Politics A level Revision - the Conservative party

when did the party originate?

in the late 17th century as the tory party

what was the "Tory Party"

an aristocratic group that first came together in defence of the historic privileges of the crown and the Church as powerful landowning institutions.

under which leader, when did the party start to evolve its purpose?

by the 1830s, under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel, it was evolving into a party dedicated to the defence of property and traditional authority against the threat of revolution.

what did Peel focus on stressing the importance of?

gradual reform in order to protect and conserve established institution, hence 'Conservative'

how did the Conservatives broaden their support to become very successful in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

by appealing to both the middle class and aristocracy.

what did traditional conservatism develop into?

one-nation conservatism

who was one-nation conservatism originally associated with?

party leader and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

what did one-nation conservatism want to do?

to bridge the gap between the classes through a paternalistic social policy, in which 'natural leaders' would act benevolently towards the disadvantaged in return for acceptance of their right to rule.

how did Disraeli and later leaders plan to win popular support?

through social reform and a 'patriotic' foreign policy, with the aim to strengthen national unity.

when did the ideology 'peak' and why?

post-WW2 because they accepted the changes introduced by the 1945-51 Atlee government. they balanced free enterprise with state intervention in economic social policy.

what were the changes introduced by the Atlee government?

the welfare state, the NHS and government action to maintain high employment.

how did the Conservative party conduct themselves during the 'post-war consensus'?

they had a pragmatic and non-ideological approach. they maintained the party contest between themselves and the Labour Party but undid few of their policies when they took office.

when did Thatcher leave office?

in November 1990

what happened to the party after Thatcher left?

the party struggled for a decade and a half to find an identity independent of her.

who was party leader after Thatcher and what did he do?

(1990-97) John Major, he sort of represented the continuation of Thatcherism while he was PM with the privatisation of Coal and Railways.

why did Major only narrowly win the 1992 general election?

his premiership was troubled by divisions over Europe.

what led to the huge defeat to Tony Blair in 1997, from the Conservative's side?

the divisions over Europe, a series of scandals and a growing sense of exhaustion on the part of the government.

what were the divisions in the party over Europe during John Major's time?

Major was a moderate pro-European who unsuccessfully tried to reconcile two opposing factions in the party - the hard-line Eurosceptics who wanted stronger resistance vs the encroaching power of the EU and a smaller group of pro-Europeans who wanted Britain to remain influential over a rapidly integrating continent.

who were the next three leaders of the party after Major?

William Hague, Ian Duncan Smith and Michael Howard.

what did Hague, Duncan Smith and Howard fail to do?

they all failed to unseat Tony Blair and to distance themselves from the now discredited Thatcherism, and move the party beyond an association with Europe, immigration and Law & Order.

what else left the Conservatives out of office during the Blair years?

the party's ageing membership and outdated policies which failed to appeal to an increasingly diverse society.

when did David Cameron become party leader?

December 2005

What did Cameron do to revitalise the party?

he brought fresh thinking of a new generation to the party - respectful to Thatcher but aware Britain had considerably changed since she left office. He identified himself as a 'liberal conservative' who was tolerant of minority groups and different lifestyles.

what were some of David Cameron's policies?

showed interest in the environment and demonstrated that he valued public services such as the NHS.

what did Cameron do ideologically to the party?

he attempted to shift the party somewhat back to a moderate one-nation conservatism.

what was Cameron's premiership defined by?

austerity (spending cuts to reduce government deficits) and divisions over Europe.

How was Cameron's party different to Thatcherism?

whilst Thatcher presented the Conservatives as the party for individualism and self-determination, Cameron emphasised the bonds between people, arguing for co-operation between the state and voluntary sector in building the 'Big Society', in many ways it seemed like an updated version of one-nation Conservatism. Thatcher's morally authoritarian tone was replaced by for example the support of legislating gay marriage.

what did both Cameron and May try to do with the party?

stand on the side of ordinary people rather than just the elite, and tried to move the party away from its image as the 'nasty party'.

what ideological stand point did Theresa May have?

she sought to continue Cameron's liberal and one-nation approach combined with austerity.

what was Theresa May's time as PM known for?

Brexit and the chaos and divisions within the party over it, eventually leading to Boris Johnson replacing her after she'd lost the support of the Brexit-supporting wing of the party.

what was the main thing Theresa May was known for?

losing the Conservatives' majority in the 2017 election and failing to deliver Brexit.

what was Boris Johnson's stance on Brexit?

he was a hardline Brexiteer

what did Boris Johnson do, in relation to Brexit?

he successfully passed a hard Brexit deal after the 2019 election

what was the Party's slogan during the 2019 election campaign?

"Get Brexit Done"

what was Boris Johnson's premiership defined by?

COVID and its aftermath, especially the 'party gate' scandal which eventually brought him down.

what was Boris Johnson's ideological stance?

his government and policy was largely defined by events rather than an ideological position, but he did move the party away from austerity in the 2019 election and sought to promote a 'levelling up' agenda to invest in the North especially.

how was Boris Johnson's Conservative party different to Thatcherism?

debt-based spending as shown during the COVID crisis, when the government spent very high amounts on the furlough scheme.

Ideologically, what did Liz Truss try to do?

she tried to reintroduce Thatcherism in order to try and boost the UK's economy in the context of the Cost of Living crisis but failed miserably and resigned after just 45 days in office.

what happened during Liz Truss' short premiership?

Her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng introduced a mini-budget which announced Truss would be cutting taxes significantly, including corporation tax, abolishing the top rate of income tax and cutting stamp duty, all to be funded by borrowing.

what was the aftermath of Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget?

it was disastrous, resulting in a rapid fall in the value of the pound and the Bank of England responding by increasing interest rates. she tried to reverse some of her policies and replaced Kwarteng with Jeremy Hunt, but it was too late and she resigned 4 days later.

who replaced Truss?

Brexiteer and chancellor under Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak.

what was Thatcher's economic policy?

she greatly reduced taxes and public spending in an attempt to encourage individualism.

How did the top rate of income tax change under Thatcher?

it was reduced from 83% when she came to power to 40% in her last budget.

How did corporation tax change under Thatcher?

it was reduced from 52% to 34%

what changes did Thatcher make economically in her first few years?

cut spending by £1 billion including cuts in housing, energy, education, employment, industrial subsidies, transport and foreign aid. She didn't however, reduce funding for the police or armed forces.

what key concept did Thatcher support and what was the real life impacts of this?

she supported privatisation and removing the state from the market and introduced a series of massive privatisations starting in 1981 with British Telecom. Her government also introduced the 'right-to-buy' scheme to allow people to purchase and own their own council houses.

what was Thatcher's Law and Order Policy?

she called the Trade Unions the 'enemy within' and successfully reduced their powers by making striking more difficult and using the police against striking workers. Despite cutting the budgets for other departments, she increased funding for the police and armed forces and was generally very tough on crime.

what did the 1988 Education Reform Act do?

it removed the control over education from local politicians, making schools self-governing and the curriculum decided by the UK government.

what was one of Thatcher's main pieces of welfare policy?

cutting spending of many government departments and reducing some benefits, but she didn't privatise the NHS due to the strong public support for it.

what was Thatcher's foreign policy?

she had very strong, assertive foreign policy, leading her to gain the 'iron lady' reputation.

what are some examples of Thatcher's 'iron lady' foreign policy?

she strongly protected Britain's interests abroad, including against the USSR and in the Falklands War and developed a strong relationship with Reagan in the US. Also, she refused to impose sanctions on apartheid south Africa and described Nelson Mandela as a 'terrorist'.

What was Thatcher's policy on Europe?

she was Eurosceptic and sought to protect Britain's sovereignty against a growing EU.

what did Section 28 of the Local Government Act of 1988 do?

it introduced a ban on promoting homosexuality in schools, which was extremely homophobic and has been strongly condemned. it represented Thatcher supporting 'Christian values'.

what was the 'poll tax' and why was it controversial?

she introduced this towards the end of her time in office and it was going to replace council tax and would mean all individuals paid the same amount rather than payment being based on the value of one's property.

what was Cameron's economic priority?

to reduce the budget deficit he inherited from Labour and introduce austerity to maintain the confidence of the financial markets and prevent Britain's borrowing costs from rising. This included cutting the budgets of government dept. by up to 25%.

what did Cameron blame on the 2008 financial crisis ?

Labour's irresponsible overspending.

what was Cameron's law and order policy?

he seemed to take more of a liberal attitude towards law and order, calling for more understanding of young offenders. he supported tough sentencing for certain crimes, especially following the 2011 London riots but promoted a 'rehabilitation revolution' to reduce the problem of reoffenders.

how did Cameron's law and order policy resemble Blair's?

the government must be 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'.

what was the welfare policy of the coalition?

they were intended to cut costs and encourage those receiving benefits to be more self-reliant, distinguishing between hard-working 'strivers' and undeserving 'shirkers' who the government sought to penalise.

what was the intended purpose of the universal credit system?

to simplify the welfare system and encourage low-income people to take up employment.

what happened to the NHS during the coalition?

it implemented radical overhaul of the NHS, allowing the private sector to compete with state hospitals.

what was the UK's relationship with the US during Cameron's time in office?

similar to Thatcher, Cameron supported the 'special relationship' with the US, supporting air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

what happened with the UK and the EU during Cameron's premiership?

he supported pragmatic Euroscepticism and tried to fight Britain's corner in the EU, attempting to renegotiate the UK's terms of membership before holding a referendum in which he supported remain, before resigning when he lost it.

what was Cameron's environmental policy?

he sought to strongly tackle climate change, saying his government would be the 'greenest government ever', prioritising green investments and introducing a carbon tax on fossil fuels.

what was one of the most important pieces of legislation passed under Cameron?

somewhat influenced by the lib dem coalition and wanting to appear as a 'liberal conservative', his government legalised same-sex marriage in 2013.

what was Rishi Sunak's economic policy focused on?

trying to prioritise national finances in the context of the cost of living crisis by reducing the national debt and seeking to half inflation by the end of 2023.

how did Rishi Sunak's government aim to half inflation by the end of 2023?

by increasing taxes and cutting public spending. this included increasing the National Living Wage from £9.50/hour to around £10.40/hour in response to rising inflation.

What did Rishi Sunak's government strongly oppose in relation to Economic policy and law and order?

striking workers and started off refusing to offer them substantial real-terms pay increases in the context of falling real-term wages due to rising inflation.

what was Sunak's government's stance on law and order?

tough approach to crime with them pledging to recruit 20,000 additional police officers and reduce 'homicide, serious violence and neighbourhood crime' by 20%.

what was Sunak's initial stance and plan for immigration ?

very strong stance against immigration, pledging to 'stop small boats' and quickly deport those who arrive illegally in the UK by preventing those without valid documents from claiming asylum. famous for the Rwanda plan and trying to implement the Australian-style points-based immigration system.

what was Sunak's welfare policy?

initially wanted to cut NHS waiting times but only gave £300 million in emergency funding compared to the £7 billion they were asking for. He opposed striking NHS nurses, ambulance workers and teachers and sought to introduce mandatory minimum services levels as party of proposed anti-strike legislation.

What was Sunak's foreign policy?

Much like Starmer and Johnson, Sunak strongly supported Ukraine and continues to strongly support Brexit as well as take a strong stance in relation to the Northern Ireland protocol.

what did Rishi Sunak's Foreign Secretary say about the UK's stance on China?

James Cleverly (Foreign Secretary) detailed a tough stance for the UK to take on China's lack of adherence to the 'rules and norms of the international community'

what did Sunak reintroduce after Liz Truss briefly lifted it?

the ban on fracking.