What where the political Views of the Victorian Conservatives in general?

Question

I am very interested in comparing the present Conservatives to the attitudes of Conservatives of the Victorian period. What was their attitude towards, family, women, marriage, social class and children?

Answer 1

The Victorian Conservatives allowed women to vote for the first time under Local Government Reforms when Lord Salisbury was PM. Liberal leaders like Gladstone and Campbell-Bannerman were against women voting, while Tory leaders like Disraeli were more sympathetic. A big issue of this time was divorce reform. The House of Lords, which was overwhelmingly Conservative, was an obstacle to divorce reform and property rights, but I don't know MPs voted; it's something you could look up.

As for class, I think it was the second (1867) of the Great Reform Acts giving more people the vote was a Tory bill. It was Disraeli's idea, who also thought the lower and upper classes were natural allies (not that the act enfranchised lower class voters but more middle class voters). Many in his party were doubtful but he was eventually proved correct. Class was more of an issue in the 19th century than now but was still not something that parties really legislated on. Certainly society as a whole accepted more rigid class divisions than is accepted now. The background of the peerage - the apex of the class system - was far less diverse than it is now.

Answer 2

The Conservatives had what was called a Laissez-Faire attitude, which meant that they basicly left the working classes to it, as long as they didn't try to rise above their station.

Answer 3

Their attitudes have changed little......hence the name "Conservatives".