ABSTRACT
The essence of the Conservative position was that Conservatism was synonymous with imperialism and imperialism synonymous with stability. Conservative imprecision on imperialism implicitly acknowledged that it could disrupt as well as unify the forces of Conservatism. From then on the Conservative party sought to present the Liberal party as unpatriotic and anti-imperial and itself as the guardian of national and imperial interests. The Conservatives did not find it easy to monopolize the Empire and patriotic issues, for the Liberal party had strong grounds for contesting Conservative claims. The Conservative party’s success in establishing itself as the party of Empire brought problems as well as benefits. It was in the context of the Conservative response to the shortcomings revealed by the Boer War that the tariff reform campaign, with its emphasis on uniting the Empire, enjoyed such resonance.
