Iain Carter is the Founder and Managing Director of Chartwell Advisory and a Trustee of the Conservative Party Archive Trust. He previously served as Political Director of Conservative Campaign Headquarters and as Director of the Conservative Research Department.
“In what we improve, we are never wholly new; in what we retain, we are never wholly obsolete,” wrote Edmund Burke more than two centuries ago. It is a sentiment echoed by many great Conservatives since, and captures the fundamental truth that conservatism requires stewardship. We care about what we inherit, learn from what came before, and try to pass on something stronger than we found it.
Yet for all our talk of heritage, Conservatives can sometimes underestimate the value of our own story. That’s why the Conservative Party Archive matters, and why the Conservative Party Archive Trust has established a new annual research grant to support study of the Party’s history and ideas.
The Conservative Party Archive is housed at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, and owned by a not-for-profit trust. It is thought to be the most complete record of any political party in the world with over 10,000 boxes of documents, audio and video files, and an archive of election materials. Together, they are a remarkable record of how Conservative ideas developed, how policy was made, and how elections were fought from the Party’s formation as a national organisation in 1867 up to the present day.
The archive is one of the Bodleian’s most frequently used collections. Researchers access hundreds of boxes of material every year, to understand how the Party has evolved. From early conference minutes to iconic election posters, policy reviews, campaign strategies, backbench committee papers, and the records of Conservative Central Office and later Conservative Campaign Headquarters, the archive captures the full range of the Party’s life.
Beyond research, the archive still retains links to the Party today, hosting leading politicians, senior staff, and arranging show-and-tell sessions for local Conservative associations. Crucially, the Conservative Party Archive is generously supported by the Conservative Foundation, which ensures that the archive’s full-time archivist, assistant, and ongoing cataloguing and digitisation work are properly funded.
At a time when the Party is once again renewing and rebuilding, this resource is more relevant than ever. Previous generations of Conservatives have faced crises, electoral defeat, and uncertainty. Understanding the tradition they were trying to renew helped them to recover, and ensured that the Conservative Party can still claim to be the oldest and most successful political party in the world.
To encourage even more use of the archive the Conservative Party Archive Trust has launched an annual grant of up to £1,000 to help fund travel, accommodation and subsistence for a period of study in Oxford. It is open to students, academics, authors, and independent researchers wishing to explore Conservative history. For many researchers, especially early-career scholars or those living outside the South East, spending time in Oxford can be prohibitively expensive. Even a relatively small amount of support, like this, can allow them to undertake work that might never otherwise be attempted.
The grant was first made on a standalone basis to James Vitali, whose research explored one of the defining Conservative ideas of the late twentieth century, the development of the ownership society under Margaret Thatcher.
Drawing heavily on the archive’s extensive collections, James examined how concepts such as property, responsibility and economic participation had been debated within the Party. This research contributed to his book The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois Values Can Save Britain, which was recently published and which considers the evolution of conservative political economy from the late 1970s onwards.
Reflecting on the award at the time, James said that the Party’s efforts to determine its future direction made deeper reflection on its past especially important. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to spend a week at the Bodleian and described the archives as an invaluable resource for renewing the Conservative cause.
This is the type of work we are seeking to support, turning the archive into a vital repository of ideas, strategy and political experience, and is why we decided to make the award a regular one to encourage more people to come forward with ideas on how it can be used.
Maintaining and developing the archive like this isn’t an extravagant luxury. Even though as a Party activist who has campaigned as a volunteer for almost two decades, and a former member of Party staff, I know how important every penny raised for campaigning is, I also know it would be a false economy to lose this tangible connection to our past. Protecting something valuable because it still has something to teach us is conservatism in action.
If you are a researcher interested in Conservative history, policy development or political strategy, please consider applying for the 2026 award. Applications are open until 30 November 2026 and require only a one-page proposal, outlining the research you wish to undertake and how the grant would help make it possible. There are no other prerequisites.
And if you share the belief that our Party’s history is an asset worth supporting, please consider getting involved in the work of the Conservative Party Archive Trust. Opening more of the archives, expanding digitisation and widening access will strengthen our ability to learn from the past at a moment when those lessons are particularly valuable.
Applications and expressions of interest can be sent to heritage@theconservativefoundation.co.uk.
Conservatives have rebuilt and renewed themselves before. The archive gives a guide as to how they did it. Let’s ensure it is used by those who will shape the Party’s future
Iain Carter is the Founder and Managing Director of Chartwell Advisory and a Trustee of the Conservative Party Archive Trust. He previously served as Political Director of Conservative Campaign Headquarters and as Director of the Conservative Research Department.
“In what we improve, we are never wholly new; in what we retain, we are never wholly obsolete,” wrote Edmund Burke more than two centuries ago. It is a sentiment echoed by many great Conservatives since, and captures the fundamental truth that conservatism requires stewardship. We care about what we inherit, learn from what came before, and try to pass on something stronger than we found it.
Yet for all our talk of heritage, Conservatives can sometimes underestimate the value of our own story. That’s why the Conservative Party Archive matters, and why the Conservative Party Archive Trust has established a new annual research grant to support study of the Party’s history and ideas.
The Conservative Party Archive is housed at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, and owned by a not-for-profit trust. It is thought to be the most complete record of any political party in the world with over 10,000 boxes of documents, audio and video files, and an archive of election materials. Together, they are a remarkable record of how Conservative ideas developed, how policy was made, and how elections were fought from the Party’s formation as a national organisation in 1867 up to the present day.
The archive is one of the Bodleian’s most frequently used collections. Researchers access hundreds of boxes of material every year, to understand how the Party has evolved. From early conference minutes to iconic election posters, policy reviews, campaign strategies, backbench committee papers, and the records of Conservative Central Office and later Conservative Campaign Headquarters, the archive captures the full range of the Party’s life.
Beyond research, the archive still retains links to the Party today, hosting leading politicians, senior staff, and arranging show-and-tell sessions for local Conservative associations. Crucially, the Conservative Party Archive is generously supported by the Conservative Foundation, which ensures that the archive’s full-time archivist, assistant, and ongoing cataloguing and digitisation work are properly funded.
At a time when the Party is once again renewing and rebuilding, this resource is more relevant than ever. Previous generations of Conservatives have faced crises, electoral defeat, and uncertainty. Understanding the tradition they were trying to renew helped them to recover, and ensured that the Conservative Party can still claim to be the oldest and most successful political party in the world.
To encourage even more use of the archive the Conservative Party Archive Trust has launched an annual grant of up to £1,000 to help fund travel, accommodation and subsistence for a period of study in Oxford. It is open to students, academics, authors, and independent researchers wishing to explore Conservative history. For many researchers, especially early-career scholars or those living outside the South East, spending time in Oxford can be prohibitively expensive. Even a relatively small amount of support, like this, can allow them to undertake work that might never otherwise be attempted.
The grant was first made on a standalone basis to James Vitali, whose research explored one of the defining Conservative ideas of the late twentieth century, the development of the ownership society under Margaret Thatcher.
Drawing heavily on the archive’s extensive collections, James examined how concepts such as property, responsibility and economic participation had been debated within the Party. This research contributed to his book The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois Values Can Save Britain, which was recently published and which considers the evolution of conservative political economy from the late 1970s onwards.
Reflecting on the award at the time, James said that the Party’s efforts to determine its future direction made deeper reflection on its past especially important. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to spend a week at the Bodleian and described the archives as an invaluable resource for renewing the Conservative cause.
This is the type of work we are seeking to support, turning the archive into a vital repository of ideas, strategy and political experience, and is why we decided to make the award a regular one to encourage more people to come forward with ideas on how it can be used.
Maintaining and developing the archive like this isn’t an extravagant luxury. Even though as a Party activist who has campaigned as a volunteer for almost two decades, and a former member of Party staff, I know how important every penny raised for campaigning is, I also know it would be a false economy to lose this tangible connection to our past. Protecting something valuable because it still has something to teach us is conservatism in action.
If you are a researcher interested in Conservative history, policy development or political strategy, please consider applying for the 2026 award. Applications are open until 30 November 2026 and require only a one-page proposal, outlining the research you wish to undertake and how the grant would help make it possible. There are no other prerequisites.
And if you share the belief that our Party’s history is an asset worth supporting, please consider getting involved in the work of the Conservative Party Archive Trust. Opening more of the archives, expanding digitisation and widening access will strengthen our ability to learn from the past at a moment when those lessons are particularly valuable.
Applications and expressions of interest can be sent to heritage@theconservativefoundation.co.uk.
Conservatives have rebuilt and renewed themselves before. The archive gives a guide as to how they did it. Let’s ensure it is used by those who will shape the Party’s future