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Cornerstone Group | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Sir Edward Leigh |
| Chairman | Sir John Hayes |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Ideology | High Toryism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Party | Conservative Party |
| Slogan | Faith, Flag and Family |
| House of Commons (Conservative seats) | 32 / 365 |
| Website | |
| cornerstonegroup (Inactive) | |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United Kingdom |
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The Cornerstone Group is a High Tory or traditional conservative political organisation within the British Conservative Party.[1] It comprises Members of Parliament with a traditionalist outlook and was founded in 2005. The Group's president is Edward Leigh and its chairman John Hayes. Many Conservative Party Members of Parliament and Peers belong to the Cornerstone Group, including several members of the Shadow Cabinet.
The Conservative Party incorporates three main schools of thought; along with the traditionalist-leaning Cornerstone Group, there are also the One Nation and Thatcherite elements. There is more than a degree of overlap between these groups, depending on the issue. The Cornerstone Group supports the unitary governance of the British state and opposes attempts to transfer power away from it — either downwards through regionalism and devolution, or upwards to the international control of the European Union. A manifesto released at the time of its foundation set out the Group's intentions:[2]
We believe that these values must be stressed: tradition; nation; family; religious ethics; free enterprise. We want to use the leadership election to argue for principles and policies, not about personalities. We must seize the centre ground and pull it kicking and screaming towards us. That is the only way to demolish the foundations of the liberal establishment and demonstrate to the electorate the fundamental flaws on which it is based.
— Strange Desertion of Tory England: The Conservative Alternative to the Liberal Orthodoxy, July 2005[2]
The Cornerstone Group appeared to be inactive after the 2019 elections (the source of the Cornerstone "About" page shows a last modified date in 2018);[3] Sir John Hayes's Common Sense Group, launched in 2020 in the wake of Black Lives Matter with about 40 MPs, is said to revive the Cornerstone Group.[4]
- ^ "What is the Cornerstone group? Matthew Barrett profiles the socially conservative Tory backbench group".
- ^ a b Forman, Daniel (25 July 2015). "Conservative MPs call for 'moral values' agenda". ePolitix.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
The pamphlet was also critical of the outgoing leader Michael Howard's general election campaign, which it accused of being "too timid" on tax cuts, public service reform and family values. "We believe that these values must be stressed: tradition, nation, family, religious ethics, free enterprise," Leigh said. "We want to use the leadership election to argue for principles and policies, not about personalities." He attacked modernisers who want to ape New Labour's cultural liberalism. "The liberals have constructed an empire of cultural assumptions which, conservatives must realise, you either surrender to or fight," he said. "Emulating New Labour both lacks authenticity and is unlikely to make us popular. "We must seize the centre ground and pull it kicking and screaming towards us. That is the only way to demolish the foundations of the liberal establishment and demonstrate to the electorate the fundamental flaws on which it is based.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
aboutwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Toynbee, Polly (27 October 2022). "Braverman's return shows how deeply Sunak is in hock to the hard right". The Guardian.