Conservative Party, Britain

The Conservative Party, or Tory party, was formed in the late 19th century, and it has shared power alternately with the Labour Party for most of the 20th century. Since 1945, it has been in office for two long periods: 1951 to 1964 and 1979 to 1997. The latter period is particularly significant as it includes the 1979 to 1990 period when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. The Conservative Party's dominance in the 1980s and 1990s also marked a period in which there were some significant developments in political communication. Moreover, it was a period in which television gradually overtook the press as the new means of mass communication and began to challenge the dominance of the political system. From a different perspective, one could ...