How has Conservative Party policy changed since the 1990s?

One way in which Conservative Party policy has changed since the 1990s is the stance on EU membership.
This is because in the 1990s, John Major’s government were largely pro-EU, and fought to pass the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 which formally established the union by laying the foundations for the euro and introducing free movement.
This presents a stark contrast with the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson, which is pro-Brexit and announced at the start of his term that the UK would leave in October with or without a deal as they wanted to ‘Get Brexit Done’.
This shows how the party’s policy has changed in the past 30 years and how this is dependent on the views and strength of the leader.

Another way in which Conservative Party policy had changed since the 1990s is their position on devolution, as recent Conservative governments have been much more willing to devolve power.
This is shown by the fact that Major’s government in the 1990s largely opposed devolution, especially in Scotland, as they believed it would prompt Scotland into seeking full independence and consequently the break-up the UK.
This was a problematic stance for the party as it meant that they received no votes in Scotland in the 1997 election as they failed, unlike Labour, to offer a referendum on a Scottish Parliament.
This contrasts with the Conservatives under Cameron, which passed the Scotland Act (2016) and the government under Theresa May who passed the Wales Act (2017), as they both granted further devolved powers, showing how party policy has had to change, in order to maintain the support of the devolved regions.

A third way that Conservative Party policy has changed since the 1990s is through Immigration.
This is because in the 90s, the party could be seen to be largely pro-immigration and was seen to do little to stop the large influxes of asylum seekers through the channel tunnel.
This was not the case under the coalition government, where Home Secretary Theresa May adopted the Hostile Environment Policy, introducing vans with “Go Home” written on the side and then developed further in her time as Prime Minister, later becoming known as the Windrush scandal.
This shows how one politician can drastically change the direction of party policy.