The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, and also known colloquially as the Tories, Tory Party, or simply the Conservatives, is a political party in the United Kingdom. The Conservatives sit on the centre-right of the political spectrum. The Conservatives formed a fixed term coalition government with the Liberal Democrats from 2010–2015. Following the 2015 election, the Conservatives formed a Government with a 12-seat majority. A snap general election in 2017 meant they held power without an overall majority until 2019, when they regained an overall majority in the House of Commons, with 365 Members of Parliament. The party also has 258 appointed members of the House of Lords, 9 members of the London Assembly, 31 members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 members of the Senedd and 7,521 local authority councillors.
One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democracy, in combination with social and economic programmes designed to benefit the ordinary person. According to this political philosophy, society should be allowed to develop in an organic way, rather than being engineered. It argues that members of society have obligations towards each other and particularly emphasises paternalism, meaning that those who are privileged and wealthy pass on their benefits. It argues that this elite should work to reconcile the interests of all classes, including labour and management, rather than identifying the good of society solely with the interests of the business class.
George Gideon Oliver Osborne is a British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 2001 to 2017. He was editor of the Evening Standard from 2017 to 2020.
Michael Andrew Gove is a British politician, journalist and author serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, Gove has served in various cabinet positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. He has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2016 and 2019, finishing in third place on both occasions.
Grant Shapps is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Transport since 2019. Shapps also has Cabinet responsibility for the Northern Powerhouse. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Welwyn Hatfield since 2005.
Nadine Vanessa Dorries is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005.
David Michael Gauke is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. He served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, most notably as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2018 to 2019. First elected as a Conservative, Gauke had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 and until the dissolution sat as an independent politician.
Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park,, is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment. A member of the Conservative Party, he was its candidate at the 2016 London mayoral election and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2010 to 2016 and 2017 to 2019. Ideologically characterised as having liberal and libertarian views, he is known for his support for environmentalism and localism.
Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British politician serving as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since 2019, and who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, Rees-Mogg is a social conservative.
Timothy Montgomerie is a British political activist, blogger, and columnist. He is best known as the co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice and as creator of the ConservativeHome website, which he edited from 2005 until 2013, when he left to join The Times. He was formerly the newspaper's comment editor, but resigned in March 2014. On 17 February 2016, Montgomerie resigned his membership of the Conservative Party, citing the current leadership's stance on Europe, which has been supportive of EU membership. In 2019, he was briefly a special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, advising on social justice issues.
Hilary Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice is a British journalist, Senior Fellow at Harvard University and former Director of Policy for Prime Minister David Cameron. Cavendish became a Conservative Member of the House of Lords in Cameron's resignation honours, but resigned the party Whip in December 2016 to sit as a non-affiliated peer.
Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Northamptonshire since 2010. Leadsom served as Environment Secretary from 2016 to 2017, Leader of the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019 and as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2019 to 2020. Leadsom has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2016 and 2019.
Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and was the Leader of the Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2020 to May 2021. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016 and for Edinburgh Central from 2016 to 2021.
Peter Andrew Cruddas, Baron Cruddas is an English banker, businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of online trading company CMC Markets. In the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, he was named the richest man in the City of London, with an estimated fortune of £860 million. As of March 2012, Forbes estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion.
Nicholas James Timothy is a British political adviser. He served as Joint Downing Street Chief of Staff, alongside Fiona Hill, to Prime Minister Theresa May, until his resignation in the wake of the 2017 general election.
The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been elected. Nominations opened on 10 June; 10 candidates were nominated. The first ballot of Members of Parliament (MPs) took place on 13 June, with exhaustive ballots of MPs also taking place on 18, 19 and 20 June, reducing the candidates to two. The general membership of the party elected the leader by postal ballot with the result announced on 23 July, with Boris Johnson being elected with almost twice as many votes as his opponent Jeremy Hunt.
The office of Treasurer of the Conservative Party was established in 1911, along with that of Chairman, as part of a wider reorganisation of the Conservative and Unionist Party's machinery following the party's failure to win the general elections of January and December 1910.
Richard T. Kelly is a British novelist and writer best known for his 2016 political thriller The Knives.
Dehenna Sheridan Davison is a British Conservative politician and broadcaster who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland since the 2019 general election. She is the first Conservative to represent the constituency since its creation in 1885. The seat had previously been represented by a Labour Party MP since 1935.
