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ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, 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 ...
. It was first established by
Tim Montgomerie Timothy Montgomerie (born 24 July 1970) is a British political activist, blogger, and columnist. He is best known as the co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice and as creator of the ConservativeHome website, which he edited from 2005 unt ...
in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about both
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
and a fair competitive economy. A second aim of the blog is to represent grassroots
Conservatives 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 civilization in ...
, and whilst being independent of the Conservative Party, is supportive of it.


Editors

ConservativeHome was first edited by Tim Montgomerie, prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign with Samuel Coates as a deputy. Coates left the blog in July 2008 to become a speech writer for
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
. Coates later became the party's head of digital and then a Special Adviser. In November 2008, Jonathan Isaby joined as a co-editor. In 2009,
Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...
– the former Conservative MP for Wycombe – became the executive editor of ConservativeHome. In February 2013, Montgomerie announced that he would leave the site in April of the same year to become comment editor of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. Goodman succeeded him as editor, and
Mark Wallace Mark David Wallace (born December 31, 1967) is an American businessman, former diplomat and lawyer who has served in a variety of government, political and private sector posts. He served in several positions during the administration of Presi ...
joined the site as executive editor in May 2013.


Content

The site took a leading role in co-ordinating grassroots support in opposing
Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...
's attempt to abolish the "one man one vote" rule in the 2005 Conservative Party leadership election.Home boy
Progress Magazine
ConservativeHome was critical of the
A list An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry. The A-list is part of a larger guide called ''The Hot List'', which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry ...
and believed that former Conservative Party Leader David Cameron was in danger of alienating working class Conservative voters, and pressed Cameron for specific pledges on tax cuts. It was credited with the most accurate record of MP affiliation during the 2005 Conservative Leadership election, and it also was the first to reveal the names on the "A-list" of candidates. The Conservative chairman
Francis Maude Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, Baron Maude of Horsham, (born 4 July 1953) is a British Conservative Party politician and life peer who served as Minister of State for Trade and Investment from 2015 to 2016, having previously served as Minister ...
described it during the leadership election as "the only place to find out what's going on". "A Lefty Lexicon", a satirical article published in August 2006 on the site and written by Inigo Wilson, a man described as someone who "manages community affairs for a large telecoms company", was criticised by the
Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) is a London-based British Muslim lobby and civil liberties group founded to address what it perceived as the under-representation of Muslims in British politics. The organisation is active primarily ...
(MPACUK). MPAC members discovered that Wilson was Community Affairs Manager for phone company
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, and pressured the company to dismiss him. Wilson was initially suspended for the comments, but later reinstated. In February 2012, ConservativeHome called for
Andrew Lansley Andrew David Lansley, Baron Lansley, (born 11 December 1956) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Secretary of State for Health and Leader of the H ...
to be replaced as Health Secretary and for the Health and Social Care Bill to be abandoned. The site supported a
Leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...
vote in the
2016 EU referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
. The site records a fortnightly podcast with Conservative MP
Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob William Rees-Mogg (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council ...
called "The Moggcast".


Business

In September 2009
Lord Ashcroft Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and is ...
, the then-Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, took a controlling stake of 57.5% in PoliticsHome, the company which owns and operates ConservativeHome. In 2011, Ashcroft sold PoliticsHome to Dod's and retained ConservativeHome. In 2017, the blog stated that it gets over two million unique visitors a year.


ConservativeHomeUSA

In 2010, ConservativeHome launched an American site, ConservativeHomeUSA, which is edited by Ryan Streeter and Montgomerie. Contributors have included
John Thune John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005, and as the Party leaders ...
,
Roger Bate Roger Bate is a British educated economist who has held a variety of positions in free market oriented organizations. His work focuses on solving the problem of counterfeit and substandard medicines, particularly those in the developing world. ...
,
Herbert London Herbert Ira London (March 6, 1939 – November 10, 2018) was an American conservative activist, commentator, author, and academic. London was the president of the Hudson Institute from 1997 to 2011. He was a frequent columnist for ''The Washing ...
,
David Frum David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum au ...
and many other
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and conservative think-tank and media figures. On 17 May 2012 the site announced its closure.


See also

*
Iain Dale Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...
– columnist


References

{{reflist, 30em British political blogs British political websites Conservative media in the United Kingdom Internet properties established in 2005 Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK)