Conservative Party is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom. The other is the Labour Party. The Conservative Party replaced the Tory Party, which appeared in England during the late 1600’s.
In the 1830’s, Sir Robert Peel, a British political leader, formed the Conservative Party from the old Tory Party. In 1846, Benjamin Disraeli became a leading figure in the Conservative Party. He worked for a new program for the Conservatives. Disraeli played an important role in the passage of the Reform Act of 1867, which gave voting rights to the working class. As prime minister, Disraeli followed a strong foreign policy. He worked to strengthen ties between the United Kingdom and its colonies.
Under the leadership of Lord Salisbury, the Conservative Party sided with Irish Unionists in opposing self-government for Ireland. In 1912, the Conservative Party merged with the Liberal Unionist Party and changed its name to the Conservative and Unionist Party.
After World War I (1914-1918), Conservatives helped reorganize the British Empire to bring greater equality between the United Kingdom and its colonies. Winston Churchill, a Conservative, led a coalition government during most of World War II (1939-1945). In July 1945, near the war’s end, the coalition ended, and the Labour Party was elected to power.
The Conservative Party governed again from 1951 to 1964, and from 1970 to 1974. In 1975, the Conservatives elected Margaret Thatcher as leader of the party. Thatcher became the first woman to head a British political party. In 1979, the Conservatives won control of the government, and Thatcher became the United Kingdom’s first woman prime minister. Under her leadership, the Conservatives won the 1983 and 1987 elections. John Major succeeded Thatcher as prime minister and Conservative Party leader in 1990. The Conservatives retained control of the government until the 1997 elections, which the Labour Party won by a landslide.
In May 2010, the Conservative Party won the most seats in the general election but not an overall majority. The Conservatives then created a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Conservative leader David Cameron became prime minister. The coalition lasted until 2015. In the 2015 general election, the Conservatives won an overall majority of seats, making a coalition unnecessary. In June 2016, British voters chose to leave the European Union in a contentious referendum nicknamed “Brexit” (British exit). Cameron, who had opposed Brexit despite its support among Conservative Party voters, resigned the following month. Theresa May, who became the new Conservative Party leader, replaced Cameron as prime minister.
In 2017 elections, the Conservatives won more seats than any other party but fell short of a majority. May’s party formed a governing agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland. May resigned her position as party leader in June 2019, after failing to persuade Parliament to agree on the details of Brexit. She remained as prime minister until July, when Boris Johnson was elected leader of the party and became prime minister. In December 2019 elections, the Conservatives gained a solid majority in Parliament. The United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union in 2020.
Johnson resigned as party leader in 2022 following a series of scandals involving him and other party leaders. One scandal was known as “Partygate.” It involved gatherings held at Johnson’s residence in violation of restrictions meant to control the spread of the disease COVID-19. Johnson stepped down as party leader in July after many of his Cabinet members resigned in disapproval of his leadership.
Liz Truss, who had served as foreign secretary in Johnson’s government, succeeded him as Conservative Party leader and prime minister in September 2022. But Truss’s economic plans proved politically unpopular, and the government withdrew her tax cut proposals in October. On October 20, Truss announced that she would resign upon her party’s selection of a successor. Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister), succeeded Truss as party leader on October 24. Sunak became prime minister on October 25.
