Blue Collar Conservatives are a pressure group and caucus of Conservative Party

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

who identify as

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

conservatives. It was founded in 2012 by former cabinet minister

Esther McVey Esther Louise McVey (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Housing and Pl ...

and a former conservative parliamentary candidate for

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

, Clark Vasey. It was relaunched at the beginning of the

2019 Conservative Party leadership election The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as prime minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been el ...

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. 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 Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

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." The ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' has described the caucus as an influential grouping within the parliamentary party. 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 Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

, public services,

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and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

. 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". Esther mcvey 2

Many in the caucus have supported cancelling

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

Leadership

Board members

MP, president and founder * Ben Bradley MP, chairman * Councillor Clark Vasey, director * Dehenna Davison MP, vice chair * Scott Mann MP, vice chair * Eddie Hughes MP, vice chair * John Stevenson MP, vice chair *

Lee Rowley Lee Benjamin Rowley (born 11 September 1980) is a British politician and former management consultant serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he ...

MP, vice chair * Andrea Jenkyns MP, vice chair *

Andrew Lewer Andrew Iain Lewer (born 18 July 1971 in Burnley, Lancashire) is a British Conservative Party politician. Elected as the Member of Parliament for Northampton South in the 2017 general election, he previously served as Member of the European Pa ...

MP, vice chair * Sir Gary Streeter MP, vice chair

Membership

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

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!" 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 Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles (born 21 September 1962) is an English television presenter, writer and musical artist. He is best known for his presenting roles on the BBC, including game shows ''Who Dares Wins'' (2007–2019), ''Break the Sa ...

Ching He Huang Ching-He Huang (; (born 8 April 1978), often known in English-language merely as Ching, is a Taiwanese-born food writer and TV chef. She has appeared in a variety of television cooking programmes, and is the author of nine best-selling cook ...

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

Linda Yueh Linda Yi-Chuang Yueh is a British/American economist, broadcaster, and author, born in Taiwan and of dual British and American citizenship. Yueh is an adjunct professor of economics at London Business School, and a Fellow in Economics at St E ...

, 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.

References

External links

Official website/