The Conservative Philosophy Group (CPG) was formed in the UK in 1974 by Sir Hugh Fraser, a Conservative MP, to provide an intellectual basis for

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

at a time when the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

had just lost two general elections and elected a new leader,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

. It was founded with four board members: Fraser,

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher and writer who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views. Editor from 1982 t ...

, John Casey, and

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving unt ...

MP.Scruton, Roger, ''Gentle Regrets''. Continuum Publishing Group, 2005, p. 45ff. Other members included

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...

MP,

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

MP,

Maurice Cowling Maurice John Cowling (6 September 1926 – 24 August 2005) was a British historian and a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Early life Cowling was born in West Norwood, South London, son of Reginald Frederick Cowling (1901–1962), a patent agen ...

, Edward Norman, Sir Alfred Sherman, Paul Johnson,

T. E. Utley Thomas Edwin Utley (1 February 1921 – 21 June 1988), known as Peter Utley, was a British High Tory journalist and writer. Early life He was adopted by Miss Ann Utley and christened Thomas Edwin, although he was always known as Peter."T. E. ...

, Lord Black, Lord Bauer, Lord Blake, Lord Sieff, Lord Weinstock, Lord Thomas and

Lord Quinton Anthony Meredith Quinton, Baron Quinton, FBA (25 March 192519 June 2010) was a British political and moral philosopher, metaphysician, and materialist philosopher of mind. He served as President of Trinity College, Oxford from 1978 to 1987; and ...

. The following addressed the group:

F. A. Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, Jurisprudence, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical lib ...

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...

Michael Oakeshott Michael Joseph Oakeshott FBA (; 11 December 1901 – 19 December 1990) was an English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of law.F ...

Elie Kedourie Elie Kedourie (25 January 1926, Baghdad – 29 June 1992, Washington) was a British historian of the Middle East. He wrote from a liberal perspective, dissenting from many points of view taken as orthodox in the field. From 1953 to 1990, he t ...

, and

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

. Thatcher attended the group on a number of occasions, and Aitken claims she said to him whilst attending a meeting, "We must have an ideology; the other side have got an ideology they can test their policies against. We must have one as well." The CPG disbanded during the

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

years. The Group was restarted in 2013 by Professor Roger Scruton with the assistance of

Rodney Leach (Charles Guy) Rodney Leach, Baron Leach of Fairford (1 June 1934 – 12 June 2016) was a British businessman and a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Early life The son of Charles Harold Leach and Nora Eunice Ashworth, Leach was educa ...

and other academics in partnership with the organisers of the Conservative Renewal Conferences in Windsor, George Bathurst and Richard Hyslop. It meets in the home of Lord Flight and other locations in Westminster.

See also

Notes

Further reading