Concept of traditional values in the programme and strategy of British conservatives: elections of 2015 and 2017

The purpose of the article is to determine the role of the concept of traditional values in the programme and strategy of the British Conservatives during the elections of 2015 and 2017. The current research has revealed that the ideological delimitation in the conservative camp also determines different conceptualizations of traditional values. Liberal Conservatives identify traditional values with «common British» or national values, using them to build and strengthen national identity within the framework of the globalization process. At the same time, they painlessly adapt to the transformation of the family institution and even independently enforce it. The right Tories reduce traditional values to the moral and ethical perspective and to the inviolability of the role of traditional family and religion in the life of society. This makes the question of traditional values one of the major watersheds in the conservative movement. In the absence of internal party consensus on this issue, the Conservatives did not fully actualize the concept of traditional values during the 2015 and 2017 elections. However, conservative leaders tried to use an «anti-secular» discourse as a tool to mobilize religious voters and to strengthen national identity during the process of Brexit.