CONSERVATIVE Party - The Tories
➡️ UK CONSERVATIVE PARTY – Critical Analysis of Policies and 14 Years of Governance
The Conservative Party, known as the Tory party, held governance for 14 years until the recent General Election where they suffered their worst parliamentary defeat in history.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promptly bowed out of his role as Tory leader after the defeat and the contest to find the new leader is under way. In the last 6 years the British public has endured 5 different Prime Ministers as the party struggled to manage Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, infighting, polarisation, inflation, economic woes, rising energy costs, and a series of false promises.
Explore the following in-depth categories on the Tories:
Support for the Tory party has hit its lowest level in 40 years, with NHS waiting times at near-record highs, immigration levels surpassing previous years, little progress made towards net zero targets, and the cost-of-living crisis, there is little surprise.
Ex-PM Rishi Sunak and the New Tory Leader
Sunak served as Prime Minister for just under 2 years following the disastrous 6-week governance under Liz Truss and the scandal hit Boris Johnson. Of Rishi's 5 pledges two were successful - to half inflation and to boost the economy. The other three – reducing government debt, cutting NHS waiting times, and preventing illegal immigration across the Channel - all actually worsened.
Taking responsibility for the loss of the 2024 general election to the Labour party, Sunak quickly handed in his resignation. The new leadership contest in underway, the winner of which will be the sixth Tory leader in 8 years. Those currently in the race include James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Mel Stride, and Victoria Atkins. More updates to come in October.
History of the Conservative Party
The first Conservative government was formed in 1834, they are the oldest party still represented in Parliament. Sitting on the right wing to centre-right of the political spectrum, they have been in government for roughly 50 of the last 70 years. The party gave us several well-known Prime Ministers such as Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Traditionally, the Tory party advocates for low taxes as a way to stimulate economic prosperity. They oppose public ownership of services such as rail, water, and energy. The party takes a hardline on immigration and their past leaders have cultivated strong ties with American Presidents as opposed to fostering greater ties with Europe.
Donations to the party are huge. 64% of total donations to all political parties go to the Tories, more than double the amount that Labour receives. Of the £44 million in cash received prior to the General Election, half was from just two donors - John Sainsbury and Frank Hester.
Major Criticisms of the Conservative Party
AUSTERITY MEASURES
Soon after taking power in 2010 the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government introduced a series of deep spending cuts which had far reaching impacts on the poorest people in the UK. It was arguably the most destructive policy in modern British politics.
The cuts were presented as a short-term solution to deal with UK’s budget deficit after the global financial crisis 2007/08. Public services such as schools, hospitals, and prisons crumbled under a systematic lack of investment.
It is estimated that these measures have cost the UK half a trillion pounds in public spending. 40% of the country’s universities are now in financial deficit, 900,000 public sector jobs were lost and the measures have been linked to over one million excess deaths since 2011.
BREXIT
Voters were promised independence, control, deregulation, reduced immigration, and a strengthened economy backed by strong trade deals and lower taxes. What they actually received was a complete lack of strategy resulting in more bureaucracy, weak trade deals, shrinking UK influence, reduced exports, lower GDP, higher taxes, loss of freedom to travel, and widespread staff shortages.
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The cost of Brexit to the UK economy was £140 billion
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There are nearly 2 million fewer jobs, and the average Briton is £2,000 a year worse off
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88% of voters believe that the country is in a worse position than it was before its separation from the EU
RACISM & ISLAMAPHOBIA
Now seen as an endemic feature of the Tory party, the mounting cases include racist comments from party members, hostile policies, and the accepting of funds from controversial donors.
Inhumane immigration policies such as the Windrush scandal, the Rwanda deportation scheme, and campaigns such as ‘Stop the Boats’ created an anti-immigrant sentiment in the country and highlighted the party's indifference to asylum seekers. Their lack of remorse and reparations served only to cement this rhetoric.
Tolerance for Islamophobia hit the headlines in 2016 during election campaigning where David Cameron alongside other party members pursued a smear campaign against mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan with the underlying tone that Muslims do not have a place in British politics. A series of ill-informed racist comments from Boris Johnson later went on to confirm the bigotry.
NHS MISMANAGEMENT
Between 2010 and 2020, NHS spending grew at a real-terms rate of 1.6% per year – lower than any previous decade in NHS history. It is estimated that 300 - 500 people die every week due to delays in urgent and emergency care. More than 7 million people are now waiting for NHS treatment in England. There is a backlog of more than £10 billion needed for hospital maintenance.
The Tory party have firmly established the NHS’s reliance on the private sector by using the guise of increasing competition. Public private partnerships have cost the NHS billions more in infrastructure, generated vast windfall profits for private companies, enabled tax avoidance, and led to declining quality of services. 25% of the health budget is now spent on private providers extracting money from the NHS system. The coronavirus pandemic exposed severe understaffing and supply shortages. The mismanagement of which led to PPE contracts priced at 80% above value, the highest excess mortality rate in Europe, and the biggest economic slump of the G7 nations.
NHS staff have endured years of pay cuts. The average pay for consultants in 2021 was 9% lower in real terms than in 2011. That same figure was 4% lower for junior doctors, and 5% lower for nurses. Workers eventually made their voices heard in a series of unprecedented nationwide strikes & protests where government failure to find a resolution for a year reportedly cost the taxpayer £1.7 billion.
CLIMATE INACTION
No longer a global net zero leader, the UK has stalled action on climate under Tory rule. In fact, since they took power in 2010 not a single Tory MP has voted positively on climate action!
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They outlawed solar power development on farmland
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Overturned a ban on fracking
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Scrapped hundreds of environmental protection laws and green subsidies
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Cut funding to introduce energy efficiency measures
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Halved taxes on domestic flights
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Cut the UK's foreign aid budget which helps emerging countries adapt to climate change
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Approved the development of a new coal mine in Cumbria
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Licensed 24 new North Sea oil fields
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Removed licenses for new onshore wind developments
WATER COMPANIES & RAW SEWAGE SCANDAL
Since Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation of water companies, the UK has seen a dramatic decrease in water quality, coupled with an exponential increase in cost for customers.
The most recent scandal came in 2023 when it was revealed that the amount of raw sewage being discharged inro rivers and seas had increased by 105% on the previous year. At least 83 beaches across the country have been contaminated with raw sewage.
265 Tory MPs voted to reject tougher sewage protections and supported this practice to continue for a minimum of 15 more years. There are now 23 official locations with advisories against swimming at beaches and rivers due to the presence of raw sewage in the water.
THE HOUSING CRISIS
The Tory pledge to build 300,000 new homes was left unfulfilled and their approach to the housing crisis has resulted in a 20% increase in house prices since 2020.
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The average age of a first-time buyer is now 34
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There are 800,000 fewer young homeowners than in 2010
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Rough sleeping has more than doubled
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The cost of rent has risen 9% in the last 12 months
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Promises to cancel no-fault evictions were never met
FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT & CORRUPTION
Misconduct scandals have haunted Tory MPs for decades including tax disputes, gambling, misuse of campaign funds, bribery, inaccurate donation reports, accepting money from secretive campaign financing groups, and keeping close ties to lobbying groups, the arms and tobacco industries, opaque think tanks, and fossil fuel firms.
Britain now has its lowest ever ranking in the Global Corruption Index. Sitting at 20th place in the 2023 global ranking, this is a significant drop from their position just outside the top ten in 2021.
MPs have been caught profiting from government contracts and for being in breach of lobbying rules. Even ex-PM Sunak's wife was plunged into tax controversy after it was revealed she claims non-domicile status to avoid paying taxes on shares worth £700 million.
In fact, £35 billion in tax revenue is lost every year due to tax evasion. The Tory party have become enablers of tax abuse, they support tax breaks for the wealthy, and turn a blind eye to corporate tax avoidance. A wealth tax which places just a 2% tax increase on those with assets over £10 million could raise £22 billion per year. But the Conservatives, a party of predominantly private school filthy rich MPs, of course support tax policies which serve their own interests and those of their donors.
Just before the 2024 General Election, only 6% of British voters thought that the Conservatives had ‘done a good job’ of governance. The vast majority of Tory promises were broken – 40 new hospitals, cut NHS waiting lists, staying on track to reach net-zero, ending child poverty, stopping the boats, and no new tax rises spring to mind.
As the candidates to be the new Conservative leader prepare, the country eagerly awaits to see the direction the party takes going forward. The final ballot will be held October 31, the winner of which will face an uphill battle to restore both party unity and public trust.
Author: Rachael Mellor, 30.07.24 licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
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