Elmbridge Conservatives & Esher Walton Conservative Association
Our aims:
to campaign on the issues that local people care about.
to sustain and promote the objectives of the Conservative Party.
to ensure the return of Conservative candidates at elections.
this site will support these aims by providing information on the Association's events and activities, contact details for all of your local Conservative representatives, along with open and clear Conservative policy information.
whether you are interested in becoming a member, want to stand for elected office as a Conservative or simply want to know more about the Conservative Party locally, our web site should be a good starting point. You will find out more about the organisation of the Association and its branches, as well as details of Conservatives on Elmbridge Borough Council and Surrey County Council, in the European Parliament and our Member of Parliament.
The Esher & Walton Conservative Association covers the area shown on this map.
We are responsible for initiating activities to promote the Party so we can return a Conservative Member of Parliament, Conservative Councillors to Elmbridge and Surrey County Council as well as MEPs.
We rely on local residents to volunteer and support us as members, without whom we would be unable to operate. The Association has over a thousand members locally who support the Party to return a Conservative Government and who take an interest in their local community. We have a network of 10 local branches covering the Constituency. There is also a Conservative Future group for members under the age of 30.
We regularly hold political and social events with the opportunity to meet and question leading national politicians. The Association is able to provide for whatever level of political interest members have.
The Conservative Party is a large organisation, representing and involving people with a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and concerns.
It is a broad church, which encourages open debate and accepts differences of opinion. What unites the Party are the core Conservative principals which provide our foundation.
Freedom - Conservatives believe in less interference from the State - freedom for individuals, families, voluntary groups and businesses.
Enterprise - Conservatives want to keep taxes low and set businesses free from red tape to help Britain compete in the global economy.
Responsibility - Conservatives stand for the rule of law and support for all members of our society. We recognise our duty to protect the environment for future generations.
Nation - Conservatives want to safeguard the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, maintain strong defence and uphold our right to national self-government. We want to be in Europe but not run by Europe.
The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in the world. A remarkable capacity for change has been, and remains, the secret of our success. This video highlights some of the Party's greatest achievements.
A Party of Change
The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in the world. A remarkable capacity for change has been, and remains, the secret of our success.
The Beginnings
Political parties began to form during the civil wars of the 1640s and 1650s. First, there were Royalists and Parliamentarians; then Tories and Whigs.
Whereas the Whigs wanted to curtail the power of the monarch, the Tories were above all seen as the patriotic party.
Pitt the Younger
The Tories were in eclipse for much of the eighteenth century, but came to the fore again thanks to William Pitt the Younger.
He held power for over 18 years from 1783, making him the longest-serving of all Prime Ministers connected with the Party.
Pitt helped to lay the basis of modern prosperity by opening up free trade and reforming the public finances.
He also taught the Tories to be the pragmatic party - there was, he said, "no wisdom in establishing general rules or principles in government policy."
Peel and the Foundation of the Conservative Party
Sir Robert Peel became one of the Party's most decisive agents for change after taking over the leadership in 1834.
He reinterpreted key elements of the Tory tradition to create the modern Conservative Party, and led a reforming government whose commitment to free trade resulted in import duties being swept away, including those on foodstuffs (the Corn Laws).
Peel also brought in important social reforms, with measures to improve public health and regulate factory hours.
Disraeli: The Creation of a National Party
Like many great reformers, Peel aroused strong opposition - and a bitter internal split over the repeal of the Corn Laws put the Party into the political wilderness for nearly 30 years.
Momentum was eventually regained in the 1860s when Benjamin Disraeli took up the baton of change and added national and social unity to the Party's fundamental purposes.
His 'one nation' vision and desire to close the gulf between rich and poor led to important social legislation, such as major steps towards slum clearance and town planning.
Salisbury and Balfour
After Disraeli died, the Party leadership fell to Lord Salisbury and then to Arthur Balfour. Both believed in empowering individuals and communities - and under them, elected county councils were introduced.
Their hostility to the onward march of the state and preference for localism were to resurface in later phases of Conservative change.
Baldwin and Chamberlain: Welfare without Socialism
After a period of turmoil following its 1906 election defeat, the Party rediscovered its talent for successful change from 1923 onwards.
The tradition of social reform was continued under Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain - and the measures passed in this period, including the first comprehensive pensions scheme and unemployment benefit, pointed the way to a Tory welfare state in which socialism would play no part.
In 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister of a coalition government dedicated to achieving victory over Hitler's Germany.
Churchill to Heath: The Post-War Consensus
The Party's landslide defeat at the 1945 election led to a reappraisal of policy, which concluded that support for individual freedom should be combined with a larger role for the state in the economy and public services.
During the post-war consensus of 1951-64, the Conservatives were in government under Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and the Party's new approach made Britain more prosperous than ever:
- The standard of living rose by 50% - Home ownership rose 20% - 7,000 new schools were built - The first motorways were opened
From 1965 until 1975 the Party was led by Edward Heath, who will forever be remembered for taking Britain into the European Economic Community as Prime Minister.
Margaret Thatcher: Radical Means to Conservative Ends
In the 1970s, Britain was engulfed by severe economic problems - and the Party signalled that a new direction was essential at the 1979 election.
When in office, Margaret Thatcher implemented more radical policies for change than had ever previously been seen:
- Economic policy was completely recast: pay and price controls were swept away, tax rates slashed, major public companies privatized, and trade union law reformed - The public services were reformed - The property-owning democracy was achieved, with six million families buying homes
This change continued under John Major, with privatisation proceeding apace and more reforms introduced in the public services.
Changing for a Successful Future
After the 1997 election defeat, the Party faced up to the need for fundamental internal change.
Under William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard, a new concern for social justice showed an expansion of policy interests, and when David Cameron became leader in 2005, the need for change became his main theme.
He began to set out an ambitious programme for government that focused on strengthening families and counteracting social breakdown. At the same time, he modernised the Party itself by increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities in the Parliamentary party.
Those changes are helping to rebuild Conservative support in places like the inner cities and the great northern constituencies, places which must be as important to the Party of one nation as any others.
This history of the Conservatives is an edited version of Alistair Cooke's book, 'A Party of Change'. For a more comprehensive account of the Party's history, download ~ a full version of Alistair's book.
