- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 July 2009 22.12 BST
David Cameron is to lead a parliamentary party after the next election that is largely isolationist, opposed to protecting spending on international development, strongly Eurosceptic and questioning of foreign interventions.
The findings come in a survey by the website ConservativeHome of the 220 top target or Tory-held seats. It reveals a strongly libertarian tendency among candidates. There is strong support for the NHS with 70% saying they will continue to use the NHS for their healthcare.
But only 9% of believe that as MPs they should send their children to a state school, with 91% asserting their freedom to choose private schools.
Asked which spending programme should be most immune from cuts, only 4% said international development, 34% health, 35% defence and 27% schools.
Cameron has said the international development and health budgets are the only two that should be immune from cuts, but these findings suggest he will have little support from his own party if he protects overseas aid after the election.
He singled out international development on the basis that the party needs to break with its past harsh image.
In another sign of the strong isolationist tendency inside the party, only 32% agree with the statement that intervention to bring about regime change in foreign dictatorships is right in principle, and 57% disagree. There is little support for the Iraq war.
Asked if a Conservative government should retain Britain's current relationship with the EU, only 7% agree. A total of 46% agree that some powers should be repatriated and 41% think there should be a fundamental renegotiation of Britain's membership of the EU.
The international development secretary, Douglas Alexander, said: "This survey shows how little the Conservative party has really changed. In government before 1997 they halved development spending. Now their pre-election positioning cannot hide the truth that the Tory candidates do not see meeting our promises to the world poorest people as a priority for Britain."
The survey also reveals a degree of calm about the severing of the Union with Scotland. Traditionally a firm Unionist party, the Conservatives may face a concerted challenge after the election from the Scottish Nationalists for independence. The survey suggests many Tory MPs will not put up severe resistance. Only 53% say the Union should be defended at all costs and 47% say they would not be unhappy if Scotland became independent. Seventy six per cent said they thought vouchers in state education were good and 48% agreed some form of road pricing was a good idea so long as it was acompanied by a cut in road tax.
A total of 91% said they did not support the target of 50% of school leavers going to university, but there was strong support for citizens' initiaitves.
Nearly half – 48% – said they would have voted for Barack Obama in the US presidential elections.