The history of the party
The full name of the Conservative Party is the “Conservative and Unionist Party”. It originates from the royalist “Tory Party”, an English political formation that first appeared in the 17th century. The party used to defend the interests of the conservatives such as the country gentry or merchants, who believed in traditional values. They opposed the Whigs. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Tory Party became the Conservative party over the course of the 1800s-1830s. Today Conservatives are still called Tories by some on certain occasions, but the proper name is "Conservatives".
Ideas and policies
The Conservative Party is a right-wing or right-of-centre party. It advocates a mixed economy, i.e. an economy in which some businesses and industries are privately owned, and others are publicly owned. However, in the 1980s, the Thatcher government privatised many nationalised industries such as British Gas, British Airways, British Steel or British Telecom. The role of the state was meant to be reduced in order to increase productivity and share-ownership to boost individual wealth. The Conservative Party encourages free enterprise, i.e. allowing businesses to operate with little to no state control.
The Conservative Party is in favour of :
- property ownership, that is to say for individuals to own their house or flat ;
- low taxation ;
- law and order policies.
Other central Conservative policies include reform of education, welfare and the National Health Service in order to minimise state regulation and funding.
Typical Conservative voters are middle or upper class homeowners who live in the South of England, but Conservatives also enjoy strong support among the working class.
