The Conservative Party needs to earn a measure of trust and belief, to show that it is serious, competent and oriented towards the public good for a vast swathe of the people of this country, including millions of young people who have not begun to consider voting Conservative. But to do that it needs to know what it stands for.
Real conservatism: A personal view
“Focusing on real conservatism allows us to clear away the undergrowth, to open some philosophical and historical ground for the Conservative Party, perhaps to lay some foundations, before the real project of rebuilding and renewal can begin.”
Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP
To say that the 2024 general election was a disaster for the Conservative Party tests the art of political euphemism to its limits. But there is no denying it. The result has been to create a wasteland on the centre right of British politics across the length and breadth of the country.
The longest established national party of these islands now lacks any parliamentary representation in Wales. In England it has given up almost all its gains from 2019 and much more, while being routed from its strongholds in the south east and the Midlands. The north east has just a single Tory MP. The Conservative Party now has nearly 30 per cent fewer MPs even than in 1997, the smallest number in its history.
No party has a divine right to stay in office, and in 2024 the Conservatives were out-generalled, out-thought and out-played by all the other major parties. Yet the deeper truth is that the Conservative Party lost because it had forgotten what real conservatism is. Lacking a shared understanding and sense of commitment, it was unable to offer a coherent account of what it had done and why, or any serious argument for its own legitimacy or continuation in government. All else flowed from that.
If the Conservative Party wishes even to be considered again for election, let alone to be elected, let alone to govern effectively, it will need a deep intellectual renewal as well as a practical one.
There are no shortcuts or off-the-shelf solutions. Conservatives of all political parties and none, and the Conservative Party in particular, now have the obligation – as well as the time – to rethink these principles from the bottom up. This essay makes a start on that, not through some compendious recitation, but by zeroing in on one fundamental issue and exploring its implications.
Your contribution will help fund cutting edge research to make the country a better place.
