Britain's storied Conservative party faces uncertain future

The Tories languish in opinion polls and risk being swallowed up by the hard-right Reform UK party

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They were an electoral powerhouse, the party of political titans Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Benjamin Disraeli. But Britain’s once-towering Conservatives end their annual meeting on Wednesday with their very future under threat.

The Tories, as they are colloquially known, are languishing in opinion polls and risk being swallowed up by the hard-right Reform UK party.

"It is existential," political scientist Robert Ford said of the crisis gripping the United Kingdom's oldest political party, which was founded in the 1830s.

"On the current numbers, you'll be able to fit Conservative MPs (members of parliament) into a small coach after the next election," the University of Manchester professor added.

The Tories have run Britain for large chunks of recent history, including an 18-year stretch between 1979 and 1997 and 14 years from 2010 to 2024.

They have won more general elections and returned the most prime ministers of any modern-day UK political party, ruthlessly adapting to tap into the prevailing public mood of the time.