Organisation and membership

Name

Elections

Political parties

Conservative Party (UK)

Task 24. Read and retell the following text.

Conservative and Unionist Party

Leader David Cameron

Founded Historical 1678, Modern 1830

Headquarters 30 Millbank, London SW1

Political Ideology Conservatism, Liberal conservatism

Political Position Centre-right

International Affiliation International Democrat Union

European Affiliation Movement for European Reform, European Democrat Union

European Parliament Group ED, within EPP-ED

Colours Blue, Green

The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party is currently the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. It is the most successful political party in British history in terms of election victories, and is considered by some to be the most successful political party in the world.[1] The current leader is David Cameron, who as Her Majesty's Loyal Leader of the Opposition heads the Shadow Cabinet.

The Conservative Party is descended from the Tory Party of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth Centuries. Its members are still commonly referred to as Tories and the party is still often referred to as the Tory Party. Although the Conservative Party was in government for two-thirds of the twentieth century, it has been in opposition in Parliament since losing the 1997 election to the Labour Party under Tony Blair and currently, Gordon Brown.

The Party's official name is The Conservative and Unionist Party, although this is rarely used. The name has its origins in the 1912 merger with the Liberal Unionist Party and is an echo of the party's 1886-1921 policy of maintaining the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in opposition to Irish nationalist and republican aspirations. Scotland's allied Unionist Party was independent of the Conservatives until 1965. Similarly the Ulster Unionist Party supported the Conservatives for many decades in the House of Commons and traditionally took the Conservative whip. In contrast to Scotland this arrangement broke down in the aftermath of the Ulster Unionists' opposition to the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement. The Conservative Party is now formally organised in Northern Ireland separately from the Ulster Unionist Party.

The internal organisation of the Conservative Party is a contrast between the grassroots groups who dominate in the election of party leaders and selection of local candidates, and the members of the Conservative Campaign Headquarters who lead in financing, the organising of elections, and drafting of policy. The leader of the Parliamentary party provides the core of daily political activity and forms policy in consultation with his cabinet and administration. This decentralised structure is unusual.

As with the Labour Party, membership has long been declining and despite an initial boost shortly after Cameron's election as leader, membership resumed its fall in 2006 and is now actually lower than when David Cameron was elected in December 2005. However, the Conservative Party still has more members (about 290,000) than the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats combined (around 200,000 and 70,000 respectively).[3] However, the party does not publicly provide verifiable membership figures, making this difficult to confirm.

The membership fee for the Conservative party is Ј25, or Ј5 if the member is under the age of 23.

According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission it had income in the year ending 31 December 2004 of about Ј20 million and expenditure of about Ј26 million.

The electoral symbol of the Conservative party is a stylised oak tree, replacing the freedom torch. The present motto, adopted by the Party on 6 October 2007, is "It's Time For Change". Before David Cameron, the official party colours were red, white and blue, though blue is most generally associated with the party, in contrast to the red of the Labour Party. The position has become more ambiguous since the logo change in 2006, and the party website is now blue and green. (In the Cumbrian constituencies of Penrith and the Border and Westmorland and Lonsdale the party adopts yellow as its colour after the coat of arms of the Earls of Lonsdale).

Task 25. Read and translate the following text:

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