As this fluently written survey of Tory history explains, this is only one of a seemingly endless array of recurring themes that link the party’s distant past to its present. Outwardly, it may look very different from the tweedy setup of yesteryear, fronted by the first British-Asian prime minister, and already looking ahead to its third female leader – who may, if either Braverman or Kemi Badenoch get the job, also be a woman of colour. But as Samuel Earle sees it, all these “transformations” and conflicts only mask basic Tory attitudes and instincts that are as ingrained as they ever were: to quote the Italian novel The Leopard, everything must change so that everything can stay the same. The book capably explains two innate Conservative traits that are beyond doubt: an unquenchable lust for power, and a deep belief in stooping to conquer Arnold, Dana (2004). Cultural Identities and the Aesthetics of Britishness. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719067693.

Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Follows, second right, talks with residents in Godalming. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer A senior member of the One Nation Group says unless there is a “smoking lover” or a “smoking love child”, Johnson will become the next UK prime minister. “Boris is cometh the hour, cometh the man. He is the SAS stun grenade of British politics. He could distract people while the painful surgery is carried out.” There is a tussle going to define Boris. We are reconciled to Brexit because of the democratic mandate from the election. But there is still a fight to be had about what sort of party we are – over agriculture and trade, over the economy and coronavirus support. Is this an attempt to bring out the liberal, one nation Boris? Yes, it is.”Brogan, Benedict (29 April 2010). "Boris Johnson interview: My advice to David Cameron? I've made savings, so can you". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016 . Retrieved 26 May 2019. Which is to say that between them globalism — which is only a bigger re-run of the crisis of the 1840s — Brexit and Corbyn’s leftish internationalism have delivered the Tories (with almost no effort on their part, it should be said) the One Nation electoral coalition that Disraeli devoted his whole life to constructing. Theresa May promoted "One Nation" ideas during her successful bid for the Tory leadership in 2016. Previously in 2002 she had highlighted that the party was known as the "Nasty Party". [34] An issue the caucus is less publicly forthright about, but is equally pertinent as the Conservatives continue to flail behind Labour in the polls, is what sort of direction the party takes if it loses the next general election. Who will replace Sunak as leader with the party in opposition is an urgent question for One Nationers whosee it as their job to resist any efforts to pull the party further to the right in the event of defeat. Dorey, Peter (1995). The Conservative Party and the Trade Unions. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0415064873.

It’s hard not to feel like we’ve been here before. Wasn’t the Tories’ triumph over the European Union supposed to free Britain from the grip of unelected elites, once and for all? Alas, no sooner did the Conservatives slay one set of out-of-touch rulers than another one arose in their place – the bureaucrats in Brussels have morphed seamlessly into a new progressive aristocracy, comprising everyone from civil servants to junior doctors to the judiciary, opposing the Conservatives’ singular right to rule over Britain unopposed. Yet again, the Conservatives are the ones who represent “real” Britain, while their opponents are anti-democratic and unpatriotic, deploying all kinds of nefarious means to obstruct the people’s Stephen Hammond, the former health minister who lost the Tory whip over his opposition to a no-deal Brexit but then regained it to fight the 2019 election, has written one of the group’s paper’s on the post-Covid economic recovery. After the Tories were routed in 1997, they took a disastrous course with a new system by which the MPs voted on candidates until they had reduced them to a short list of two, who then went to a final vote by party members across the country. The first leader thus chosen was Iain Duncan Smith, who was such an obvious dud that he lasted for a little more than two years before he was removed in one more parliamentary coup.In earlySeptember, moderate ToryMPs will assemblefor a one-day, One Nationconference in London, theirfirst gathering of this kindsince 2019. While the Covid pandemic also contributed to the four-year hiatus, the forthcoming event is seen as a statement of intent by the Torycentre-ground as conversations about the future of the Conservative party get louder. Theresa May vows to be 'one nation' prime minister". BBC News. 13 July 2016 . Retrieved 14 July 2016. The describing phrase 'one-nation Tory' originated with Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), who served as the chief Conservative spokesman and became Prime Minister in February 1868. [4] He devised it to appeal to working-class people, who he hoped would see it as a way to improve their lives via factory and health acts as well as greater protection for workers. [5] The ideology featured heavily during Disraeli's terms in government, during which considerable social reforms were passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Conservative Party moved away from paternalism in favour of free market capitalism. In the first half of the 20th century, fears of extremism saw a revival of one-nation Conservatism. The Conservative Party continued to espouse the philosophy throughout the post-war consensus from 1945. One-nation thinking influenced their tolerance of the Labour government's Keynesian intervention in the economy, formation of a welfare state and the National Health Service. Thanks to Iain Macleod, Edward Heath and Enoch Powell, special attention after 1950 was paid to one-nation conservatism that promised support for the poorer and working class elements in the Party coalition. [6] The values of the people here have always been what they are now,” says Follows. “That’s pretty centrist, pretty moderate, very tolerant, pro-European, pretty compassionate and reasonable, very well educated. What they’ve seen is their party move to a really rightwing group. And it doesn’t matter how reasonable Jeremy [Hunt] can come across on occasion.”