Great Britain is essentially a very conservative country, the political system operating there is very specific, the political culture is very different from other countries. That is why the largest of the opposition parties is the conservative party of Great Britain. The origins of its origin are in the nineteenth century, and activity was most pronounced in 1997, when the party got its present name - “Tory”.
Features
Since its founding, the conservative party of Great Britain has defended the interests of aristocrats and the bourgeoisie, both financial and industrial, which have gradually left the liberal party. Conservatives even had the opportunity from time to time to form a government on their own, as this party was so popular. For many years, the conservative party of Great Britain experienced triumphs. There were also turning points when their eternal political opponents - the liberal party - triumphed. For example, when Margaret Thatcher withdrew from public policy, the Conservatives had a very bad time. They lost their hard-won positions in the government and almost all the support of the electorate.
Margaret Thatcher
This is the most charismatic leader of the conservative party of Great Britain, it was not in vain that she was awarded the title of "Iron Lady". At the time of her departure, a period of decline began, party ratings were steadily declining, the apparatus was difficult to reform, and leaders often and unsuccessfully changed. It was really impossible to find Margaret Thatcher equal in strength of political thought. The conservative party was in decline.
A new life came for her when David Cameron became the head, changing not only party members who became somewhat younger, but even symbolism. The green of the tree - the main symbol - means a new direction that respects the ecology of the United Kingdom. Blue and green are the official colors that the UK Conservative Party has chosen.
Program
The main slogan is diversity and equality. The 2010 elections defined the program in its present quality. The proportion of female participation is increasing, and not only ethnic, but also other minorities are represented. The election of a new mayor of London from among the Muslims most vividly characterizes this activity.
Reform of the economic system of Great Britain is not forgotten either, the struggle is going to redistribute the budget, social financing programs are being reduced, the course has been taken on the rationality of all budget expenditures. Residents of the country are gradually getting used to such a plan of separation of powers, therefore the protest movement is expressed very weakly, mainly the population agrees with these political principles.
Traditions
The Conservative Party of Great Britain, however, is traditionally popular among the wealthy segments of the population and among aristocrats, its ranks are formed from members of the highest military, clergy, very wealthy deputies and officials. It is the conservatives who dictate the external differences between the British and the rest of mankind - this is restraint, strict breeding and even a little mannerism.
For conservatives, membership fees are not important, the issues of the composition and its formation are completely and completely decided by the leader of a particular community, which even the annual party conference has the right to disobey. Independence has traditionally distinguished the social movement of conservatives from other party formations. Parliamentary elections, however, determine the country's course for five years and the composition of the government. There are two main political parties in the country, liberals and conservatives are fighting for power with varying success.
History
The reforms in the parliament of 1832 gave rise to small local organizations that called themselves Tories and conservatives, since they did not like the reforms. Then, in 1867, they united as a National Union. The first significant leader of the conservatives was Benjamin Disraeli, whom the Tories entrusted to the party in 1846, and later he became a good prime minister (1868 and 1874-1880). The Conservative Party of Great Britain, whose program previously only suited the aristocratic elite, was gradually changing. Since the 1870s, it has attracted most of the electorate of its opponents. Liberals and conservatives were already actively opposing in the struggle for power.
Most of the twentieth century passed under the rule of the conservative party, which neither the Labor Party nor the liberals gave power for more than one term. For almost thirty years since 1915, conservatives themselves formed a government (only 1924 and 1929 became an exception) or formed a coalition with Labor, forming a national government. The full name of the party sounds like some kind of association: the conservative and unionist party. The postwar period was also marked more than once by the board of conservatives. Only the defeat in the parliamentary elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 forced them to go into opposition.
Achievements
Reducing the financing of certain social programs and the influence of the state on economic processes, responsibility in spending public funds, advocating for traditional family values and encouraging private entrepreneurs' initiatives - all these, being the main points of the party program, have made conservatives the most popular among the electorate. Their stay in power helped the country achieve high results in increasing the growth rate of the economy, reducing inflationary processes, and increasing private business income. A number of state-owned companies have been privatized.
Since 2005, when Cameron ruled the party, the country's successes are even more grandiose, the field of activity has expanded and the influence of conservatives in all spheres of public life and politics has increased. After the 2010 elections, the British Parliament entrusted the Conservative Party with three hundred and six mandates of the House of Commons, for which about eleven million voters voted. Then Cameron created a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party to form a government. In 2015, the conservatives still had a majority - three hundred and two parliamentary seats.
New plans
Some of the new conservative promises in recent UK parliamentary elections have been harshly criticized. For example, the referendum, which the party intends to hold on the country's exit from the European Union, as well as the modernization of the nuclear safety system. At the same time, other important issues that are dictated by time are on the agenda: budget deficit, which requires a reduction, taxes that have risen along the upper and main bar, housing affordability, provision of pensioners, and much more.
Here, traditions have also triumphed since the development of the party’s doctrine by Chamberlain, who advanced the idea of a customs union, introduced protectionism, which forced the country to leave the monopoly’s place in world industry, and intensified competition (especially with Germany). Attempts to pacify Nazi aggression in those days led to the outbreak of World War II. What will happen this time is not very clear yet, but the whole world, after the latest statements by the conservatives, is slightly alarmed, not only the UK. Conservatives in the fortieth year found and nominated Churchill, who led the government and helped defeat Nazism. Will there be a figure of this magnitude today? One can only hope for this. Especially when you consider that Churchill also had irreparable mistakes a bit later.
World leaders
In March 1946, the very same Churchill, a comrade-in-arms and ally of the USSR in the Great War, said a speech in the American Fulton, which proposed the unification of all capitalist forces for the anti-Soviet bloc. For some time, the conservatives even lost power. But in 1951 they returned and remained in power for thirteen years. In 1955, Churchill was succeeded by Eden, an ally and long-standing friend. However, he failed the Suez crisis and was forced to leave already in 1957.
Further, the conservatives led the leadership of Macmillan and Douglas-Hume, but they did not succeed in public policy, but in 1970, E. Heath, the party leader since 1965, already independently formed the British government. He managed a lot: joining the common market, pan-European consolidation. For this, by the way, he was severely criticized inside the party, and the party itself received deep disagreements among its members: the British do not like either changes or consolidations. And so, after the resignation of Heath, the leader of the party was the “iron” Margaret Thatcher, who not only revived party work, but also significantly stimulated the development of the British economy.
Defeat
After Churchill, Margaret Thatcher was the strongest leader among all her predecessors. It was then that the privatization of entire branches of the state industry began, the unions were almost completely suppressed, and the conservatives won the elections confidently and with a huge margin. In 1990, the Major in her place was not able to rule the country as successfully, because in 1992, the conservatives began to lose their popularity. In 1997, the election defeat was crushing, when Labor took 418 seats in parliament, and only 165 conservatives.
The programs of the conservative party were to undergo significant changes, which happened. The leadership was rejuvenated again, the program became like a liberal one. This continued until 2005, when Cameron became the leader, but for independence, the time has not come yet: the actions took place in a coalition with the liberals.
Fractions
Conservatives are one nation. The basis of conservatism is social cohesion with unified institutions that maintain harmony in interested groups and classes. Until recently, this concept did not have different races and religions. Purely their own people, citizens of their own country, having deep roots, transmitting traditions from generation to generation. Now this unity is significantly enlarged, since among the conservatives there are quite a lot of supporters of the European Union and the presence of Great Britain in it.
But no less conservatives among opponents of this state of affairs. Thus, the first group of members of the conservative party was formed - “One Nation” with famous political figures Tepsel, Clark, Rifkind and others. Radical politics and any kind of erosion of their own national identity are not at all close to them. And time requires tolerance! As well as the political preferences of the United States and the rest of Europe, for which tolerance for various reasons is simply necessary.
Free market wing
This faction of followers Margaret Thatcher, conservatives with a liberalistic bias. For a long time they dominated the ranks of party members - immediately after the election of Thatcher in 1975, successively reducing the role of the state in economic development, reducing the scale of its participation in all industries, thereby ceasing its existence as a social one.
Society became classless, and this was the main task of the political movement, the so-called Thatcherism. Among the leaders of this wing, there are also many Eurosceptics who are against the rules of interference in the free market, because they see this as a threat to British sovereignty. Reagan greatly appreciated Thatcher's contribution to world politics. The United States is very much at the mercy of such economic liberalism, which has developed its fundamental principles just in the United States.
