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	CONSERVATIVE PARTY

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The Conservative Party was founded with the explicit aim of "preserving and protecting the nation's heritage, traditions, and virtues". The designation "conservative" sometimes confuses those from outside Lendosa, who assume that a "conservative" party will lean towards family values, religion, and similar causes. However, it must be remembered that Lendosa does not necessarily have the same traditional values as other other countries, and therefore, conservatives will be "conserving" different things.

The Conservative Party was strongly committed to six basic tenets - "reason, caution, virtue, loyalty, duty, and responsibility", all things that they believed to be an intrinsic part of the country's heritage. The party's official statement of beliefs outlined their version of these six concepts thusly: "Reason is the ability to make logical decisions based on observed facts, and to reject the temptation to follow irrational dreams and idle visions. Caution is the ability to notice problems and dangers, and to take the necessary action to avoid or minimise them. Virtue is the ability to understand and follow the six fundamental principles of behaviour enshrined within Lendosan tradition [described here]. Loyalty is the ability to keep true to one's leaders, friends, and country. Duty is the ability to place one's personal desires and needs below what one owes to others. Responsibility is the ability to rely on one's own means, and to unreservedly accept the consequences of one's failure."

Colour and Emblem

The official colour of the Conservative Party was blue. Its emblem was a "double diamond" (a thick diamond shape bordered by a thinner one), a traditional symbol of traditional values. The "double diamond" was originally the ensignia of a fraternal organization known as the Travazists, but has since become attached to the values which the Travazists promoted.

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The party's name in Lendian was "lo Partido Conserviano".

Quote

"Change for the sake of change is generally destructive. It is in the interests of the nation to resist dreamers and radicals who would tear down the pillars of our society in pursuit of their unattainable goals."

History of the Party

The Conservative Party was established in 231 AP, but traces its ideological roots to philosophers (and sometimes authors or poets) of times considerably earlier. While the Conservative Party's vision of historic times is (and was) disputed, they believed that traditional values (outlined in their six tenets, above) were threatened by the rapid political and social change which they saw around them. The gradual rise of the Liberal Party, which was explicitly dedicated to advancing change with an ideological basis, was seen as something that needed to be opposed.

The founders of the Conservative Party were originally supporters of the Imperial Party and the Monarchist Party. The Imperial Party had been divided into liberal and conservative wings for some time, with the liberals becoming increasingly dominant. The Monarchist Party, while generally conservative, was accused by some of "making an ideology of conservatism", and becoming as dogmatic as its opponents. According to the new Conservative Party, both the Imperials and the Monarchists were being "captured by dreams" instead of looking to reason and common sense.

In the Conservative Party's first elections, it won three seats in the Imperial Council. This was considerably below the number won by the Monarchists and the Liberals, and far below the number won by the Imperial Party, but was nevertheless deemed a good start - some had not even expected a new party to win any seats at all. With the publicity gained by being present in the Council, the Conservative Party expanded, attracting many more members. In the subsequent elections, the Conservatives won fourteen seats, making them the second largest party in the Council.

Despite this rapid growth, however, the Conservatives felt increasingly worried about their position - while the Conservatives themselves had exppanded, the conservative wing of the Council had been diminished. The Monarchists had suffered a considerable decline, while the Liberals had remained strong. In addition, the new Socialist Party (which the Conservatives condemned as "the worst of the dreamers") had won nine seats. In the following elections, the Liberals won a major victory, winning nearly a third of the seats. Believing that there was a real danger of the Liberals winning power, the Conservatives began to cooperate with the Imperial Party, which they deemed the only faction able to defeat the Liberals. While the Imperials were not as conservative as the Conservative Party, they were nevertheless much more conservative than the Liberals, and were deemed to be "the lesser of two evils". The Conservative Party itself continued to lose ground.

By the 255 AP elections, the Imperial Council was sharply divided into "rationalist" and "idealist" camps. The "rationalists" were dominated by the Imperial Party, still the largest party in the Council. The "idealists" consisted of the Liberals and the Socialists. The Conservatives, now greatly reduced, found themselves acting as an annex of the Imperial Party, to which they were now the closest (the Monarchists having dropped out of the Council in the 250 AP elections). Unable to have any significant effect on the direction of the country, and with the Imperial Party increasingly being seen as a conservative faction, the Conservative Party slowly lost its remaining support. In the 260 AP elections, the party failed to retain any of its seats, and dissolved shortly afterwards.

List of Leaders

• Astorono Altiro (231 - 244)
• Candeso Luando (244 - 249)
• Decimo Varo (249 - 258)
• Jori Cordamisto (258 - 263)