As part of the launch of their new Direct Democracy agenda, 23 prominent Tories said the party needed to transform the way in which it was perceived by voters, just as the Republican Party had during the last half-century.
Currently, they said, the public regarded the Conservatives as the elite, upper-class party.
To regain power, the group said, Conservatives must take the side of the common man fighting against the growth of big government.
Daniel Hannan, a Tory member of the European Parliament, said the Republicans were once viewed as the "East Coast, country-club" set. In the last 50 years, however, the GOP had transformed itself into a blue collar, anti-Washington party., winning election after election.
Though conditions are different in the two countries, Hannan said the Conservatives should focus on the British equivalent of states' rights -- the transfer of more power to the local level.
Britain was now ruled mainly from London. Instead, citizens should be able to vote on funding for local schools and hold town meetings to decide issues.
"A lot of these ideas were of English origin but have been lost over here," Hannan said. "But they were transported to America and have flourished in the local soil."
Though he admits that it will take years to spread these ideas, Hannan said that his party needed to change to capitalize on growing anti-big government sentiment.
After losing last month's general election, Conservative leader Michael Howard promised to step down by the end of the summer. Hannan said that his group was not endorsing any particular candidate to succeed him in what will likely be a drawn-out leadership contest.
John Micklethwait, co-author of "The Right Nation," a study of conservative power in America, said Thursday Prime Minister Tony Blair had successfully stolen a tactic that former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher used in the 1980s.
In the past, he said, Thatcher had painted a picture of the Labor Party as a group of extreme, out-of-touch leftists. In the most recent campaign, Blair had caricatured the Tories as only representing the rich and elite.
When I was growing up, Thatcher was brilliant at going on and on about the loony left," Micklethwait said. "What is happening now is that Blair is playing these politics perfectly ."
At the same time, ties between the British and American conservative parties have been under strain.
Fraser Nelson, columnist for The Scotsman newspaper, said the relationship between the Republicans and the Tories was at its worst point in decades.
Last summer, Howard publicly criticized President Bush for his close rapport with Blair and their conduct of the war in Iraq. Though the relationship was superficially patched up, many political observers say that a deep gulf remains between the two parties.
Nelson said that after years of seeing the Tories as staunch allies, many senior Republicans felt betrayed by Howard's actions. It wasn't a personality clash between Bush and Howard, but more of a loyalty issue.
However, he said that the relationship might improve if Chancellor (finance minister) Gordon Brown succeeds Blair as prime minister, as most predict.
Philosophically, Brown was much more of a socialist than Blair and counted many members of the Democrat Party as friends.
"Sure, he likes America," Nelson said of Brown.
"But he likes an America the Republicans hate. His idea of taking a vacation is flipping burgers in Cape Cod with Ted Kennedy."
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