The Conservative Party Flashcards
How did the CP emerge?
Emerged from the Tory party in the 1830s-dating its birth to Robert Peel’s Tamworth Manifesto in 1834
Why did conservatism emerge?
Origins in conflict in 17th century over authority of monarchy
those who supported royal authority=royalists and became known as Tories
those who favoured democracy=whigs
How did the industrial revolution affect the CP?
Growth of international markets. capitalist middle class began to grow in size and influence
Their rise challenged traditional authority of aristocracy and landed gentry
middle class represented by whigs
landed gentry represented by Tories who were being described as conservatives.
Why were the Tories referred to as Conservatives?
They resisted new political structures and wished to ‘conserve’ the dominant position of the upper classes whom they represented.
Who was the first CP PM?
Sir Robert Peel
Who formed the CP?
Sir Robert Peel and Benjamin Disraeli based it on traditional conservative ideas.
What were the parties 2 main objectives?
- prevent the party falling too far into inequality, to preserve the unity of the UK
- preserve order in society
What sort of party was the CP?
pragmatic
What is traditional conservatism?
Ideas are about tradition must be conserved and we must have a democracy for an ordered society. We must preserve things such as marriage, nuclear families and religion.
Approach issues pragmatically
Believe people could fall into disorder so we need order
What did Edmund Burke believe?
‘good order is the foundation of all good things’-new ideas of liberty, equality and democracy were creating a disordered society.
What is ‘one-nation conservatism’?
political ideology that emphasises social cohesion and the need for a strong, unified society and not a divide between classes
takes a pragmatic approach
advocates incremental change
paternalistic
favours a mixed economy
Which PM popularised one-nation conservatism?
Disraeli-he warns against Britain becoming ‘Two Nations’: ‘The Rich and the Poor’
What is ‘paternalist conservatism’?
While authority should be centralised, state should be benevolent and care for the neediest and care for those who are less fortunate (social reforms)
What is an Organic Society?
People well off have a duty to care for those who are less fortunate and society shouldn’t develop forcefully but naturally as we are all independent
How are conservatives different from socialists and liberals?
They don’t have fixed views of how to change society
What are conservative views on property?
Defenders of the property-owning classes
Fundamental for individualism
Which PM became known for ‘New Right’ principles?
Margaret Thatcher
Define the term ‘New Right’
Used to describe a group of political values and ideas emerging in the US
Combination of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism
What is Thatcherism?
Associated with Margaret Thatcher
.dogmatic
.advocates for radical change
.individualistic
.favours a free market economy
What did the advent of Thatcherism mark the death of?
Post-war consensus and the rise of more adversarial politics
What did Thatcher call people who didn’t agree with Thatcherism?
Wets
What did Thatcherites favour?
Importance of the individual over the need of society as a whole
What were some of Thatcher’s radical policies?
. Deregulation
. Privatisation
. Limits on trade union powers
. Smaller state (rolling back the frontiers of the state)
. Emphasis on national sovereignty
. Limited welfare provision
What is Neo-Liberalism?
Neoliberalism is a political and economic philosophy that emphasizes free trade, deregulation, globalization, and a reduction in government spending. It’s related to laissez-faire economics, a school of thought that prescribes minimal government interference in the economic issues of individuals and society.
Laissez-faire economics is the philosophy that minimal state interference and participation in the economy will maximize economic growth and prosperity.
What are key points of Neo-Liberalism?
Interference in economy=counterproductive causing inflation and lack of dynamism
Free markets more effective in creating wealth
Excessive welfare benefits-‘dependency culture’
High taxation is a disincentive to hard work and wealth creation
What is dynamism?
Lively economy that leads to an economic boom
Recent Neo-liberal policy examples?
Since 2010 CP chancellors of the exchequer have pursues austerity measures to reduce deficit
2012 COTEX George Osborne cut top rate of taxation from 50p to 45p
2017-increased the threshold at which the top rate of taxation is paid to £50,000 by as well as increasing the personal tax allowance to £12,500
What is Neo-Conservativism?
Developed in US late 20th century
Nationalistic and patriotic that favours tradition as believes that loose attitude to morality and lifestyles can lead to a breakdown in social order
Promotes individualism
Single national culture on society-doesn’t tolerate diff lifestyles
Recent Neo-Conservative policies?
.2017 manifesto committed to cutting immigration-emphasising importance of maintaining the nation state
.Priti Patel created Rwanda policy
.Teresa May strong national security policy-Trident nuclear deterrent remains cornerstone of CP defence policy
.Investigatory Powers Act of 2016
. Oppose further reform of HoL
CP factions
More internally divided than any other major parties
All factions have significantly diff opinions to main body of the party
ideologies of party are not especially strong so can accommodate many views on centre and right of UK politics
Who are the Cornerstones?
Wishes to restore very traditional values to the conservative movement. Motto is “Faith,Flag and Family”
Supports UK being a Christian country,intensely nationalistic, reactionary attitude to social reforms such as gay marriage and abortion, supports brexit
Members such as Priti Patel
Who are the European Research Group?
Influential Brexit research group made up of Conservative Eurosceptics formed in 1992
Focus was leaving EU
Who are Conservative Way Forward?
Looks back on era of Thatcher and is largely a neo-liberal movement
Believe influence of thatcher has been diluted
Support retention of free markets and support free enterprise through low taxation and deregulation of industry
Opposed to trade union powers, opposer mandatory vaccines and face mask mandate
Romanticise Thatcherism
Who are Tory Reform Group?
Stands at the centre of politics- seen as left leaving in CP
More One-Nation Conservativism
Promotes social cohesion
Support policies to reduce inequality in society, concerned about establishing equal rights
Paternalist and benevolent
Who are the Common Sense Group?
Post-liberal group
Against Black Lives Matters and Extinction Rebellion
Threaded throughout agenda to undermine 2010 equality act
Who was the PM of the 2010 coalition government?
David Cameron
Why was Cameron described as ‘Heir to Blair’
Influenced by Blair’s leadership style
What did Cameron set out to do?
Detoxify the Conservative brand
Election pledge was to fix ‘broken Britain’ and govern as a party of one nation.
Introduced the NCS
How did the economic crisis affect Cameron?
National debt was huge because of previous govs overspending and the 2008 economic crisis.
Austerity policies to reduce state spending
Pursued Thatcherite agenda of ‘rolling back the frontiers of the state’
Was pragmatic and ideologically motivated
What happened in the 2015 Conservative Gov?
Returned to a single-party gov.
EU referendum lead to Cameron’s resignation and replaced with Teresa May
What happened to May in the 2017 CP gov?
Brexit dominated gov agenda
Lost seats in election and was forced to govern as a minority gov- was forced to drop many controversial policies
Resigned-failed to achieve a way for UK to leave EU supported by parliament
What were 2017 key policies?
Economy-policy was pragmatic-public expenditure must be kept under control
attitude to taxation-partly neo-liberal and partly social democratic
Law and order-stern punishments best deterrent, sentencing should be by gov
Welfare-stricter system, ‘living wage’
Foreign policy-supported NATO, should intervene in foreign conflicts
2019 Conservative gov main points
Bojo elected leader-failed to approve a Brexit deal so called an early election in December
Election manifesto slogan-‘Get Brexit Done, Unleash Britain’s Potential’
Gained landslide majority-winning 43.6% of pop vote
What were 2019 gov priorities?
Brexit and covid derailed these
.fix adult social care
. increased NHS and childcare funding
.’levelling up’ building programme
.pensions rise by 2.5%
.restrict supreme court, immigration and peaceful protests
2022 Conservative gov main points
Liz Truss elected on 6th sept served 44 days as PM
Chancellor was Kwasi Kwarteng
What did Kwasi Kawrteng do
Fiscal statement claiming to provide biggest package of tax cuts to signal economic growth, points were:
.rate of income tax reduced
.banker’s bonus cap scrapped
.level up in certain areas
How was Kwartengs policy a failure?
reckless mini-budget for rich sent pound crashing to its lowest level against the dollar in 37 years
Truss sacked him
What was the 2022 Conservative gov?
Rishi Sunak
main priorities were:
.halving inflation to ease cost of living
.growing economy
.reducing NHS waiting lists
.pass Rwanda bill
