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[[Image:Conservatives.png|thumb|The Conservative Party logo]]

[[Image:Conservatives.png|thumb|The Conservative Party logo]]

The British Conservative Party, commonly nicknamed the Tory Party after their political ancestors, is the major right wing party of the [[United Kingdom]]. Its leader is [[David Cameron]].

The '''Conservative Party''' is the largest right-wing party in the [[United Kingdom]], and one of that country's three major political parties. Its full official name is the ''Conservative and Unionist Party'', and it is commonly nicknamed the Tory Party after its historical predecessor. Its leader is [[David Cameron]].

==British conservatism==

==British conservatism==

British conservatism has its own distinctive tradition, separate both from that of continental European conservatism and from that of American conservatism. Traditional British conservatism is rooted in pragmatism, practicality and concrete experience. Whereas in continental Europe many conservatives, such as the Frenchman [[Joseph de Maistre]], were strongly ideological and defended causes such as absolute monarchy and Roman Catholicism, the heroes of British conservatism (such as [[Edmund Burke]] in the eighteenth century, Sir [[Robert Peel]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]] in the nineteenth, and Sir [[Winston Churchill]] in the twentieth) were moderate, pragmatic and non-ideological. While a more ideological strand of conservatism was in the ascendant during the leadership of [[Margaret Thatcher|Lady Thatcher]] (1975-1990), the older, pragmatic trend has reasserted itself in more recent years.

British conservatism has its own distinctive tradition, separate both from that of continental European conservatism and from that of American conservatism. Traditional British conservatism is rooted in pragmatism, practicality and concrete experience: this reflects a broader historical preference in British culture for the practical over the theoretical and for the concrete over the abstract. In continental Europe, many conservatives in past times, such as the Frenchman [[Joseph de Maistre]], were strongly ideological and defended causes such as absolute monarchy and Roman Catholicism. By contrast, the heroes of British conservatism (such as Sir [[Edmund Burke]] in the eighteenth century, Sir [[Robert Peel]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]] in the nineteenth, and Sir [[Winston Churchill]] in the twentieth) were moderate, pragmatic and non-ideological. While a more ideological strand of conservatism was in the ascendant during the leadership of [[Margaret Thatcher|Lady Thatcher]] (1975-1990), the older, pragmatic trend has reasserted itself in more recent years.

==The Conservative Party in recent years==

==The Conservative Party in recent years==