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1.2 The crisis over the Corn Laws
However in 1846 disaster struck when the party split over the repeal of the Corn Laws. Peel and many of the party's leaders, including a young William Gladstone, found themselves adrift from the rank and file of the party. The Peelites never again were a part of the party.
1.3 Recovery and triumph under Derby and Disraeli
However the Conservatives survived, even though they would not form another majority government until the 1870s. Under the leadership of the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli they consolidated their position and presented themselves as a viable alternative. Although Derby managed to lead several minority governments in the 1850s and 1860s, the party was never able to achieve a majority until after the passage of the Reform Act of 1867, which broadened the franchise. Disraeli's mixture of jingoistic nationalism and promises of social reforms managed to win him enough working-class support to win a majority in 1874, but the Conservative hold remained tenuous, and Disraeli was defeated in the election of 1880. It wasn't until the split in the Liberal Party over Irish home rule in 1886 that the Conservatives were able to achieve truly secure majorities through the defection of the Liberal Unionists.
1.4 The Unionist Ascendancy
The Conservatives, now led by Lord Salisbury, remained in power for most of the next twenty years, at first passively supported by the Liberal Unionists and then, after 1895, in active coalition with them. From 1895, unofficially, and after 1912 officially, the Conservative-Liberal Unionist coalition was often simply called the "Unionists". In 1903-1905, following Salisbury's resignation in favor of his nephew, Arthur Balfour, internal disputes over Liberal Unionist Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain's advocacy of imperial preference tariffs led to a severe defeat to the Liberals in the General Election of 1906.
1.5 The slow return to power
The Unionists strongly opposed many of the proposed reforms of the new Liberal governments of Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith. In 1910, the Unionist dominated House of Lords rejected the budget, leading to a long conflict over reform of the House of Lords. The Conservatives managed to make up much of their losses in the two general elections of 1910 - forcing the Liberals to rely on Irish Nationalist votes to maintain their majority. Although the Liberals were able to force through the Lords reform with the Parliament Act of 1911, their advocacy once against cost them support, so that by the time of the outbreak of World War I, a Unionist victory in the next elections looked imminent. Liberal mismanagement of the early phases World War I led to the return of the Unionists to power - first in coalition with Asquith's Liberals, and then, with the split and then the collapse of the Liberals, the Unionists under Andrew Bonar Law were able to become the dominant party in Lloyd George's coalition government.
1.6 The era of Baldwin
The party reached a new height in the inter-war years under the leadership of Stanley Baldwin. His mixture of strong social reforms with steady government proved a powerful election combination, with the result that the Conservatives governed Britain either by themselves or as the leading component of the National Government for most of the interwar years. But during the Second World War attitudes in Britain changed and the Party failed to adapt. in the 1945 General Election the Conservatives were soundly defeated.
1.7 Post war recovery
The Party responded to this by accepting many of the Labour government's social reforms whilst also offering a distinctive Conservative edge, and returning to government in 1951. These years were seen as the height of "consensus politics". However in the 1970s many traditional methods of running the economy, managing relations with trade unions and so on began to fail. At the same time the Labour Party was increasingly dominant, ruling for nearly twelve out of the fifteen years between 1964 and 1979. Many in the Conservative Party were left wondering how to proceed.
