Why did the Conservatives hold Power either unilaterally or in National Government between 1868 and 1992?

Another factor that contributed significantly to the Conservatives dominance throughout the period was their organisational superiority to their political opposition. The Conservative party throughout the period were the innovators of professional politics. Conservative party central office was established as early 1870, which has proved to be the central root of the party. The Conservative party throughout the 19th and 20th centuries were often seen to be at the cutting edge of modern political thinking, this approach was brought into structure and organisation, propaganda and policy making. It was under Disraeli the Conservatives realised that electoral success would come with a well established and organised party at both a national and local. This is where the party’s grassroots were formed particularly in rural areas where Conservative social clubs became an integral part of life. Conservative representative groups were also established, the most notable being the Primrose league established in 1883. The Primrose league represented women in their bid to achieve the right to vote. In 1891 the Primrose league had 1 million members, which had doubled to 2 million members by 1912. The Primrose league was an extremely effective and influential organisation in securing female votes for the Conservative party once were women were fully en-franchised. Organised party funding was also well established by the 20th century and the Conservatives were able to field many more candidates than their opponents due finance raised by a national network of constituency professionals. The Conservatives were also the first party to use modern canvassing and propaganda techniques for example in 1939 cinema vans were brought into use by the Conservatives. A telling time for the Conservatives was in 1945 after their landslide defeat at the hands of Atlee’s Labour government. However the Conservatives re-structured and rebuilt their organisational bodies this entailed large party recruitment, fundraising drives, re-building of public relations machinery and the establishment of the Young Conservative movement in 1946. By 1950 the Conservative party membership had risen to 3 million. The Conservatives regained power at the 1951 General Election. Professional policy making bodies had also been established extremely early on. In 1929 the Conservative Research Department (CDR) was formed by Baldwin for drafting speeches and preparing election manifesto. The party’s organisation was regarded as crucial for achieving electoral success and was something that could not be matched by rival parties until at least post the Second World War. In regard to structural organisation, policy making and propaganda the Conservatives were always one step ahead which benefited them significantly throughout the period.

Conservative pragmatism with regards to the increasing franchise that took place throughout the 19th and early 20th century and the electoral system that was in place up until 1948 aided them significantly throughout the period. The 1867 Reform Act, that went through under a Conservative government preserved the party’s interests by enfranchising property owners, who would be typical Tory voters. The development of ‘One Nation Conservatism’ was also a shrewd move by Disraeli and the party as they were fully aware the enfranchisement of the working classes was an inevitable process and that the party needed to have policies to secure working class votes. ‘One Nation Conservatism’ provided this, which meant the party did well in urban industrialised seats; an area the Conservatives had never focussed before. By the Third Reform Act in 1885 the Conservatives were well suited to many working class voters. The Conservatives also benefited under the electoral system itself, in particular from plural voting. Dual property owners would invariably vote Conservative in both their constituencies due to the party’s traditional property values. The University seats, which also remained up until 1948 were considered ‘safe’ Tory seats. Even the constituency boundaries themselves gave an advantage to the Conservatives as middle-class suburbs (typical Conservative areas) were given a greater share of parliamentary representation. All these factors contributed to a considerable advantage for the Conservative party at elections.

The Liberal demise and the emergence of the Labour party was also a key factor contributing to the Conservative party dominance throughout the period. The Liberals were plagued by splits particularly over the issue of Irish land reform, which the Conservatives under Salisbury exploited. The emergence of socialism through the Labour party early in the 20th century was also extremely damaging to the Liberals. The party significantly underestimated socialism and allowed the Labour party to move into the ‘left’ and ‘centre-left’ ground that was traditionally dominated by them. Along with crippling splits, which included distinguished Liberals defecting to the Conservative party, the Liberals lost a large number of voters to the Labour party. The Conservatives offered a strong alternative to socialism, maintaining traditional policy of church and Empire and exploiting socialist links to communism. The Conservatives strengthened with the demise of the Liberals and emerged as the major political force for the rest of the 20th century.

In conclusion, the Conservatives were extremely successful throughout the period for a few factors. Conservative success came through positive actions on their behalf such as their organisation and ideological flexibility as well as on the back of negative factors from their political opponents such as the Liberal splits and their eventual demise and Labour being virtually unelectable at stages throughout the period. The Conservatives lack of significant commitment to a particularly group or issue gave them vital ideological flexibility, proving key in creating two significant periods of Conservative dominance from 1886 until 1906 through the development of ‘One Nation Conservatism’ and again from 1979 until 1997 through the development of Thatcherism. The Conservatives focus on organisation and professional politics was another contributing factor to their dominance and it put the party in a great position way ahead of their opponents in forming solid party grassroots upon which the party were reliant as their electoral base. However, the Conservatives were fortunate in the weakness of their opposition at some points throughout the period. The Liberal demise was crucial for the Conservatives in that their major political opposition had gone and they now faced the challenge from the relatively new Labour party who could not rival the Conservatives organisational or financial resources. Overall the Conservatives flexible ideology (or lack of substantial ideology) can be identified as its major contributing factor for the party’s success throughout the period.