ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how a critique of Liberal politics in general, and of Liberal Irish policy in particular, allowed the Conservatives to present the Liberals as careless of the rights of property owners and themselves as the true guardians of propertied interests. In short the relationship between Conservatism and Britain’s various propertied elites was in a constant state of negotiation as the Conservative party worked to construct and consolidate its identity as the party of property. The Conservative party’s transformation from political arm of the landed interest to party of property was a process which carried immense advantages in an age when property and power were intimately related. In many ways the Conservative party’s difficulties with the rural and urban elites were very similar. For the Conservatives to attract and keep urban support they required active local Conservative elites who were prepared to expend time, energy and money on organization and propaganda and who could exercise influence in borough seats.
