My working theory was (up until Brexit at any rate) that the Conservative party primarily exists to occupy positions of power so that others cannot.
They don't want to do anything, just prevent others from doing.
We now see a clear divide between the revolutionaries in the Vote Leave faction in London and the provincial yeomanry.
I think this is accurate. I had never really thought about the use of "conservative" in the party name until a pal came back from a trip to rural Nottinghamshire, noted how idyllic it was and said it's not really surprising that they vote Conservative in order to conserve the status quo.
The party's approach involves giving an inch here or there to diffuse tension and split its opponents, in order to avoid someone else taking charge and doing something radical.
The Brexit thing is a real anomaly. Likely the least conservative thing the Conservative party has ever done, until you look at it through the prism of politics and see that it allowed them to conserve their position in power.
However, they're properly loosed from the moorings now, divorced from doing what is economically best for the country (in the traditional Conservative sense). I can only hope that this is their undoing.
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