The Dilemma Of The British Conservative Party In The 21st Century And Its Roots

Western mainstream political parties are gradually falling into a struggle.The Conservative Party,the oldest party in the UK,has not been able to escape its predicament,as it struggled to win the three general elections between 1997 and 2010."In 2022,the Conservative Party resigned after 45 days in office,becoming the shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history.On 25 December 2022,the head of the British Conservative Party,Rishi Sunak,was formally appointed by King Charles III to become the first Asian Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.The frequent change of leadership in the Conservative Party has not only highlighted the "poor leadership" of the Conservative Party leaders,but has also once again increased the British public’s distrust of the Conservative government,with declining satisfaction and disillusionment with the country’s democratic system.This paper uses a variety of research methods to highlight the dilemmas facing the British Conservative Party in the 21 st century as a whole and to analyse their root causes.The first part focuses on the development of British Conservatism,the guiding ideology of the British Conservative Party,and the general direction of Conservative policy in the 21 st century,and summarises the current profile of the British Conservative Party.The second part analyses the specific manifestations of the loss of legitimacy of the British Conservative Party within and outside the party and the corresponding causes.The Conservative Party’s internal legitimacy has been shaken by the conservative ideology,the loss of members and the obstruction of funding,while its external legitimacy is also in crisis,as evidenced by the decline in public satisfaction with the Conservative government following the leadership scandals and the gradual decline in the special relationship between the UK and the US.The Conservative Party has not been able to maintain the level of popular loyalty and recognition from foreign political powers that it needs.The Conservative Party’s resistance to change,the concentration of power within the party,the squeeze on grassroots participation,the inadequate system of leadership development and oversight,and the decline in the UK’s own strategic usefulness to the US have all contributed to a crisis of legitimacy that is difficult to resolve.The third section focuses on the organisational dilemmas facing the Conservative Party,with the decline in internal party cohesion and the external Labour Party’s advances suggesting that the window of opportunity left to Sunac is shrinking.The long-standing divisions within the Conservative Party,the reform of the Labour Party that has seen it overtake the Conservatives in the latest polls,and the expansion of political participation have all contributed to the Conservative Party’s internal and external organizational woes.The fourth section analyses the problems and challenges posed to the leadership of the Conservative Party in the UK from the perspective of the frequency of Black Swan events.The rise of national divisions in the post-Brexit era and the intensification of the new epidemic have viscerally tested the leadership of the Conservative Party.Scotland’s unique conditions for independence and the difficulty of reversing the post-Brexit economic downturn have made the Conservative government’s response weak and the pressure to govern intensify.The latest opinion polls are currently unfavourable to the Conservative Party’s campaign,but the Conservatives are not sitting on the fence.The introduction of the Electoral Act 2022 gives them an advantage in winning the next general election and makes the outcome uncertain.The 2025 UK general election will be a highly unpredictable contest for the Conservatives,with Brexit,economic developments,or the performance of smaller parties all likely to influence the outcome.In the next election,if the Conservative Party wants to stay in power,it must pay close attention to Labour’s reforms,while strengthening its own organisation,enhancing its ability to govern the economy,and finding a reasonable way out for the declining British economy.At the same time,the party should use new media technology to actively engage voters and reshape its image in order to restore the confidence of the British public in the Conservative Party.