ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 examines the development of the Conservative Party’s immigration policy from 1997 to 2015. The more important changes in the Tories’ approach to immigration are outlined, with developments considered using the theoretical framework expounded previously. The Party endured three long periods in opposition and one period in government (albeit in coalition), five general elections, countless by-elections and four different leaders. The influences and the restraints on policy over a period of 18 years, during which there was considerable expansion of the European Union (from 15 to 28 member states) and growing public concern about the impact and implications of immigration, are examined. The context is one of frequent bouts of international instability, which have created new refugees in Syria, specifically, and the Middle East, more generally. By 2015, the Conservative Party had developed a system of managing immigration that was more restrictive, more extensive and more comprehensive than ever before.
