment low. These views were challenged once again with Margaret Thatcher's reign as leader of both the party, and then the country. She introduced a shift away from one nation Conservatism, favouring instead "neoliberalism", which rejected the welfare state, supported the free market and replaced low unemployment with low inflation as the prime economic motive. Thatcherism would dominate  Conservative thinking from 1976-2006.

Following three unprecedented electoral defeats to New Labour and Tony Blair, the leadership of the Conservatives abandoned Thatcherism in favour of a return to one nation Conservatism. However, the financial crisis of 2008 has forced the Conservatives to revalue what is known as "compassionate Conservatism". The Conservative Party has been, as a result of its pragmatic nature, a party that cannot be associated with one ideology. What is certain is that they have been very successful when perhaps they shouldn't have been. The 20th century was called the "Conservative century" but considering the rise in industry and social togetherness as opposed to individuality and agriculture, their success has been remarkable, and mostly down to the failures of other parties as opposed to their own appeal.

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