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Wets And Dries
Wets and dries are British political terms that refer to opposing factions within the Conservative Party. The terms originated in the 1980s during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher: those who opposed some of Thatcher's more hard-line policies were often referred to by their opponents as "wets"; in response, supporters of Thatcher were referred to as "dries". Etymology In British slang, "wet" meant weak, "inept, ineffectual, effete". Within the political context, the term was used by Thatcher's supporters as both as a noun and as an adjective to characterise people or policies which Thatcher would have considered weak or "wet". Thatcher coined the usage in 1979–80, with the meaning of feeble, lacking hardness, or willing to compromise with the unions. The label was especially applied to senior members of Thatcher's government who were nevertheless outside her inner circle and who expressed opposition to her strict monetarist policies, and her cuts to public spending. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politics Of The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and convention, operates as a unitary parliamentary democracy. A hereditary monarch, currently King Charles III, serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, currently Sir Keir Starmer since 2024, serves as the head of the elected government. Under the United Kingdom's parliamentary system, executive power is exercised by His Majesty's Government, whose Prime Minister is formally appointed by the King to act in his name. The King must appoint a member of parliament that can command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually the leader of the majority party or apparent majority party, though the King may choose to appoint an alternative if they say that they cannot expect the confidence of the House. Having taken office, the Prime Minister can then appoint all other ministers from parliament. The Parliament has two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Scott
Sir Nicholas Paul Scott (5 August 1933 – 6 January 2005), also known as Nick Scott, was a Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative Party politician. He was a liberal, pro-European Conservative who became President of the Tory Reform Group. During his time in the British House of Commons, House of Commons he served in various ministerial roles including for social security and Northern Ireland. Early life Scott was born in Edmonton, London, Edmonton, Middlesex, to an English father, Percival John Scott, a Metropolitan Police Service, Metropolitan Police officer, and an Irish Catholic mother, Teresa Mary Scott ( Murphy). Nicholas was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools. In comparison to many Young Conservatives of Scott's generation who later made it into the cabinet, he stood out as not having gone to Oxbridge. His education was modest: at St Andrew's Catholic Primary in Streatham, then Clapham College, and then, part-time, at the City of London College and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst
Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst, (born 23 June 1937), is a former British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to February 1974. Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010, and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative Member of Parliament to stand down at the 2017 general election, being succeeded as MP for Saffron Walden by Kemi Badenoch, he was created a Life Peer on 22 June 2018, taking his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst. Early life and career Haselhurst was born at South Elmsall, near Hemsworth, Yorkshire, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, then Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, before going up to Oriel College, Oxford. Elected President of the Oxford University Conservative Associa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Dorrell
Stephen James Dorrell (born 25 March 1952) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015. Dorrell most recently served for four years as Chairman of the House of Commons Health Select Committee from 2010 to 2014. In the 1990s he was a full member of John Major's Cabinet for almost three years, whilst serving as both Secretary of State for National Heritage and then Secretary of State for Health until the 1997 general election. He did not contest the 2015 general election and retired from the House of Commons. Returning to politics in 2019, he left the Conservatives and stood as a Change UK candidate at the 2019 European Parliament election. After failing to be elected, he defected to the Liberal Democrats and was the unsuccessful Liberal Democrat candidate for Buckingham in the 2019 general election. Early life and education Dorrell was b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe (UK Parliament constituency), Rushcliffe from 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 to 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019, serving as Father of the House (United Kingdom), Father of the House of Commons between 2017 and 2019. Clarke served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1987 to 1988, Secretary of State for Health, Health Secretary from 1988 to 1990, and Secretary of State for Education, Education Secretary from 1990 to 1992. He held two of the Great Offices of State as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. President of the To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Barber
Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, (4 July 1920 – 16 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1970 to 1974. After serving in both the Territorial Army and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Barber studied at Oxford and became a barrister. Elected as MP for Doncaster in 1951, Barber served in government under Harold Macmillan as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, before being appointed Minister of Health by Alec Douglas-Home in 1963. After losing his seat in 1964, he won the 1965 by-election in Altrincham and Sale and returned to Parliament. Barber was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Edward Heath in 1970, and oversaw a major liberalisation of the banking system, replaced purchase tax and Selective Employment Tax with Value Added Tax, and also relaxed exchange controls. During his term the economy suffered due to stagflation and indu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moderates (Liberal Party Of Australia)
The Moderates, also known as Modern Liberals, Small-L Liberals or Liberal Left, are a faction comprising the members, supporters and voters of the Liberal Party of Australia who are typically economically, socially and environmentally liberal. The faction has been described as centre to centre-right. The faction has supported ideologies such as economic liberalism, centrism and social liberalism, having a combination of economically liberal and socially progressive views. Since May 2025, the offices of Leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition have been occupied by Sussan Ley, who is the first woman to hold either position. She is a member of the Moderates and identifies as a republican, as do many other members of the faction. They compete with the Liberal Party's other two major factions: the Centre Right and the National Right. Geographical base Moderate Liberals often represent inner-city and wealthy House of Representatives seats or are in the Senate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberal Party Of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Australia Party. Historically the most electorally successful party in Australia's history, the Liberal Party is now in opposition at a federal level, although it presently holds government in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania at a sub-national level. The Liberal Party is the largest partner in a centre-right grouping known in Australian politics as the Coalition, accompanied by the regional-based National Party, which is typically focussed on issues pertinent to regional Australia. The Liberal Party last governed Australia, in coalition with the Nationals, between 2013 and 2022, forming the Abbott (2013–2015), Turnbull (2015–2018) and Morrison (2018–2022) governments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) was a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also had links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Northern Ireland. Founded in 1961, in reaction to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's opposition to white minority rule in Southern Rhodesia, the club became embroiled in the decolonisation and immigration debate, inevitably highlighting the controversial issue of race, which has dominated its image ever since. The club was known for its fierce opposition to non-white immigration to Britain and its support for apartheid-era South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. By 1971, the club had 35 MPs, six of them ministers, and 35 peers, with membership (including branches) totaling about 10,000. In 1982, the constitution was re-written, with more emphasis on support for the Conservative Party, but it remained autonomous from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federation Of Conservative Students
The Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party. It produced several magazines, and had regular Assembly meetings in which motions would be voted on. It had supported some controversial actions, such as the legalisation of various drugs, and the privatisation of the Trident nuclear missiles. There was continual tension between central party, which funded the organisation, and the Federation – which often used the funds on exploring unconventional policies. The Federation had considerable influence on national politics (considered by some to be "the fast track to the next Conservative Party"), as committee members were consulted by MP's, and Ted Heath specifically had speeches written by the Federation's chairmen. In its final years it became known colloquially as " Maggie's Militant Tendency", i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tory Reform Group
The Tory Reform Group (TRG) is a pressure group associated with the British Conservative Party that works to promote "modern, progressive Conservatism ..economic efficiency and social justice" and "a Conservatism that supports equality, diversity and civil liberties", values sometimes associated with Harold Macmillan's "Middle Way" or what the group consider a moderate one-nation conservatism. Senior figures include Michael Heseltine, Douglas Hurd, Kenneth Clarke, and Chris Patten. The TRG supported David Cameron, who described TRG as "central to where we need to be in the future". The group has an events programme and publications, principally its journal. Members include parliamentarians, councillors, association officers and private individuals. History The oldest known branch, which pre-dated the National TRG, was founded in the University of Oxford in 1962, when they split from the Oxford University Conservative Association. This branch disbanded in 2007. The Tory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-nation Conservatism
One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a form of British political conservatism and a variant of paternalistic conservatism. It advocates the "preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democracy, in combination with social and economic programmes designed to benefit the ordinary person". According to this political philosophy, society should be allowed to develop in an organic way, rather than being engineered. It argues that members of society have obligations towards each other and particularly emphasises paternalism, meaning that those who are privileged and wealthy should pass on their benefits. It argues that this elite should work to reconcile the interests of all social classes, including labour and management, rather than identifying the good of society solely with the interests of the business class. The descriptive phrase 'one-nation Tory' originated with Benjamin Disraeli (1804– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
