This is the most socially liberal Conservative government in history

We give you divorce reform, abortion law in Northern Ireland, citizenship rights for three million Hong Kongers, and the rainbow flag.

Alistair Lexden: Forty years ago, Thatcher was assembling her transformative Government

Disraeli defined conservatism as ‘love of country and an instinct for power’, and her successors should strive for her winning fusion of the two.

Alistair Lexden: The Carlton Club meeting and the fall of the Lloyd George Coalition

How a proud, unbending leader misread his party, brought down a government, and set back the idea of sharing power for a generation.

Alistair Lexden: Commemorating Baldwin, the Prime Minister who pioneered ‘One Nation’

The Conservative Party’s official historian was speaking at the unveiling of a new statue to the former Party leader in his home town of Bewdley today.

Alistair Lexden: Neville Chamberlain – the unappreciated merits

The work done in partnership with Baldwin, and by Chamberlain alone after 1937, gave Britain some of the best welfare services in the world.

Alistair Lexden: Remembering Baldwin in a year of anniversaries

It’s past time that the record was set straight on the life and achievements of this remarkable Tory statesman.

Alistair Lexden: How Churchill tackled the challenges of Ireland

A new book charts how, over the course of a complicated career, he tried to bring peace to the island whilst defending British interests.

Alistair Lexden: ‘The Old Stagers’ – the history of an am-dram institution

This book, by a three-time Tory candidate, records a troupe who represent ”a type of true Conservatism, for they represent at once permanence and improvement”.

Lord Lexden: For all his virtues, Churchill was not the hand of God

A new book claims the great man was an instrument of divine providence. He would not have been convinced, and nor should you be.

Duncan Sim: Direct Planning – the what, the why, and the wider significance

Lord Lexden’s Bill provides an opportunity to bring real localism and better design to building new homes.

Lord Lexden: These dreary academics have failed to grasp the merits of Conservative orators

An austere, joyless tone informs most of the essays in this new book.

Lord Lexden: Disraeli. No, not a “One Nation Tory”. But a tenacious believer in imagination and courage.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), the first and last Earl of Beaconsfield (he turned down the offer of a dukedom from Queen… Read more »

Alistair Lexden: On this day, 225 years ago – the birth of Robert Peel, the first Compassionate Conservative

Lord Lexden is the Conservative Party's official historian. Read more of his historical articles on his website. A magnificent church… Read more »