Why the 'Europe Question' remains intractable for the Conservative Party despite leave

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1st Class Honours, University of Ulster, language: English, abstract: The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 heralded an era of the intensification of European integration which served to amplify divisions within the Conservative Party. Using the case studies of John Major and David Cameron's respective grapples with party division over Europe, this study looks at the intractability of the so-called 'Europe Question' for the Conservative Party. Policies of party management adopted by both Major and Cameron have proven to be unsuccessful, ultimately leading to an in/out referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union which was won by the leave campaign on 23rd June 2016. This study argues that the divisions over the 'Europe Question' within the Conservative Party have become increasingly ideological and will therefore persist following the referendum in relation to the nature of the Brexit negotiations and the nature of the UK's new relationship with Europe.