Does the Conservative Party even know what it is for any more?

Historically, Conservatism was built on four pillars, says Victor Hill in new book ‘Will the Tory Party Ever Be the Same?’ – but they have been eroded thanks to the EU

Tricky questions, but what are the answers? (AFP/Getty)

What is the Conservative Party for?

That is the question that successive generations of Tory leaders have had to confront since the party first emerged as a coherent entity under Sir Robert Peel in the 1840s. That was in the aftermath of the Great Reform Act of 1832 which expanded suffrage for the first time and the internecine animosity precipitated by the repeal of the Corn Laws.

From the first, the Conservative Party was an alliance of mutual interests between very different social groups. The aristocracy, inspired by a past that made them landed, joined forces with the merchant class who foresaw a moneyed future. Together, they could propel the economic and social changes demanded by the coming of the railways, the emergence of (what we would call) consumerism, the displacement of populations from the countryside to the towns, and the rise of Empire.