The Conservatives and the European Union: The Lull Before the Storm?

The issue of Britain’s relationship with the European Union (EU) was a difficult and divisive one in the Conservative Party during David Cameron’s formative years in politics. Cameron was a special adviser to Chancellor Norman Lamont at the Treasury on ‘Black Wednesday’ in 1992 when sterling was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). The experience shaped Cameron’s moderate eurosceptic outlook. He entered parliament at the 1997 general election as divisions on Europe contributed to the Conservatives’ worst defeat of the modern era. During Cameron’s period as leader, however, the Conservatives have had a settled European policy on which they are largely united, and the issue of Europe has not featured prominently in party discourse. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.