The Conservative party is the oldest political party in the world, and their history has previously been something that has made me proud to be a member of the party, to have had the opportunity to run for them, and makes me be proud to be British. So why in the year 2021, just two short years since the landslide victory of 2019, have multiple members of the party resigned their membership, with the polls showing the biggest swing away from the Conservatives in many years, all in the space of a couple of days?
People vote Conservative for a wide margin of reasons, but at its core, the Conservative party has historically been the only viable option for a right-wing approach to the country’s economy; low taxes and personal economic growth which are the aim of many when they tick that Conservative box during any election. Personally, I have always voted Conservative, for this reason, I’m in favour of self-reliance and encouraging people to better themselves and their families. When I was growing up, I found inspiration from the writings of our greatest Prime Ministers approach to economics and finance; her long premiership as Prime Minister and consistent track record of election victory showed that the party and its core voters also liked this approach. So why today, in the year 2021, are the biggest Conservative majority since that glorious premiership ignoring their core values and the reason many voted for them?
If you’ve read this far you are probably like-minded, and so will understand the damage of Socialism and everything we fight against as a right-wing party. Maintaining low taxes are vital, whilst encouraging investment and privatisation of segments of previously nationalised systems are one of the key ways to ensure taxes remain low. This way it allows people the more personal choice of what to do with their own money. It is also possible to do this whilst keeping specific services free at the point of contact; despite what the opposition says the Conservative party will never take away the British public’s access to free healthcare.
With this understanding, we may begin to contemplate the recent news we are all so in an uproar about. Why has a Conservative government voted through the biggest tax hike in a generation, bigger than any recent Labour government have ever had the chance to. Not only is it anti-Conservative, but it’s also seemingly been enough for the party to lose the support of the electorate, with YouGov seeing the Conservatives lose 5 points in the polls since its announcement after a long period with a strong lead.
I have seen opinions split into 3 distinct views. Those who have remained loyal to this government have insisted it is needed to pay for the mess the pandemic has left us in, and have argued this an excuse for a party to break a manifesto pledge. To me this sounds like a blue Labour approach, and not something that will win the next general election. A large portion of grass-root conservatives was never in favour of the lockdowns, to begin with (which would have saved the country a LOT of money) and generally agree with me on this topic, but lets ignore that to focus on the economic impact. There is a large number of ways to address the situation without raising taxes on the people you promised not too; we aren’t Labour and we should be considering every viable option before those words are even spoken. Labour isn’t any better, however, insisting the higher rate taxpayers who work hard for their money should take the brunt of the struggle and pay for something they likely won’t themselves use. They’re both as bad as each other with both parties taking a socialist approach; Labour I would expect this from, but not from my own party.
If Boris Johnson wants any hope of winning the next General election and retaining the support of the electorate, he needs to remember what the Conservative party was founded upon. Regardless of the situation, every political party despite its persuasion has its own core values, ethos and policy that it must never betray. Yet we are seeing this happen before our very eyes. We need our party back, and we need it back now.
