The Commons: The Conservative Party
Conservative Party logo - Facebook, Benjamin Disraeli - DEA / ICAS94, Margaret Thatcher - Tim Roney, and Boris Johnson - Giannis Alexopoulos/NurPhoto
Currently at the helm of British Parliament, the Conservative Party has a fascinating history and present, one involving division, debate, and questions – at its core – about how society should be structured.
History of the Party
The modern Conservative Party was formed in the 1830s under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel. With intentions set out in the Tamworth Manifesto of 1834, the government “stressed the timely reform of abuses, the necessity of law and order, an orderly system of taxation, and the importance of both landed interests and trade and industry.” Arguably the most influential Conservative leader of the 19th century was Benjamin Disraeli, “prime minister for a few months in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880.” Disraeli pushed for social reform in an attempt to reduce Britain's wealth gap, a contribution that initiated the party’s continued ability to transcend class barriers.
The Conservative Party held power consistently until 1906, when a “split over tariff policy” led to a massive loss. They regained power in May of 1915, joining a wartime coalition with the Liberal Party in May 1915. The coalition persisted for 7 years, until 1922 when “Conservative backbenchers forced the party’s withdrawal from the coalition and thereby precipitated the resignation of party leader Austen Chamberlain.” A “miscalculated” snap election called by the Conservative Prime Minister in December 1923 served to benefit the “the ailing Liberal Party and opened the way to a minority Labour Party government, though the Conservatives remained the largest single party and were able to regain power the following year.” Again, trying to transcend class boundaries, Stanley Baldwin – Conservative Prime Minister from 1924 to 1929 and 1935 to 1937 – pushed for a self-proclaimed ‘New-Conservatism’ that moved away from “the laissez-faire economic policies that the party had advocated since 1918.”
The 1920s and 1930s years saw majority Conservative leadership, with all but two years of Labour leadership. World War II saw two Conservative Prime Ministers, Neville Chamberlain and Sir Winston Churchill. Chamberlain saw a short term as leader, “forced from office in May 1940 by his own backbenchers because of his poor leadership.” Under Churchill, the Conservatives formed another wartime coalition government, this time with the Labour Party. Despite leading Britain through the war, the Conservatives lost big in the first postwar election – claiming that the party had not done to counter social, political, and economic issues during the Great Slump of the 1930s.
The next few decades saw both parties, Conservative and Labour, move toward a “postwar consensus.” This consensus “recognized the state’s responsibility for maintaining full employment,” using theories of Keynesian economics to get there. The second half of the 20th century saw a steady rise in Labour support with the parties alternating power from 1964 to 1979 – the first time the parties had been seemingly equal opponents.
Arguably the most influential Conservative leader of the 20th century, Margaret Thatcher led the party from 1979 until 1990. Her aims were namely to minimize state influence in the economy, reduce welfare programs, and weaken the power of trade unions – all markedly conservative tenets. Thatcher also pushed for “moral traditionalism” as well as initiating a euro-skepticism among the party. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in 1990 amidst various concerns, including skeptical backbenchers and a newly united Labour opposition.
The next 20 years saw Labour rise in influence and the Conservatives go through leaders – John Major, William Hague, Iain Smith, Michael Howard, and finally David Cameron. Becoming leader in December 2005, Cameron made a name for himself by steadily regrowing support for the party – support that had been lost over various divisions and issues with the party’s image.
The general election of 2010 led to a hung parliament, with both Labour and the Conservatives hoping to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats – a battle that the Conservatives won. The Lib-Con coalition lasted until 2015, when, against polls, Cameron secured 331 seats in Parliament: a majority vote.
Brexit has dominated Conservative leadership for the last five years. First with Cameron promising the referendum, then a divided party with both Remainers and Leavers in the leadup to the 2016 vote, tension amidst Theresa May’s difficulty in pushing a clean Brexit, and finally Boris Johnson’s ascent to the leadership role in the wake of it all. Johnson has been Prime Minister since July of last year, seeing a massive victory for the party in December 2019 that has carried him through a controversial COVID-19 leadership strategy.
Ideology of the Party
Trying to pin down the ideology of the Conservatives party goes against the whole idea of an ideology itself. According to the work of academic Paul Wetherly, a basic ideology makes a claim about how the world is and advocates a view of how it ought to be – it is both a descriptive and normative phenomenon. If one was to attempt to carve out a conservative “ideology,” tradition, necessity of hierarchy, social and economic stability may be considered as the tenets. Though the question of what Conservatism seeks to conserve is by no means settled, many argue that these concepts ground the party in one key goal, conservation of a stable society. Tradition arises because tried and true triumphs the unknown, hierarchy because it maintains an “organic social order,” and social and economic stability because it allows for a better, in a normative sense, society. In spite of these concepts, conservatism remains dynamic – as all ideologies do. Ideologies by definition adapt to their surroundings, societal and power structures, economic situations, etc.
As evidenced by the party’s history, the Conservatives have always managed to maintain support, in part because of their ideological adaptability. The ideology is resilient because it is not set in stone. While traditional conservatism would shun the free-market for its inherent instability, Thatcherites advocated for free markets whilst maintaining a conservative title – that is the power of this party and their ideology. It’s resilient because it is not set in stone.
As to the historical developments in the ideology, initial concepts can be seen with Disraeli in the 1800s. The One-Nation view sought to unite the British public across class lines, a view at the core of Disraeli’s leadership. While it may have been a “paternalistic vision,” Disraeli believed that “the ruling class had an obligation to look out for the lower orders to ensure social stability and to avoid fomenting revolution.” So, while hierarchy was to persist, Disraeli made clear that it by no means was meant to bring about national strife – if anything, the elite had a duty to those below them.
The 1920s and 30s saw Stanley Baldwin bring about another development in the ideology with the introduction of ‘New Conservatism.’ His push aimed to “appeal to the middle class through a modest movement away from the laissez-faire economic policies that the party had advocated since 1918,” a move that echoed Disraeli’s.
The years post World War II saw the party embrace Keynesian economics as part of the “postwar consensus.” In the words of Scott Solomon in Critical Ideas in Times of Crisis: Reconsidering Smith, Marx, Keynes, and Hayek, Keynesian economics argues that markets are “not always self-correcting and that it was quite possible to have high levels of involuntary unemployment [...] Keynes’ great contribution was to show how the government could restore effective demand through getting money into the hands of people who would spend it.” Essentially, Keynes argued that through various channels of government spending, the economy could be reinvigorated. While he was “no collectivist or socialist,” Keynes “did believe in a better, managed capitalism.”
Thatcherism saw a sharp move away from this postwar consensus. In her view, a “government's job [was] to get out of the way. It should be restricted to the bare essentials: defense of the realm and the currency.” Even Keynesian economics went too far. Influenced by the Austrian economist Frederik von Hayek and American Milton Friedman, founders of the informal Chicago School, Thatcher promoted free-market liberalism and economic deregulation. The Thatcher era also introduced one of the most persistent factional issues within the party: euro-skepticism.
Internal party conflict has persisted through the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 21st century because of debates on further European integration. Questions of stability, both of the domestic economy and of British national identity and unity have been brought into the discussion.
Factions
Until the Thatcher era, factions had not plagued the Conservatives. It was during the late 1970s and 1980s that “factional discord was sharpened.” Thatcher’s free-marketeers, the ‘Dries,’ stood firm against “their One-Nation opponents, whom they labeled ‘Wets.’” The political divisions landed on macroeconomic issues as well as those debates on European integration. Dries advocated reduced public spending, monetarism, and reduced control of the state, as well as being skeptical of European integration. Wets, on the other hand, opposed Thatcher’s hardline and monetarist views, whilst also being more open to expansion of the European Economic Community, later the EU.
The view on Europe has persisted as a factor in the party’s factions. Brexit serves as a prime example of this, with David Cameron leading the Remain side and Boris Johnson, the then Foreign Secretary, leading the “One-Nation” Leave side.
Furthermore, for years, the party has dealt with division between social conservative and liberal conservative factions. Social conservatives place an “emphasis on the need for social cohesion and adherence to common rules and practices.” This faction was more likely to vote for Leave than the Liberal conservatives. In the words of Ryan Shorthouse, director of the liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue, “Liberal Conservatism is not simply political triangulation. It is a philosophy, drawing on rich Conservative traditions. It is trusting and hopeful of people and the future, while being mindful of history, cultural tradition and human changeability. It is humble and tolerant, and believes that people truly thrive in relationships, beyond – but not separate from - the individualistic and materialistic paradigm.”
Understandably, these divisions continue to create tension, not just in Parliament but amongst the Conservative electorate.
What Now?
Moving into the 2020s, Brexit and COVID-19 have made the last 10 months of Conservative leadership particularly tense. The weekly Prime Minister’s Questions see Boris Johnson poked and prodded by not only his Labour opposition but indirectly by members of his own party. It seems every week Johnson’s leadership is questioned. Moving forward, a Conservative future will depend on if Boris Johnson is able to reunite his party amidst strife around his and his cabinets’ controversial actions in the last few months.
Finally, with Labour looking up with Sir Keir Stormer at the helm, a power struggle rests on the horizon – a scenario that could either make or break Johnson’s vision for the Conservative Party.