What is the main conflict in The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst?

The year is 1983, a politically charged yet socially innocent time in London. It is a time of opulence and indulgence, before AIDS. The Conservative Tories have just elected Margaret Thatcher into office. Gerald Feddens is a newly elected conservative Member of Parliament for Barwick, where Nick was raised. It is during this time of great conflict that Nick Guest is coming of age.