A small-c conservative is anyone who believes in the philosophy of

conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

but does not necessarily identify with an official Conservative Party. The word "conservative" is used in lower case as the word refers to general principles of conservatism and is not a proper noun, as in a political Conservative Party.

Context

Canadian

The term was especially popular in Canada during the 1990s when the Progressive Conservative Party was

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

with the Reform Party (later, the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

) further to the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

. Members and supporters of the Reform Party/Canadian Alliance would thus describe themselves as small-c conservatives. Sometimes referred to as

Red Tory A Red Tory is an adherent of a Centre-right politics, centre-right or Paternalistic conservatism, paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the ...

ism, a notable example is the

Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador The Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a provincial political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The party was founded in 1949 and most recently formed the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from the 200 ...

's '

Anything But Conservative Anything But Conservative ( or ''N'importe quoi d'autre que conservateur'') was a strategic voting campaign trial by opponents of the Conservative Party of Canada. It was also known as the ABC Campaign or Vote ABC. Previous strategic voting c ...

' (ABC) campaign, which encouraged voters to support any party other than the Conservatives to prevent Conservative candidates from being elected in the next federal election in the province. In more recent times, provincial Progressive Conservative parties have distanced themselves from the federal

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

in an effort to appeal to a broader base. For example, the

Yukon Party The Yukon Party, formerly the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. History The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was founded in April 1978. Long time Yukon legislator Hilda Watson was ...

and its leader Currie Dixon publicly stated that the party "has no formal relationship with any federal party", while the leader of the

Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia, more commonly known as the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, is a political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been histor ...

Tim Houston Timothy Jerome Houston (born April 10, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 30th and current premier of Nova Scotia since 2021, and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2017. He was first elected to the Nova Sco ...

, similarly distanced his provincial party from a federal Conservative's outreach campaign, clarifying that "it’s two parties".

British

This term is also used in the United Kingdom to describe those who are conservative in the sense of resisting radical change rather than being members or supporters of the official Conservative Party. For example, the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a body tends to resist social change and executive power and therefore—regardless of the numbers of lords who take the Conservative party

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

—it is described as "small-c conservative".

Australian

A small-c conservative in Australia is generally a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

who is more moderate on social policy and conservative on fiscal policy. The Liberal Party is made up of such small-c conservatives as well as the more right-wing big-C conservatives.

Context

Canadian

British

Australian

References

See also