Did you know the Conservative Party UK is the largest and most famous party in the United Kingdom?
Here is all you need to know about The Conservative Party UK, Its history and formation, Its founder, Ideology, beliefs, its structure and organization, offices held by the Conservatives and its impact on the UK as a country.
Table of Contents
History And Formation
The Conservative Party UK, officially The Conservative and Unionist Party and simply the Tory Party founded in 1834, was one of the two dominant political parties of the 19th century and the main right-wing political party of the United Kingdom. Its rival or major opposition was the Labour Party, its policies promote conservatism and in recent years libertarianism (doctrine of free will).
The party is centre-right of the political range and is made up of various ideological factions or segments which include: One-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, Liberal Conservatives, and Conservatives Liberals.
The party is the oldest political party in the United Kingdom and controversially the oldest party in the world.
It was initially organized in the 1830s and the name “Conservative”
was formally adopted.
The Party has had its leaders from 1788 as follows:
1. Sir Robert Peel: (Founder and First Conservative Party UK Prime Minister from 1788-1850)
2. Edward Smith-Stanley: From 1799 to 1869
3. Benjamin Disraeli: (1st Earl of Beaconsfield 1876 (1804-1881)
Vacant: Leader of the Lords -3rd Marques of Salisbury and Leader of the Commons-Stafford North-cote)
4. Robert Gascony-Cecil: (3rd marquess of Salisbury from 1830 to 1903)
5. Arthur Balfour: from 1848 to 1930
6. Vacant: Leader in The House of Lords -5th Marquess of Lansdowne and Leader in the House of Commons
7. Bonar Law: from 1858 to 1923
8. Vacant: Leader in the House of Lords -1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and Leader in the House of Commons-Austen Chamberlain
9. Stanley Baldwin: from 1867 to 1947
10. Neville Chamberlain: from 1869 to 1940
11. Winston Churchill: from 1874 to 1965
12. Anthony Eden from 1897 to 1977
13. Harold Macmillan: from 1894 to 1986
14. Alec Douglas Home: from 1903 to 1995
15. Edward Heath: from 1916 to 2005
16. Margaret Thatcher: from 1925 to 2013
17. John Mayor: (1943)
18. William Hague: 1961
19. Iain Duncan Smith:(1950)
20. Michael Howard: (1941)
21. David Cameron: (1966)
22. Theresa May: (1959)
23. Boris Johnson: 1964 (elected Prime Minister July 23rd, 2019 till September 5, 2022)
Why It Is Called “Tory Party”
The term “Tory” having its origin in the Irish language was originally meant to insult, it emerged from the Tories’ political faction in 1681, as a reaction to the Whig-Controlled parliament and later found its way into English Politics during the 1678-1681 exclusion crisis and has become shorthand for a member of The Conservation party and used interchangeably with the word “Conservative”.
Again, the party is still often called the “Tory Party” reasons that the Press and Newspapers Editors find it short enough regarding space limit.
About The Founder, Sir Robert Peel Bart
Sir Robert Peel Bart, alias Orange Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative Statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom from 1841 to 1846 and at the same time served as Chancellor of The Exchequer and again two times as Home Secretary.
He was born on the 5th of February 1788 in the Bury United Kingdom and died 2nd of July 1850 in Westminster, London, United Kingdom.
Party’s Ideology
The Party’s ideology is Conservatism, a political philosophy that advocates traditional values and has its 7 core principles as follows:
- Individual Freedom
- Limited Government
- The Rule of Law
- Peace Through Strength
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Free Market
- Human Dignity
Conservatives’ Practices And What They Stand For
Just as the name implies, The Conservative Party UK opposes a change to the traditional institutions of the county, and in their practices, the Conservatives look forward to preserving a range of institutions like organized religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, and they tend to favor institutions that guarantee stability.
Offices Held By The Conservatives
Interestingly, The Conservative Party UK is the ruling party and controls the government of the day, having won the last United Kingdom general elections held on December 12th, 2019, and has the majority in the House of Commons.
The party has a total of:
357 Members of the Parliament, 257 Appointees of The House of Lords, 9 Members of The London Assembly, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 Members of The Welsh Parliament, 4 directly elected Mayors, 30 Police and Crime Commissioners, and 7,500 Local Authority Councillors as against its major opposition.
The Labour Party UK has a total of 199 House of Commons Members,166 House of Lords Members, 22 Scottish Parliament Members,30 Senedd, 8 Regional Mayors 11 London Assembly Members, 8 PCCs and PFCCs,10, LA Mayors and 5,879 Councillors.
Party’s Membership
The party membership is open to all United Kingdom citizens and all those who live in the UK and pledge their support for the party.
Party’s Structure And Organization
The Conservative Party UK Structure and Organizations are such that Conservative members in their thousands help in organizing campaigns for the party voluntarily.
They run their local associations and as a group gives their time in tens of thousands in favor of the party.
They do their campaigns throughout the year distributing leaflets and fliers, surveying and contacting voters in their local area. They also raise funds to sponsor the party across the country, through their “membership subscriptions” and holding of local and national events.
There are some organizations of discussion groups regarding political topics and have a good number of specialist groups and committees based around community and other interests.
Each local association aligns with a single group of parliamentary constituencies even as the associations vary in size, they all follow a particular. Officers of the associations are annually elected by the local members to positions like the President, Chairman, Deputy Chairman finance, and deputy chairman political.
They also have Officers with specific responsibilities and also an Executive Council that brings together representatives from the wards and committees covering boundaries.
For organization purposes, the country is broken up into regions with each containing areas, and the regions and areas also have similar office structures such as Regional and area Chairmen,
Deputy Chairman for Membership and Financial and Political matters.
Offices Within The Party
They also have on the Board of The Conservative Party, the following:
1. Chairman of The Conservative Party and Chairman of the Board
2. Chairman of the National Conservative Convention and a Deputy Chairman of the Board
3. Treasurer of the Conservative Party
4. President of the National Conservative Convention
5. Vice President of The National Conservative Convention
6. Senior Members of the Professional Staff of the Party
7. Chairman of the Conservative Councillors’ association
8. Chairman, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
9. Chairman Welsh Conservatives
10. Chairman Association of Conservative Peers.
The Party’s Convention
The Conservative Party UK holds its Conservative Convention annually, where policies and prominent politicians are usually showcased. The National Convention is effectively the parliament of the voluntary Party.
It is composed of every Association Chairman, officers from the areas and regions, and representatives from The Conservative Women’s Organization and this convention is usually twice a year. The top volunteers of the Conservative Party are the Officers of the convention, ably led by the chairman.
They reiterate the views of the voluntary party to the leadership of the party.
The board is the final decision-making body of the party and is responsible for all operational matters including fundraising, membership, and candidates.
It is made up of representatives from each section of the party both voluntary, political, and professional.
The party is guided by rules and regulations as well as laws enshrined in the party’s constitution.
Summary
The Conservative Party UK has all through the years since its formation advocated for protectionism and taken various approaches towards the European Union (EU), with euro-skeptic and to a reasonable extent worked on pro-European factions within it.
It has embraced strongly euro-septic positions, with the slogan” Get Brexit Done”, as a result of the decision to leave the EU in a referendum held under the conservative Cameron government.
