- Why has the Conservative Party been the most successful party in British history?
The Conservative Party has been the most successful party in British Party in British History for many reasons, the first of which is that they have been around for the longest time. The term ‘Tory’ has been used since the 17th century after the civil war when it was used to describe a group of MPs who were strong supporters of the Monarchy, the Church of England, and the landowning class. Therefore they appealed the most to the only people who had the power to vote at the time, the wealthy, the landowners, and those in positions of authority.
Also, despite the fact that the main opposition, the Whigs brought the Great Reform Act in 1832, extending the vote to the middle class, they remained popular because Sir Robert Peel changed their attitude to a pragmatic one, along with the name changing to the Conservative Party. Because of Peel’s ‘Tamworth Manifesto’ and the Tory reform, they were still able to win votes from the middle class, and were the Governing Party for the majority of the time.
Furthermore, when the vote was extended to the Working Class, Benjamin Disraeli was still able to win votes because he portrayed the party as patriotic so that it would appeal to the common people, who he believed were naturally conservative.
Another strong leader who has helped the Conservatives the most successful political party in British history was Stanley Baldwin in the 1920’s, who built on the party’s reputation as the only one that could be trusted to put Britain’s interests first, as well as being able to rethink certain policies.
As well as having many great leaders, their ability to change their policies has helped them to be as successful as they have been. For instance, after the 2nd World War there was a consensus, as Labour came into power, but the Conservatives changed their policies tom become willing to preserve the changes that labour had made.
What’s more the Conservative Party has always had the reputation of being the most economically secure party, being able to manage Britain’s finances the best, as well as being trusted with making sure Britain’s interests come first.
In more recent years, Margaret Thatcher introduced a right-wing Conservative agenda, yet she was remarkable at winning working class votes.
In conclusion, despite the trouble that the most recent Conservative Prime Minister, John Major, had for the a large part of his time in power, and the fact that they have been in opposition since the 1997 general election, the Tories have had many great leaders in the past, and have been the Governing party for much longer than any other party.
- Why did the Conservative Party suffer such a devastating defeat in the election of 1997?
John Major became Prime Minister in 1990 as Margaret Thatcher’s successor, and won the 1992 general election, despite a predicted labour Government or hung Parliament by many. However, he only won by a majority of 21 seats, a factor that would later cause the Conservatives many problems.
Shortly after the election, on ‘Black Wednesday’ September 1992, the chancellor, Norman Lamont, was forced to take the pound out of the EMS, devaluing the pound massively and crippling the Conservatives reputation as being able to handle the economy competently. Arguably, this moment was the start of the Tories problems, never recovering from this humiliation, and despite the economy recovering between 1995 and 1997; no credit was given to them.
Another reason for their catastrophic defeat in 1997 is that although Major called a new start that he named ‘back to basics’ in 1993, it became associated with sleaze stories involving Tory MPs’ sexual and financial situations. On top of this he failed to either sack or condemn the actions of those MPs who were concerned, making him appear to be a weak leader.
Furthermore, there was frequent talk of a leadership challenge, as John Major was often questioned and challenged my MPs, including Conservatives. He was even asked to step down as Prime Minister at one point.
Also, the Cabinet was strongly divided, especially over European policy, one side known as the Europhiles, including Kenneth Clark and Michael Heseltine among others, were supporters of the Euro and wanted to bring the United Kingdom closer to the European Community. On the other hand however were the Eurosceptics, such as Portillo, Lilley and Howard, who opposed embracing a single European currency and having a closer connection with the EU. It was Major’s inability to choose one side made him look indecisive and weak, and even Cabinet members felt that the party would have been better of if he had chose to support one of the groups and sack the other, however he stuck to his ‘negotiate and decide’ policy, and it remained a ‘coalition government’ as Major himself once called it when he thought the microphones were switched off. In addition to this, the division meant that no serious business could take place, and led to Major having to discuss issues with a trusted inner circle, but there were press leaks which also damaged his reputation.
What’s more, when a group of rebellious backbench Conservative MPs attempted to humiliate the Government, and had their whips removed. Although this was an opportunity for Major to show strength, it was a poor decision, because it eliminated the Conservative majority in the House of Commons. On top of this, the rebellious MPs got lots of press coverage and did huge damage to Major’s reputation by defeating him on such policies as the increase of VAT on fuel. This led to Major’s portrayal of weakness by the media, and so he was forced to ask the rebels to come back to the party, but he didn’t impose any conditions, and so was another factor that made him look weak, as well as giving the feeling that he made stands only to back down later. He was increasingly portrayed by the press as an ineffective captain of an unruly, sinking ship.
In light of all the criticism John Major asked his oppositions to ‘put up or shut up’, and he allowed for a Parliamentary election to decide on the Prime Minister. Many felt that this decision had left the party in limbo when they needed strong and decisive leadership, so Thatcher and much of the Conservative press backed John Redwood, who resigned from the cabinet in order to stand against Major. Although Major won by a clear majority, and received just over his target of votes, therefore retaining the position of Prime Minister, it showed that many people in the Government opposed Major, damaging his reputation.
The final factor that caused Conservatives devastating defeat in 1997 is that Tony Blair, the ‘new’ labour party leader Tony Blair appeared to be firm and strong, while and the same time the Conservatives were further dogged by sleaze stories. Also, after calling a general election, Major refused to show the ‘Faust’ video as part of the Conservative campaign, which showed Blair making false promises, and he opted to talk about his policies rather than making personal attacks on Blair as advised.
Because of all these problems that Major faced, as well as a hugely successful ‘new’ labour campaigned led by Tony Blair, the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat.