![stocks](/sites/www.alistairlexden.org.uk/files/styles/gallery_large/public/news-gallery/History%20stocks.jpg?itok=7BPdG_M4)
The attached article was published in Parliament’s magazine The House, to which Alistair Lexden contributes regularly, on 15 January. It is an abridged – and slightly amended—version of an essay about the origins of the Conservative Party which was posted on this site last month.