Conservative Party

• Human nature

  Conservatives stress the competitive nature of people and the individualistic tendencies within us. They see humankind as liable to fall into disorder but also believe we crave order and security, even over our individual freedom.
• Order

  Burke wrote that ‘Liberty, equality and democracy’ created a disordered society and this went against the need for order and security. Conservatives have been suspicious of new ideas that threaten the existing order ever since
• Tradition and preservation

  Relates to institutions (e.g monarchy) and values (e.g morality).

  Burke: “a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born”. Values and institutions survival is a testament to their quality and they carry the accumulated wisdom of the past so should be respected.
• One nation and the organic society

  Value to combat Industrial Revolution and growth of capitalism. Disraeli brings in idea of opposing excessive inequality to keep revolutionary ideas in the minority. Also uses the term ‘organic society’ to tie people to the idea of an interdependent society (all of us are cogs in the same grandfather clock) so those who are well off should be charitable to those who are not. Society should then develop naturally.
• Pragmatism

  Michael Oakeshott: “Political action should never be driven by political theory and should be the result of a gentle relationship between government and the governed. A flexible approach to politics.
• In the distant past conservatives were seen as defenders of the property owning classes. This is less significant in the modern era but is still seen as the party that protects business and land, whilst believing that property ownership is a desirable aspiration shared by all. Property owners have a vested interest in order so links to other values.
• Conservatives believe that Government should not seek to change society in radical ways. They also see ideological politicians as liable to become dictators. Liberals and socialists want to steer the ship to a destination, conservatives are destination less and purely steer the ship from disasters.
• One nation: A society of classes within a strong nation state
• Paternalism: Duty of rich to look after the poor, in terms of money and policy
• Tradition: Preserving cultural traditions and institutions from the past as a sense of belonging and respect wisdom of the past
• Organic society: Society develops organically with a focus on evolution, rather than revolution
• Social duty: People’s duty to look after their local area, linking to paternalism
• Pragmatic intervention: Restrictions on laissez faire capitalism when necessary to ensure inequality is not unsustainable
• When the Conservative party returned to power in 2010, it was faced with an economic crisis, the main aspect of which was a huge and growing budget deficit. Successive governments had been spending more than their taxation receipts. The national debt was huge. In March 2010 it stood at £1.13 trillion. This led to the party adopting a rigorous approach to economic management. Above all, its economic policy was dominated by the aim of eliminating budget deficits and reducing the national debt. The belief is that only a balanced budget can produce economic growth (Policy was called Austerity)
• Northern Research Group

  MPs that represent the new Northern Conservative seats. It has around 55 members and campaign on issues specifically for their Northern seats, mainly “levelling up” and infrastructure.
• European Research Group

  Eurosceptic MPS that would meet and take anti EU stances on government policy
• Covid Recovery Group.

  MPs who are skeptical of the governments Coronavirus approach in regards to lockdowns and restrictions
• 1922 Committee

  An organization within the Conservative party that gives backbenchers a method to have power over the leadership. Set up in 1922 to encourage cooperation within the party.
• Cornerstone

  Traditional Values: Christian, Nationalist and focused on family values. Reactionary, opposed to social reforms and same-sex marriage and legal abortion
• Conservative Way Forward

  Thatcherite, Neo-Liberal: Retention of free markets through low taxation and de-regulation. Opposed to trade union power and welfare provision
• Tory Reform Group

  One-Nation Conservative, seeking national unity and believing that too much economic inequality is divisive
• One-nation conservatism

  A society of classes within a strong

  nation state

  Paternalistic duty of the rich to look

  after the poor

  State-sponsored social reforms

  Restrictions on laissez faire

  capitalism (free from govt

  intervention)

  Support for Keynesian economics,

  welfare states and mixed economies
• One Nation Conservatives on the Economy

  • Wanted a mixed economy, Capitalism seen as a dangerous to one-nation idea. Nothing privatised and the Heath govt (70-74) even bailed out Rolls Royce. 
  • Acceptance of progressive taxation, helps to bind the nation together
• One Nation on trade unions and law and order

  • Believed Trade Unions helped to ensure one-nationism by representing workers and did not reverse any laws that Labour used to empower them.
  • Vote against abortion and homosexuality being de-criminalised.
• One Nation Conservatives on Foreign Affairs

  • Committed to the European project. Join the EEC, later EU, in 1973, and previous PM Harold Macmillan (1957-63) had been trying to join this too. 
  • Although the process of de-colonisation continues, e.g Ghana (1957) and Nigeria (1960), traditional attitudes can still be seen through the Suez Crisis of 1956, where Britain and France effectively invade Egypt to gain control of the Suez Canal.
  • Begins relationship with USA over Britain obtaining Polaris (Nuclear submarines)
• One Nation on Welfare

  • Health – NHS is left completely as a nationalised unit in 1951 when Churchill becomes PM.
  • Education  - Butler reforms of the 1950s created tripartite system which allowed grammar schools (State, private, grammar), and more funding to state schools
• Energy Bills Rebate (Rishi Sunak as Chancellor)

  Millions of households received up to £350 to help with the cost of living following a rise in the energy price cap. He provided around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200. The discount will then be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years. Households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will also receive a £150 rebate. 

  -----Example of a One Nation Policy as there is intervention in the economy and regulation of the market
• The Education Secretary has committed to freezing the maximum amount a university can charge in tuition fees at £9,250 a year in 2019.
• • In 2019, the Conservative party promised to give the NHS “its biggest ever cash boost, with 20 hospital upgrades and 40 new hospitals, while delivering 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 more doctors, and creating an extra 50 million general practice appointments a year. 
• The furlough scheme, also known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, is a government program that pays towards the wages of people who could not work due to Covid-19. The scheme aims to protect jobs and incomes during the pandemic. Employers can place staff on leave, or furlough, and receive up to £2,500 per month per employee from the government. Employers need to notify staff in writing before furloughing them.
• 2019 Manifesto Law and Order

  Our first duty as a Government is to keep our country safe. One of Boris Johnson’s first actions as Prime Minister was to start recruiting 20,000 new police officers. These new officers will take violent criminals off the streets and protect us and our country.

  We will back our police by equipping officers with the powers and tools they need to keep themselves and all of us safe, including tasers and body cameras.

  We will add 10,000 more prison places

  a firmer and fairer Australian-style points-based immigration system,
• 2019 Manifesto Welfare

  we are proud to have confirmed a record £34 billion per year by the end of the Parliament in additional funding for the NHS – and to have begun work on building 40 new hospitals across the country,

  50,000 more nurses

  6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals,

  We will clamp down on health tourism, ensuring that those from overseas who use NHS services pay their fair share. And we will increase the NHS surcharge paid by those from overseas.
• 2019 Manifesto - Economy

  We’ve doubled the personal allowance to £12,500, meaning that every worker gets to keep more of what they earn. We’ve introduced and consistently raised the National Living Wage – and will raise it still further.

  public sector net investment will not average more than 3 per cent of GDP. If debt interest reaches 6% of revenue, we will reassess our plans to keep debt under control.

  debt will be lower at the end of the Parliament. And we will investment prudently and strategically to level up every part of the UK, while strengthening the ties that bind it together.
• 2019 Manifesto: Foreign Policy

  After Brexit, we will bolster the alliances and institutions that help project our influence and keep us safe: the UN and the UNSC; NATO; the G20; the G7; and the WTO.

  We will continue to exceed the NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defence

  We will maintain our Trident nuclear deterrent,

  We will set up new international partnerships to tackle deforestation and protect vital landscapes and wildlife corridors. We will establish a new £500 million Blue Planet Fund to help protect our oceans from plastic pollution, warming sea temperatures and overfishing
• Northern Research Group

  MPs that represent the new Northern Conservative seats. It has around 55 members and campaign on issues specifically for their Northern seats, mainly “levelling up” and infrastructure.

  In talks with Michael Gove who is now minister for “Levelling up, housing and communities”

  Jake Berry
• European Research Group

  Eurosceptic MPS that would meet and take anti EU stances on government policy

  Voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times and effectively ended her premiership

  Steve Baker, Jacob Rees-Mogg. 
• Covid Recovery Group.

  MPs who are skeptical of the governments Coronavirus approach in regards to lockdowns and restrictions

  98 Tory MPs rebelled against Boris Johnson’s plan B measures on the 14th of December 2021

  Mark Harper, Steve Baker
• 1922 Committee

  An organization within the Conservative party that gives back benches a method to have power over the leadership. Set up in 1922 to encourage cooperation within the party.

  Helped organise MPs into a coherent movement that successfully removed Theresa May from leadership of the party

  Current Chairman: Sir Graham Brady
• Cornerstone

  Traditional Values: Christian, Nationalist and focused on family values. Reactionary, opposed to social reforms and same-sex marriage and legal abortion

  Jacob Rees Mogg consistently voted against allowing marriage between two people of the same sex and equal gay rights. 

  Edward Leigh, Jacob Rees Mogg
• Conservative Way Forward

  Thatcherite, Neo-Liberal: Retention of free markets through low taxation and de-regulation. Opposed to trade union power and welfare provision

  Liam Fox generally voted for measures to reduce corporation tax and consistently voted against increasing the tax rate on incomes over £150,000

  Gerald Howarth, Liam Fox