The United Kingdom or Britain maintains two political
parties that are represented in the House of Commons to join parliamentary
businesses and matters (Duverger, 1963). In today's parliament, technically
there are three parties that dominate the House of Commons – the Conservative
and Unionist Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats. The Labour and
the Liberal Democrats both stand on democratic socialism-liberalism. The
entrance of Labour Party on Britain's politics provided the working sector an
opportunity to break status quo of the two traditional parties (Williams,
1998).
The Conservative Party, the oldest of Britain's political
parties, traced its roots to the Tories of the 17th century. From
that time until today, the Conservative Party plays a big role in the British
government. Some of the party's prominent leaders who became Prime Ministers
include: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Winston Churchill, and the present
Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Like any other party, Conservative also has its own
fundamental or basic principles that govern the actions and decisions of its
members. These guiding principles define the mindset of its members and
representatives in the Parliament, and following the opposite of these
principles leads to an exodus out of political conservatism. The fundamental
principles of the Conservative Party can be summarized as “the defence of a
limited style of politics based upon the idea of imperfection(Ingle, 2006, p.
25).”
Fundamentals of the Conservative Party
Conservatism principles and atmosphere in Britain “has
been vigorously contested... to expect a flurry of impassioned speeches and
pamphlets setting out rival interpretations (Garnett & Lynch, 2004).” 20th
century saw the meltdown of some of the basic ideas behind conservatism in
Britain – and since then British conservatism had been threatened and attacked
of complete emergence of anti-conservatism principles. Yet, British
conservatism was able to hold its grounds and keep its basic fundamental
principles.
First, Conservatives believe on the Bill of Rights
principle that a person has absolute right to liberty. The intention of
conservatism is to ensure assurance of individual liberty by eliminating misuse
and abuse of power that may undermine the absolute right to liberty of each
person. All other principles and ideas of government of the Conservative Party
surround on this first fundamental principle.
Second, conservative members of the Parliament adheres to
the basic right of each to ownership as the express spirit of opportunity,
freedom and independence. Although this principle among conservatism can be
viewed under liberalism, but careful understanding ensures that no ground of
socialism will be taken to avoid clash between the right of a person to
ownership and the right of the government to ensure equality. Basically, this
fundamental principle is an extension of the first principle that assures
absolute right to liberty.
With the assurance of absolute liberty, conservatism
believes that the same liberty has its own responsibilities toward the nation,
fellowmen, and family. This third principle of the Conservative Party attempts
to demonstrate a check and balance on the absolute liberty of a person. As
quoted in Seawright (2009), former PM Thatcher said:
“I think
we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given
to understand “I have a problem, it is
the Government's job to cope with it”... There is no such thing! There are individual men and women
and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look themselves
first...”
British Conservatism balances the stand on liberty with
the responsibility of every person toward the society. Otherwise, it would be
impossible for the government to survive. It should be that the government
ensures liberty, but the government must be provided by individuals. This
understanding of balance is enshrined deeply on the fourth principle of
government's role on strengthening individual liberty. However, the compete
leaning on the right may mean absolute individualism and the loss of patrimony.
In reinforcement of the 2nd conservatism
principle, the fifth basic of guideline of the party states the necessity for the
government to establish a good environment and atmosphere for establishment of
free enterprise. Because each person has the right and opportunity to
ownership, the Conservative Party works on the economic and political grounds
of free enterprise and capitalism, which is usually contested by
social-liberalism of the Liberal Democrats.
Lastly, Conservatism works on defence to ensure that
Britain maintains its global strength, as a pathway to extend peace that will
ensure the total achievement of all other principles, whether fundamental or
auxiliary.
Retention of Conservative Principles
More than 300 years from its original conception, the
Conservative Party remained strong and formidable in the Parliament, even
making a government of today under its party leader and current Prime Minister
David Cameron's victory. And over the past few centuries while the Liberal
Party has been divided, which also provided a chance for the Labour Party to
emerge as a strong contender in the British politics, the Conservative Party
retains its strength and most of its fundamental principles.
During the term of Winston Churchill and Margaret
Thatcher, conservatism has been in direct attacks. These periods marked the
biggest challenge of the party to maintain their principles. It is a surprise
and remarkable how the party maintained its principles, and kept its members in
check, especially with dealing with crucial issues in the Parliament.
What had been the secret behind conservatism? To what
extent the party isolated and controlled their members within their fundamental
principles?
For the British Conservatives, tradition remains a main
thing, which is also shunned by the Liberals. Conservatism is defined as the
“political philosophy that emphasizes the value of traditional institutions and
practices (Boaz, 2008).” Unlike American conservatism that protects traditional
institutions but values modern or liberal practices, British conservatism has
been consistent on its own definition.
Take for instance Thatcher's response to the Falkland
crisis. Conservatism dictates that Falkland is an institution enshrined on the
British government, which should be kept, according to Thatcher. In keeping
with conservatism principle of defense to ensure protection of all other
rights, the prime minister wants to “show that aggression will not succeed and
to uphold the cause of freedom (Gibran, 2008, p. 111)”
On this act of Thatcher, the “Conservative government
upheld and show a determination to defend... “the right to self-determination,”
“sanctity of the British way of life,” and “aggression should not pay.”
Perhaps, the strength of Conservatism has been showed and represented by strong
and formidable leaders who were able to establish the Conservative Party's
principle within the party itself, and the British government policy.
Another point to consider in understanding how far
Conservatives went or will go for the retention of their principles is their
current coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats are
considered to be center-radicals, and the Conservatives as the center-right.
Even in this situation, Conservatives were still able to build successes, not
in opposing change, but to make the process gradual.
For instance, the Conservatives were able to defend and
resist change, as a result the monarchy is preserved, but they were able to
ready to accept developments of the social and liberal views (McAnulla, 2006).
The monarchy becomes more relax and comfortable with people as a result of
gradual acceptance of change. The Party was able to keep the traditional
institution without suffering pragmatism which could have put progress in the
balance.
Recent developments of the British politics have seen how
Conservatives are willing to bend their long-held policies for the sake of
preserving patrimony and paternalism. In fact, in terms of economics, the
Conservative government tends to be more liberal, which is very important to
avoid hurting the nation's interest. In this view, the Conservative government
must choose between policies or its fundamental principles. And, as always, the
fundamental principle wins, as a sign of how willing Conservatives are in
sacrificing their policies to preserve and retain their basic principles.
The retention of Conservative Party's principle has been a
constant battle between change and stability, the past achievements and the
moment, traditional paternalism and libertarianism. Ingle (2006) said that
conservatism was able to preserve its principles because of the change it
faced. In fact, he noted that “Conservatives were opposed to parliamentary
reforms and then became its champion; opposed to Corn Law reform and then
became its agent...” to establish the movement of the Conservative party that
although they were able to preserve their fundamental or basic principles, they
have been in constant battle of accepting change or staying on the status quo.
In the end, they were able to accept the need to change without sacrificing the
traditional principles they hold.
Perhaps, the history of the Conservative Party is a
complete story of their party identity that's more than their ideology. This is
how they maneuver to keep their pace in this changing political environment,
and even create alliance with people from the opposite fence without changing
lines and stands. And this is the secret behind the formidable strength and
endurance of the Conservative Party's fundamental principles that still guide
every single member in the Parliament, and even the current Prime Minister,
Conservative Party Chairman David Cameron.
References:
Boaz, D., 2008. The Politics of Freedom: Taking on the
Left, the Right, and Threats to Our Liberties. Cato Institute.
Duverger, M., 1963. Political Parties: Their
Organization and Activity in the Modern State. Taylor & Francis.
Garnett, M. & Lynch, P., 2004. The Conservatives in
Crisis. Manchester University Press.
Gibran, D., 2008. The Falklands War: Britain Versus the
Past in the South Atlantic. McFarland.
Ingle, S., 2008. The British Party System: An
Introduction. 4th and revised ed. Taylor & Francis.
McAnulla, S., 2006. British
Politics: A Critical Introduction. Continuum
International Publishing Group.
Seawright, D., 2009. The British Conservative Party and
One Nation Politics. Continuum International Publishing Group.
Williams, A., 1998. UK Government & Politics. 2nd
edition. Heinemann.
