The Great Conservatives: A Study of the Origins and Continuities of a British Political Tradition

With a combination of robust research and coherent overview, Dr. Hutchinson argues that the origins of the Conservative Party in Britain begin with Henry Vll’s attempt to define and order a Tudor solution to the chaos and civil war of the preceding century. This order is to begin a conservative political pattern: the capturing of successive revolutions by the forces of order, property and pragmaticism. By interweaving political and economic forces and paying attention to what the historical actors were actually saying and doing, the author presents the search for coherence and form as an imperative of the island system. Among the figures discussed in detail are Elizabeth l, Charles ll, Sir Robert Walpole, William Pitt (Lord Chatham), Lord Castelreagh, Lord Liverpool, Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston, Lord Salisbury, Churchill and Baroness Thatcher. Both actual political and social policy successes are dissected and various mirages and chimeras the Party has entertained (Ireland, Imperial Preference) are discussed in detail. Changes in the demographics and social base of Conservatism are also examined. Extensive index and bibliography included.