Blue Collar Conservatism

This article is about caucus in the British Conservative Party. For the American caucus of a similar name, see Blue Collar Caucus.

Blue Collar Conservative Caucus
PresidentEsther McVey
ChairpersonBen Bradley
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
by Esther McVey
IdeologyConservatism
Right-wing populism
Social conservatism
Euroscepticism
Political positionRight-wing
National affiliationConservative Party
Colours  Blue
House of Commons
(Conservative seats)
130 / 345
Website
www.bluecollarconservatism.co.uk
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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 and Fujitsu UK’s head of corporate affairs, Clark Vasey.[1][2][3] 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.[4]

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."[5] The New Statesman has described the caucus as an influential grouping within the parliamentary party.[6]

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

  1. ^ Vasey, Clark (19 July 2019). "Only Johnson can deliver Blue Collar Conservatism". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ^ Vaughan, Richard (10 January 2024). "Fujitsu's head lobbyist during Post Office scandal set up Tory MPs' pressure group". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  3. ^ Clark, Lindsay. "How governments become addicted to suppliers like Fujitsu". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Tory MPs launch rival campaign groups". BBC News. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Maguire, Patrick (28 February 2020). "How the Blue Collar Conservatives could turn on Boris Johnson". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 March 2020.