Why has the British Conservative Party been so unpopular for decades now?

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In retrospect, the upset 1992 election win was not a cause worth celebrating for Tories. Although the proceeding government is certainly more loathed by enormous swathes of the country, the Major administration shredded the messaging of Thatcher. Even though I dislike her, I can't deny Thatcher was a great politician who chose her battles wisely. The state monopolies she took on were, by and large, the hated and terribly run ones like British Telecom. She allowed the unions and miners to be scapegoats, allowed her to build an us vs them narrative between the private and public sectors. ABove all this was "popular capitalism" - see the "tell Sid ads" or "a nation of stockholders".

The 1992-1997 was where everything managed to end up pear-shaped. A steady stream of scandals, mishaps, "sleaze" and eff-ups hurt the idea that the Tories were the adults who did unpleasant things because they "had to be done". Now it seemed that things were run for the benefit of the Tory party and even that they did incompetently. His government lacked focus and its privatisations now affected services used by the vast majority (rail, electricity and a half-baked attempt by Heseltine to sell-off the Post Office). No nation of small stockholders had materialised. Instead the UK was a nation of rent-seekers and crippling bills. The dream that Thatcher had sold to the public seemed to be the epitome of wishful thinking.

(And yes, the 1992 loss allowed Labour to step and make the great cosmetic step of Clause IV removal and the ditching of the block vote; but I view this as less important).