United Kingdom

THE UNITED KINGDOM claims to be the birthplace of the terms left wing and right wing based on the working class House of Commons' chambers being in the Parliament Building's left wing with the aristocracy's House of Lords' chambers being in the right wing. Historically, demands for reform tended to originate in the Commons (the left wing) and were resisted by the Lords (the right wing). Most scholars today, however, agree that the terms left and right originated in revolutionary France.

Of course, conservatism is as old as human politics, emerging the first time a change was proposed in some prehistoric council and was opposed by defenders of tradition, precedent, stability, past success, and/or principle. In general, British right-wing conservatism has aspired to the preservation of that which is best in society and with a skepticism toward radical change.

In the modern United Kingdom, a number of rightwing splinter groups are politically active, including the British National Party, best known for its demands for toughened immigration restrictions; the Christian People's Alliance, which calls for a return to Christian principles in government; the United Kingdom Independence Party, which seeks to withdraw Great Britain from the European Union; and Pro-Life, which, when it was projecting a higher profile, sought an official ban to abortion.

However, a glance at parliament puts such minority parties' influence into perspective. After the 2001 elections, three parties comprised 93.6 percent of the membership of the House of Commons: the Labor Party [Page 921]with 412 seats or 42.1 percent, the Conservative Party with 166 seats or 32.7 percent, and the Liberal Democrats with 52 seats or 18.8 percent. All other parties, left, right, or centrist, made up 6.4 percent of the total House with 29 members.

What do modern British conservatives believe? The party emerged between 1750 and 1850 as a negative response to the abrupt changes convulsing European societies, particularly in France where the aristocracy was being guilloutined daily to the cheers of the working class. At the same time, the beginnings of industrialization had brought substantial changes to British society, including demands for universal, although male-only, suffrage. It was in the debates over the Reform Act of 1832 that the term conservative began to be used in describing the Tory position, resisting the changes the populace demanded.