Blue Collar Conservatism

Blue Collar Conservatives are a pressure group and caucus of Conservative Party Members of Parliament who identify as working class conservatives. It was founded in 2012 by former cabinet minister Esther McVey and a former conservative parliamentary candidate for Workington, Clark Vasey.[1] It was relaunched at the beginning of the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election by Esther McVey, Ben Bradley, the MP for Mansfield since 2017, and Scott Mann, the MP for North Cornwall since 2015. The relaunch was reported to have rivalled the recent establishment of the One Nation Conservatives.[2]

Blue Collar Conservative Caucus
PresidentEsther McVey
ChairpersonBen Bradley
Founded2012 (2012)
by Esther McVey
IdeologyConservatism
Right-wing populism
Social conservatism
Euroscepticism
Political positionRight-wing
National affiliationConservative Party
Colors  Blue
House of Commons
(Conservative seats)
160 / 365
Website
www.bluecollarconservatism.co.uk

As a group, they aim to "champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour". In the weeks prior to becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said, "the blue-collar conservatism agenda – particularly in relation to supporting schools, police and other public services [...] is something I've already signalled I want to take forward in government."[3] The New Statesman has described the caucus as an influential grouping within the parliamentary party.[4]

In October 2022, Esther McVey stood down as chair and was replaced by Lee Anderson.

Campaigns

The group focus their campaigning on empowering blue-collar workers and other working-class people. They have also campaigned on Brexit, public services, Education in the United Kingdom and law enforcement.[5] The values of the caucus focus on "Conservative Values, Practical Delivery" and were attributed to the result of the 2019 general election, where the Conservatives won many seats in the "Red wall".[6][7]

Esther McVey MP founded the group.

Many in the caucus have supported cancelling High Speed 2.[8][9]

Leadership

Board members

Membership

According to the group's website; the members/supporters of the caucus include:[10]

Image Member of Parliament
Adam Afriyie
Lucy Allan
Lee Anderson
Stuart Anderson
Caroline Ansell
Sarah Atherton
Shaun Bailey
Duncan Baker
Simon Baynes
Aaron Bell
Scott Benton
Jake Berry
Saqib Bhatti
Bob Blackman
Peter Bottomley
Ben Bradley (Chairperson)
Graham Brady
Jack Brereton
Paul Bristow
Sara Britcliffe
Fiona Bruce
Robert Buckland
Rob Butler
Alun Cairns
Andy Carter
Maria Caulfield
Brendan Clarke-Smith
Chris Clarkson
Alberto Costa
Robert Courts
James Daly
James Davies
Gareth Davies
Philip Davies (Vice-chair)
David Davis
Dehenna Davison (Vice-chair)
Sarah Dines
Iain Duncan Smith
Mark Eastwood
George Eustice
David Evennett
Ben Everitt
Simon Fell
Katherine Fletcher
Mark Fletcher
Nick Fletcher
Liam Fox
Richard Fuller
Mark Garnier
Peter Gibson
Jo Gideon
Cheryl Gillan
John Glen
James Gray
Chris Green
James Grundy
Jonathan Gullis
Robert Halfon
Trudy Harrison
Sally-Ann Hart
John Hayes
Gordon Henderson
Darren Henry
Antony Higginbotham
Richard Holden
Kevin Hollinrake
Philip Hollobone
Paul Howell
Nigel Huddleston
Neil Hudson
Eddie Hughes (Vice-chair)
Jane Hunt
Ranil Jayawardena
Bernard Jenkin
Mark Jenkinson
Andrea Jenkyns (Vice-chair)
Daniel Kawczynski
Greg Knight
Julian Knight
Eleanor Laing
John Lamont
Robert Largan
Pauline Latham
Edward Leigh
Andrew Lewer (Vice-chair)
Ian Levy
Julian Lewis
Chris Loder
Mark Logan
Marco Longhi
Julia Lopez
Jonathan Lord
Tim Loughton
Craig Mackinlay
Cherilyn Mackrory
Rachel Maclean
Alan Mak
Kit Malthouse
Anthony Mangnall
Scott Mann (Vice-chair)
Paul Maynard
Jason McCartney
Karl McCartney
Stephen McPartland
Esther McVey (Founder)
Johnny Mercer
Huw Merriman
Stephen Metcalfe
Robin Millar
Damien Moore
Robbie Moore
Penny Mordaunt
Kieran Mullan
Holly Mumby-Croft
Lia Nici
Neil O'Brien
Andrew Percy
Priti Patel
Tom Pursglove
Tom Randall
Nicola Richards
Angela Richardson
Andrew Rosindell
Lee Rowley (Vice-chair)
Dean Russell
David Rutley
Gary Sambrook
Selaine Saxby
Bob Seely
Andrew Selous
Chloe Smith
Greg Smith
Henry Smith
Amanda Solloway
Alexander Stafford
Jane Stevenson
John Stevenson (Vice-chair)
Gary Streeter (Vice-chair)
Julian Sturdy
James Sunderland
Robert Syms
Derek Thomas
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Tom Tugendhat
Matt Vickers
Martin Vickers
Robin Walker
Jamie Wallis
Suzanne Webb
Heather Wheeler
Craig Whittaker
Mike Wood
Jacob Young
Nadhim Zahawi

Blue Collar Conversations: from pub to podcast

Since its relaunch, the group travelled to pubs across the country holding open events called 'Blue Collar Conversations' in which UK cabinet ministers and MPs discussed ideas and policies in an informal setting with members of the public. Speaking at one of those events, a member of the group is reported to have said: "The party needs to adopt the blue-collar Conservatism approach – travel to pubs across the country and reach out to the people… a pub-ocracy!"[11]

The group then launched a weekly podcast of the same name as the United Kingdom went into official lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic. The podcast is described as "a space to champion working people". New episodes are released every Sunday and cover a range of topical issues, from crime and justice to care homes and football, and the cosmetic industry to education. The podcast is hosted by Esther McVey and guests have included Nick Knowles, Ching He Huang, Toby Young, Linda Yueh, Tom Harwood, Chris Wright, Mark Radcliffe and Bradford City A.F.C.; however, the podcast prides itself on also providing a platform for everyday working people.[12]

References

  1. Vasey, Clark (19 July 2019). "Only Johnson can deliver Blue Collar Conservatism". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. "Tory MPs launch rival campaign groups". BBC News. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. Malnick, Edward; Mikhailova, Anna (15 June 2019). "Theresa May's £27bn spending booby trap for Boris as lame duck PM threatens to derail next leader's budget". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. Maguire, Patrick (28 February 2020). "How the Blue Collar Conservatives could turn on Boris Johnson". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "Campaigns". www.bluecollarconservatism.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  6. "Values". www.bluecollarconservatism.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. McVey, Esther (16 December 2019). "Tory electoral triumph has unleashed blue collar conservatism". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. Sholli, Sam (30 May 2019). "Heathrow and HS2 in firing line of many prime minister front runners". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. "Are the new intake of Tory MPs really pushing the party to the centre?". CapX. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. "Team". Blue Collar Conservatism. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. Gye, Hugo (30 September 2019). "Boris Johnson should tour pubs to win over British people, Esther McVey says". i. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  12. "PODCAST". BCC.

See also

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