Political Parties in Britain I. The Conservative Party

It is the oldest and most successful party. It was created at the end of the 17th century and they have governed England for most of the last 300 years. At the beginning, it was called the “Tory Party”. It represented the interests of the royal family, the Anglican Church, and also the aristocracy (the land owners). They changed their names in 1830 under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel => it became the “Conservative Party”. He wanted to change the name because “Tory” was a pejorative name, it meant “an Irish Catholic rebel” in Gaelic. The word “Conservative” meant that they wanted to protect the status quo, no change. That’s what they represented in the 19th century : traditionalism. At that time there was a growing movement for reform and democracy. For that reason, they began to lose popularity : more and more people demanded reform. At the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century, they were joined by the Irish Unionists (Protestants).

For most of the 20th century the Conservative Party was in power, with some very famous Prime Ministers : Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher (for 11 years : 3 election victories). Churchill dominated British politics for 65 years. He was a typical Conservative : land owner, member of the Church, aristocrat. He was very popular.

The Conservative Party appealed and still appeals to the nationalism of British people. The working class voted Conservative because of that. It represents Britain : monarchy, Church.

After the war (1945), gradual breakdown in class barriers, and the Conservative Party came to represent the majority of the people in Britain. New social security system supported by the Conservative Party => ordinary people voted Conservative because it was safe, it was not a threat.

Things changed in the 80’s : first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She was not a typical Conservative : not a member