UK Election Time – The Conservatives and Europe

Despite being a key area of difference between the three main parties, Europe has not become a central issue in the current British election campaign. Yet, for foreign observers at least, this election is fascinating in large part because it could mark a major shift in Britain’s attitude towards the EU. The most radical policies in this area are the proposals of the Conservatives who, despite a dramatic surge in support for the Liberal Democrats, continue to lead in the polls.

The European policies of the Conservatives under David Cameron were announced in November 2009 and have been summarised in a previous IIEA publication. However, as election date approaches it is perhaps worth revisiting those plans and examining in more detail their prospects for implementation.

David Cameron’s Open Europe Question

The Conservatives face tough choices as they try to settle their European policy ahead of a crucial party conference.

Thirty years after Margaret Thatcher arrived in Downing Street, a newly confident Conservative Party is poised to take over again from a battered and unpopular Labour government. Opposition leader David Cameron’s revival of the Conservatives has been remarkable – turning a party that had been rendered unelectable into what looks like an unstoppable force – but doubts remain both as to what his young team really wants to do and what they can possibly achieve.