Conservative Party (Chile)

The Conservative Party (in Spanish: Partido Conservador, PCon) of Chile was one of the principal Chilean political parties since its foundation in 1836 until 1948, when it broke apart. In 1953 it reformed as the United Conservative Party and in 1966 joined with the Liberal Party to form the National Party. The Conservative Party was a right-wing party, originally created to be the clericalist, pro-Catholic Church group.

Origins: 1823-1829

The Conservative Party's origins go back to the fall of Bernardo O'Higgins' government on January 28, 1823. The Chilean political situation during those years was divided into six main groups: the pelucones, conservatives who supported authority and stability over personal freedoms; the pipiolos, who supported personal freedoms even over stability; the liberales, moderates who supported personal freedoms; the federalistas, mainly liberales and pipiolos who also supported a federalist system similar to that of the United States; the o'higginistas, supporters of O'Higgins, who had gone into exile; and the carrerinos, supporters of O'Higgins' old enemy José Miguel Carrera, who had been executed in Argentina.

After the abdication of O'Higgins, the new government of liberal Ramón Freire called for new parliamentary elections. These were won by moderates, who obtained 31 seats out of 58. The pelucones received only 4 seats, and were therefore the smallest group in Congress. In the next election, which took place in 1824, the pelucones made significant gains. They won 21 seats out of 58 in the Chamber of Deputies, becoming the second-largest group after the pipiolos.