The Conservative Party

Question 1

origins and traditional objectives:

Answer 1

preserve unity of the kingdom, and law and order in society

Question 2

the Conservative party: the economy

Answer 2

• in 2010, there was a huge economic deficit due to government spending more than their taxation earnings
• in 2020, the party authorised high levels of borrowing to fund the lockdown to avoid a dependency culture
• they believe in free market and free trade

Question 3

the Conservative party: Law and order

Answer 3

• they stress the need for strong security and prisons
• opposed the idea of remand and believed in punishment
• they had to limit various liberties of the public to ensure the success of lockdown in 2020

Question 4

the Conservative party: welfare

Answer 4

they wanted to ensure that benefits weren’t an excuse not to work, so they introduced 2 policies:
- introduction of the living wage
- overall cap on welfare benefits for families to make unemployment less attractive for families
maintaining the NHS, the welfare state and the education system

Question 5

the Conservative party: foreign affairs

Answer 5

• they support NATO
• they want to reduce the UKs large contributions to the national aid

Question 6

what are the stages the conservative party went through?

Answer 6

traditional conservatism -> one nation conservatism -> new right conservatism -> neo conservatism

Question 7

what is traditional conservatism?

Answer 7

believed that a free society with:
* freedom of the individual
* tolerance of different religious beliefs
* laissez faire
would lead to a major social disorder

Question 8

how did the rise of one nation conservatism arise?

Answer 8

the conservatives began to acknowledge that society must evolve but also conserve traditional values

Question 9

what traits did one nation conservatism have?

Answer 9

• strong law and order
• preservation of tradition
• pragmatism
• noblesse oblige

Question 10

what is new right conservatism? who is it associated with?

Answer 10

a reaction of traditional conservatism that was seen as too weak to deal with modern policies
it is split up into 2 different aspects: neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism
Margaret Thatcher introduced it

Question 11

what are the principle ideas of neo liberalism?

Answer 11

• reducing direct taxes
• privatising industries that have been taken over by the state (transport)
• reducing welfare benefits so that they become a ‘safety net’
• curb the power of trade unions

Question 12

principle ideas of neo-conservatism

Answer 12

• strong law and order
• nationalism - single national culutre (unlike other conservatives who believe we should tolerate other lifestyles)
• traditional moral values

Question 13

what is a party faction?

Answer 13

a distinct group within a political party whose views are different from main party policies, they are often far right or far left

Question 14

conservative party factions

Answer 14

• libertarian MPs who voted against lockdown measures and other measures that restricted individual freedom
• MPs from ‘red wall’ constituencies push for the governments ‘levelling up’ agenda (like tax)
• they outline why parties are constantly evolving

Question 15

current conservative centre right policies today, on :
1. the economy
2. welfare
3. foreign policy

Answer 15

the economy: should ensure society doesn’t become divided, support of furlough and low tax on the poor
welfare: investment in infrastructure, like HS2 and new airports to help private industries and financial support for struggling businesses
foreign policy: international co-operation to failitate free trade and to intervene in public disputes

Question 16

current conservative right policies today, on :
1. the economy
2. welfare
3. foreign policy

Answer 16

the economy: free trade and low tax on all
welfare: want to reduce, if not, end welfare provisions, proposals to privatise the NHS
foreign policy: focus on british nationalism, opposed to memberships like the EU, they focus on independent military security