The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with 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 ...
, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
(DUP) and
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...
(UUP) in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
Founded in 1961, in the belief that the
Macmillan ministry had taken the party too far to the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
, the club became embroiled in the
decolonisation
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
and
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
debate, inevitably highlighting the controversial issue of
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, which has dominated its image ever since. The club was known for its fierce opposition to non-white immigration to Britain and its support for apartheid-era South Africa and
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
. By 1971, the club had 35 MPs, six of them ministers, and 35
peers, with membership (including branches) totalling about 10,000.
In 1982, the constitution was re-written, with more emphasis on support for the Conservative Party, but it remained autonomous from the party. In-fighting over the club's traditional Tory agenda led to many resignations in 1991. In 2001, the Conservative Party formally severed relations with the club, which has ceased to exercise significant influence, with full membership below 600.
History
Foundation and early years
The club was founded on 1 January 1961, by four young Conservative Party members, Paul Bristol (a 24-year-old
shipbroker
Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators (i.e. brokers) between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers an ...
and the club's first chairman, who left the club in 1968), Ian Greig (Membership Secretary until 1969), Cedric Gunnery (Treasurer until 1992), and Anthony Maclaren. The club was formed "to force local party associations to discuss and debate party policy". Its first general policy statement deplored the tendency of recent Conservative governments to adopt policies based upon expediency and demanded that instead Tory principles should be the guiding influence. It believed that the principles needing to be reasserted included the preservation of the constitution and existing institutions, the freedom of the individual, the private ownership of property, and the need for Britain to play a leading part in world affairs.
The club disliked what it regarded as the expediency, cynicism and materialism which motivated
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 ...
's government. In addition it was concerned that during this period "the left wing of the Party (had) gained a predominant influence over policy" and that as a result the Conservative Party had shifted to the left, so that "the floating voter could not detect, as he should, major differences between it and the Socialists" and, furthermore, "loyal Conservatives had become disillusioned and dispirited". The club's published aims stated that it "seeks to evolve a dynamic application of traditional Tory principles".
The group brought together supporters of
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
; the main impetus for the group's formation was the Conservatives' new
decolonisation
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
policies, in particular as a general reaction to Macmillan's '
Wind of Change' speech made in South Africa. The club stated that Macmillan had "turned the Party Left", and its first pamphlet opposed these policies as indicative of the Conservative Party's move towards liberalism. The club is notable for having promoted a policy of voluntary, or assisted, repatriation for Commonwealth immigrants, a policy subsequently adopted in the 1970 Conservative Party manifesto.
The 5th Marquess of Salisbury (1893–1972), who had resigned from Macmillan's Cabinet over the Prime Minister's liberal direction, became its first president in January 1962, when he stated "there was never a greater need for true conservatism than there is today". By the end of 1963 there were eleven Members of Parliament in the Club, which then had an overall membership of about 300. The club was courted by many Conservative politicians, including the Conservative Party leader
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conse ...
who was guest-of-honour at the club's annual dinners of 1964 and 1969, and
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 ...
, who, in a speech in 1968, said that "it was due to the Monday Club that many are brought within the Conservative Party who might otherwise be estranged from it".
[Copping, 1972, p. 26.]
That year
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 ...
joined the club and was soon chairman of its Wiltshire branch.
Trewin, Ion
Ion Courtenay Gill Trewin (13 July 1943 – 8 April 2015) was a British editor, publisher and author.
Biography
Born in London, the son of J. C. Trewin and Wendy Trewin (''née'' Monk), Ion Trewin was educated at Highgate School. He was the lit ...
, ''Alan Clark – The Biography'', London, 2009, , pps: 230 & 246-7. Under its chairman from 1964 to 1969,
Paul Williams, who until 1964 had been MP for Sunderland South, the club enjoyed significant growth and influence. Some argued that the club had a disproportionate influence within Conservative circles, especially after six of its members who were MPs joined the Cabinet in 1970.
[Messina, Anthony M., ''Race and Party Competition in Britain'', Clarendon Press, 1989, ]
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, twice
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, described the club as "the guardian of the Tory conscience".
Oxford political scholar
Roger Griffin
Roger David Griffin (born 31 January 1948) is a British professor of modern history and political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His principal interest is the socio-historical and ideological dynamics of fascism, as well as va ...
referred to the club as practising an anti-
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and elitist form of conservatism.
Membership
By 1970, eighteen Members of Parliament were club members:
[Copping, 1972, p. 21.]
*
Geoffrey Rippon
Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, QC (28 May 1924 – 28 January 1997) was a British Conservative Party politician. He is most known for drafting the European Communities Act 1972 which took the United Kingdom into ...
(
Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...
)
*
Julian Amery
Harold Julian Amery, Baron Amery of Lustleigh, (27 March 1919 – 3 September 1996) was a British Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 39 of the 42 years between 1950 and 1992. He was appointed to the Pr ...
(
Brighton Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Pri ...
)
*
Ronald Bell QC (
South Buckinghamshire
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Bea ...
)
*
Harold Gurden (
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne ...
)
*
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend Eas ...
(
Glasgow Cathcart)
*
John Peyton (
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...
)
*
Paul Williams (
Sunderland South)
[Copping, Robert, ''The Story of the Monday Club - The First Decade'', London: Current Affairs Information Service, April 1972]
*
Duncan Sandys
Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a key ro ...
(
Streatham
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey ...
)
*
Joseph Hiley
Joseph Hiley (18 August 1902 – 17 November 1989) was a British Conservative Party politician, and a member of the Conservative Monday Club.Seyd, Patrick, "Factionalism within the Conservative Party: The Monday Club" in ''Government and Opposit ...
(
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
)
*
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison (7 June 1918 – 17 September 1988) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figur ...
(
Chigwell
Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...
)
*
Stephen Hastings
Sir Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings (4 May 1921 – 10 January 2005) was a British Conservative politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire in a 1960 by-election and held it until he stood down at the 1983 general e ...
(
Mid Bedfordshire)
*
Victor Goodhew
Sir Victor Henry Goodhew (30 November 1919 – 11 October 2006) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for St Albans for 24 years, from 1959 to 1983, and was an early member of the Conservative Monday Club ...
(
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
)
*
Wilfred Baker (
Banffshire
Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
)
*
Jasper More (
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...
)
*
Jill Knight
Joan Christabel Jill Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, (; 9 July 1923 – 6 April 2022) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1966 to 1997. S ...
(
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...
)
*
Patrick Wall
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...
(
Haltemprice
Haltemprice is an area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, directly to the west of Hull. Originally an extra-parochial area, it became a civil parish in 1858, in 1935 it was expanded by the combination of the urban districts of Cottingham, ...
)
*
Mark Woodnutt (
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
)
*
Sir Jerry Wiggin (
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...
)
In the
1970 Conservative Party election victory, six MPs who were club members were given Cabinet positions.
In addition, the following club members were elected that year:
*
Geoffrey Stewart-Smith
(Dudley) Geoffrey Stewart-Smith (29 December 1933 – 13 March 2004) was a British Conservative politician. He served one term as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belper in Derbyshire after he defeated the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party George Br ...
(
Belper
Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...
)
*
Patrick Cormack
Patrick Thomas Cormack, Baron Cormack, (born 18 May 1939) is a British politician, historian, journalist and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. Cormack is a member of the Conservative Party and i ...
(
Cannock
Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverh ...
)
*
Anthony Fell (
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
)
*
Robert Boscawen
Robert Thomas Boscawen (17 March 1923 – 28 December 2013) was a British Conservative politician. He was the last member of the House of Commons to hold a Military Cross for action during the Second World War.
Background and education
Robert ...
(
Wells
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
)
*
Harold Soref
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916—14 March 1993) was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom for Ormskirk, Lancashire, first elected at the 1970 general election. He subsequently lost the seat to Labour in Febru ...
(
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
)
*
William Benyon (
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
)
*
Roger White (
Gravesend
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...
)
*
Peter Rost (
South East Derbyshire)
*
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit (born 29 March 1931) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1983), Secretary of State for Trad ...
(
Epping Epping may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Epping railway station, Sydney
* Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...
)
*
Piers Dixon
Pierson John Shirley Dixon (29 December 1928 – 24 March 2017), known as Piers Dixon, was a British Conservative Party politician who represented Truro between 1970 and 1974.
Early life
The son of diplomat and writer, Sir Pierson Dixon, he wa ...
(
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
)
*
David James (
North Dorset
North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour vall ...
)
*
John Heydon Stokes
Sir John Heydon Romaine Stokes (23 July 1917 – 27 June 2003) was a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and career
The son of Victor Romaine Stokes, a stockjobber, Stokes was educated at Haileybury College ...
(
Oldbury and Halesowen)
Among sitting MPs who joined the club after that and other elections, along with those who became MPs were:
*
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 ...
(
Plymouth Sutton
Plymouth, Sutton was, from 1918 until 2010, a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
Pl ...
and
Kensington & Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...
)
*
Harvey Proctor
Keith Harvey Proctor (born 16 January 1947) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament. A member of the Monday Club, he represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became embroiled in a scandal i ...
(
Basildon
Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159.
It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
)
*
Sir Stephen McAdden (
Southend East)
*
Richard Body
Sir Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body (18 May 1927 – 26 February 2018) was an English politician. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay from 1955 to 1959, for Holland with Boston from 1966 to 1997, and for Boston and Ske ...
(
Holland with Boston
Holland with Boston was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of ...
)
*
Sir Ronald Russell (
Wembley South)
*
George Gardiner (
Reigate
Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...
)
*
William Craig (
Belfast East)
*
Gerald Howarth
Sir James Gerald Douglas Howarth (born 12 September 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot from 1997 until 2017, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992.
He wa ...
(
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
)
*
Evelyn King (
South Dorset
South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Drax, a Conservative. The constituency was created as a consequence of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, although the area cover ...
)
*
John Carlisle (
Luton North)
*
Rhodes Boyson
Sir Rhodes Boyson (11 May 192528 August 2012) was an English educator, author and Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.
Early life
B ...
(
Brent North
Brent North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Barry Gardiner of the Labour Party.
History
Created in 1974 from the former seats of Wembley North and Wembley South, Brent North was a Co ...
)
*
The Hon. Archibald Hamilton (
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was m ...
)
*
Tim Janman (
Thurrock
Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...
)
*
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley (born 30 July 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1975 when elected for Woolwich West, serving until it was abolished before the 1983 general election. ...
(
Worthing West
Worthing West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 creation by Sir Peter Bottomley, a Conservative, who is the Father of the House of Commons.
Boundaries
*Worthing wards: Castle, Central, Dur ...
)
*
Colin Campbell Mitchell
Colin Campbell Mitchell (17 November 1925 – 20 July 1996) was a British Army soldier and politician. He became a public figure in 1967 as the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Forces under his ...
(
West Aberdeenshire)
*
Bernard Braine
Bernard Richard Braine, Baron Braine of Wheatley, PC (24 June 1914 – 5 January 2000) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 42 years, from 1950 to 1992, representing constituencies i ...
(
Castle Point
Castle Point is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south Essex, east of central London. The borough comprises the towns and villages of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, Ess ...
)
*
James Molyneaux
James Henry Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, KBE, PC (27 August 1920 – 9 March 2015) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1979 to 1995, and as the Member of Parliament ...
(
Lagan Valley
The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...
)
[Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club—Crisis and After'' May 1975, page 34, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B).]
*
John Taylor (
Strangford)
*
Neil Hamilton (
Tatton)
*
Robert Taylor (
Croydon North West)
*
Nicholas Winterton
Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton (born 31 March 1938) is a retired British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield from 1971 until he retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election.
H ...
(
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...
)
*
Ann Winterton (
Congleton
Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482.
Top ...
)
Peers of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
who were Monday Club members:
*
George Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl
George Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl, DL (19 June 1931 – 27 February 1996), known as ''Wee Iain'', was a Scottish peer and landowner.
Background and education
Murray was the only surviving child of Lieutenant-Colonel George Anthony Murray ...
*
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, (27 August 1893 – 23 February 1972), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician.
Background
Nicknamed "Bobbety", Salisbury was the eldes ...
[Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club—Crisis and After'' May 1975, page 28, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B).]
*
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Edward Peter Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury, (24 October 1916 – 11 July 2003), styled Viscount Cranborne from 1947 to 1972, was a British landowner and Conservative politician.
Early life
Salisbury was the eldest and o ...
*
Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall
The Most Hon. Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall, LVO (18 April 1916 – 19 April 2007), known as the Hon. Dermot Chichester from 1924 to 1953, and as Baron Templemore from 1953 to 1975, was a British soldier, landowner and ...
[Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club—Crisis and After'' May 1975, page 46, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B).]
*
Patrick Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale
*
Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich[Copping, Robert, ''The Story of The Monday Club - The First Decade'', Current Affairs Information Service, London, April 1972, (P/B)]
*
Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk
Charles Alexander Bannerman Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk (23 September 1893 – 16 February 1992), styled The Honourable Charles Carnegie before 1905 and Lord Carnegie between 1905 and 1941, was the husband of Princess Maud, Countess of South ...
*
John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley
John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley (12 May 1924 – 26 May 2002), styled Lord Wodehouse between 1932 and 1941, was an active British peer, and also a bobsled racer and Cresta member.
Background and education
Wodehouse was the son of John Wo ...
[''Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991'', 172nd edition, Hurst Green, Sussex, p.172.]
*
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, Baron Jellicoe of Southampton, (4 April 1918 – 22 February 2007), was a British politician, diplomat and businessman.
Lord Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest chil ...
*
John Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th Viscount Massereene
John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th Viscount Massereene and 6th Viscount Ferrard DL (22 October 1914 – 27 December 1992) was a British politician and landowner. He was also Baron of Loughneagh (1660, Ireland), 6th Bar ...
[Amery, Julian, et al., Rhodesia and the Threat to the West, Monday Club, London, 1976 (P/B)]
*
John Skeffington, 14th Viscount Massereene
John David Clotworthy Whyte-Melville Foster Skeffington, 14th Viscount Massereene and 7th Viscount Ferrard (born 3 June 1940) is a British peer.
Life and career
John Skeffington succeeded his father, John Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th Vis ...
*
Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton
Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, CH, PC, DL (18 November 1904 – 8 March 1983), was a British Conservative politician.
Background, education and military service
Lennox-Boyd was the son of Alan Walter Lennox-Boyd by his ...
*
Merlin Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley
Merlin Charles Sainthill Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley, (17 June 1939 – 5 September 2022) was a British peer, author, and monarchist. In 1941, at the age of two, he succeeded his first cousin once removed, Richard Hanbury-Tracy, 6th Bar ...
*
Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne
Jonathan Bryan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne (born 16 March 1930), is a British peer and businessman. A member of the Guinness family, he is the elder of the two sons of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, and his first wife Diana Mitford (later Lady M ...
*
Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby
Francis Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby, CMG, CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public s ...
*
Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal
William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898 – 12 August 1983), known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and England, President of the ...
Other notable members:
*
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Sir Walter Walker KCB,
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
,
DSO & bar[Amery, Julian, "Facing up to Soviet Imperialism", in the Monday Club's October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of its newspaper, ''Right Ahead'']
*
Sir Adrian FitzGerald, 24th Knight of Kerry
*
Sir Horace Cutler – Leader of
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
from 1977–1981
*
Sir James Goldsmith
Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family.
His contr ...
*
Sir Victor Raikes, former Conservative MP for
Liverpool Garston (1931–1957)
*
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
Anthony Courtney, former Conservative MP for
Harrow East
Harrow East is a constituency in Greater London created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Bob Blackman, a Conservative.
Constituency profile
The censuses of 2001 and 2011 show the overwhelming ...
(1959–1966)
*
Juliet Rhys-Williams, Lady Rhys-Williams DBE
*
Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby
Francis Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby, CMG, CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public s ...
A number of other Monday Club members contested Labour-held seats, some of which had large majorities, and although the challenge was unsuccessful, their majorities were reduced. These included: Tim Keigwin, who almost unseated the Liberal leader
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at th ...
at
North Devon
North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...
, Councillor John Pritchard of
Bromley London Borough Council
Bromley London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London, England. It is one of 32 London borough councils.
History
There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Bro ...
, who contested Wrexham and Norwood, and David Clarke, whose personal campaign assistant was the Chairman of the club's Young Members' Group, Christopher Horne, and who failed by only 76 votes at
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
.
[Copping, 1972, p. 22.]
By 1971, the club "undoubtedly had the largest membership of any conservative group and included 55 different groups in universities and colleges, 35 Members of Parliament with six in the government, and 35 Peers". At the club's Annual General Meeting on 26 April 1971, in
Westminster Central Hall
The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
, the Chairman, George Pole, announced that "our membership, including national, branches and universities is around 10,000."
MP
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison (7 June 1918 – 17 September 1988) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figur ...
, in his foreword to Robert Copping's second book on the history of the club, stated that "by its principles
he club
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
has kept alive true Tory beliefs and held within its ranks many who contemplated defecting from the Conservative and Unionist Party". The club's chairman in June 1981, David Storey, described it as "an anchor to a ship", referring to the Conservative Party.
The Thatcher years
The club's revised constitution (21 May 1984) stated that "the objects of the Club are to support the Conservative & Unionist Party in policies designed:
* to maintain loyalty to the Crown and to uphold the sovereignty of Parliament, the security of the realm, and defence of the nation against external aggression and internal subversion;
* to safeguard the liberty of the subject and integrity of the family in accordance with the customs, traditions, and character of the British people;
* to maintain the British constitution in obedience and respect for the laws of the land, freedom of worship and our national heritage;
* to promote an economy consistent with national aspirations and Tory ideals;
* to encourage members of the club to play an active part, at all levels, in the affairs of the Conservative and Unionist Party."
During the period that
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 ...
led the Conservative Party, the Monday Club were prolific publishers of booklets, pamphlets, policy papers, an occasional newspaper, ''Right Ahead'', and a magazine ''Monday World'' edited for some years by
Sir Adrian FitzGerald, Bart., Sam Swerling, and later, Eleanor Dodd. In the October 1982 edition, MP
Harvey Proctor
Keith Harvey Proctor (born 16 January 1947) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament. A member of the Monday Club, he represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became embroiled in a scandal i ...
called for the scrapping of the
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...
, Sir
Patrick Wall
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...
commented on the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
,
James Molyneaux
James Henry Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, KBE, PC (27 August 1920 – 9 March 2015) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1979 to 1995, and as the Member of Parliament ...
had an article "What Future for Ulster", and Dr.
Harvey Ward had an article on "Zimbabwe Today". The September 1984 edition of ''Monday News'' carried the headline "Kinnock Talks to Terrorists", quoting former
Labour Party leader
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...
's declaration to the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
's
Oliver Tambo
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Biography
Higher education
Oliv ...
that the
ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
in South Africa could expect financial and material assistance from a future Labour government. Other attacks were made upon then-
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
leader
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...
inviting
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
leader
Gerry Adams
Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...
to visit
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1982.
Old Guard departs
In 1988–89, a group of longstanding members, led by Gregory Lauder-Frost, the club's Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, succeeded in getting elected to the key posts on the Executive Council, with Dr. Mark Mayall as Deputy Chairman, and Lauder-Frost as the Political Secretary.
At the beginning of January 1991, the ''Monday Club News'' announced the abolition of the only salaried position, that of Director (then held by the club's Treasurer, Cedric Gunnery, one of the club's founders). Although this was due to the club's precarious financial state, some felt more sinister moves afoot. Negative news stories began emerging and resignations followed. An internal investigation followed. The chairman, David Storey, lost an almost unanimous vote of no confidence on 17 January 1991, and his membership was terminated by the club's Executive Council on 11 February on the grounds that "he has engaged in behaviour prejudicial to the best interests, reputation, objects, and other members of the Monday Club; by abusing his position as Chairman in encouraging members to leave the Monday Club and to join a new political group". Dr. Mayall became Acting Chairman until the May AGM when he was confirmed in that post by election. By 1992, the new team had the national (as opposed to branches) membership over 1600 again.
Lauder-Frost's resignation on 31 May 1992 saw the club descend into infighting, with more departures and failed expulsion attempts resulting in huge legal bills. Dr. Mark Mayall's term as chairman expired in April 1993 and he left the group. Control passed effectively into the hands of
Denis Walker, a former Methodist missionary, and later Minister for Education in the Rhodesian government. He changed the role of the club from a pressure group to a Conservative Party support group, bringing in a rule that all members must firstly be members of the party, something that prior to 1992 had been less explicitly defined.
Organisation
Premises
The national club established its offices at 51–53 Victoria Street, a few minutes' walk from the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
. The club was, however, always a pressure group, remaining separate from the Conservative Party organisation. Around 1980, the Victoria Street building was cleared for demolition, and the club moved its offices to 122 Newgate Street, London, EC1, opposite the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
. High rents forced another move to 4 Orlando Road, Clapham Common, and finally, in 1991, the club's office was moved to an office belonging to W.
Denis Walker, opposite
Highams Park railway station
Highams Park is a railway station on the Chingford branch of the Lea Valley lines, located in Highams Park in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north-east London. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between an ...
in
Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...
, east London, with new telephone numbers, and a new Post Office Box number in central London. The newsletter stated that "it is our long-term aim to relocate back to the very heart of London".
Branches
In addition to the national club, which operated through an elected Executive Council and numerous policy groups or committees, there were semi-autonomous county branches, a Young Members Monday Club, and numerous university Monday Clubs, the most prominent and active being at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
Policy committees
The Monday Club had various study groups (later renamed policy committees) including:
* Immigration and Repatriation: notable chairmen being
George Kennedy Young
George Kennedy Young, CB, MBE, M.A. (8 April 1911 – 9 May 1990) was a deputy director of MI6, and later involved in British Conservative Party politics. He was also a merchant banker.
Early life
George Kennedy Young was born in Dumfries, a ...
CB, MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
;
Harvey Proctor
Keith Harvey Proctor (born 16 January 1947) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament. A member of the Monday Club, he represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became embroiled in a scandal i ...
MP;
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Jonathan Guinness
Jonathan Bryan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne (born 16 March 1930), is a British peer and businessman. A member of the Guinness family, he is the elder of the two sons of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, and his first wife Diana Mitford (later Lady M ...
;
John Bercow
John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to ...
, later an MP and former
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
, was committee secretary 1981-82;
* Africa and Rhodesia:
Harold Soref
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916—14 March 1993) was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom for Ormskirk, Lancashire, first elected at the 1970 general election. He subsequently lost the seat to Labour in Febru ...
MP
* Home Affairs;
* Aviation;
* Economics:
George Kennedy Young
George Kennedy Young, CB, MBE, M.A. (8 April 1911 – 9 May 1990) was a deputy director of MI6, and later involved in British Conservative Party politics. He was also a merchant banker.
Early life
George Kennedy Young was born in Dumfries, a ...
CB, MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
; Geoffrey Baber,
Piers Dixon
Pierson John Shirley Dixon (29 December 1928 – 24 March 2017), known as Piers Dixon, was a British Conservative Party politician who represented Truro between 1970 and 1974.
Early life
The son of diplomat and writer, Sir Pierson Dixon, he wa ...
MP
* Taxation: David Rowell, LL.B.
* Universities Group; Graham Webster-Gardiner, Richard Turnbull, Michael Clack
* Young Members Group; Christopher Horne, the Conservative Party candidate in both 1974 General Elections in the Manchester Central and Meriden Constituencies, Dr.
Anna Bramwell
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
, David Rowell, Eleanor Dodd,
John R. Pinniger, AVR Smith, Rod Morris.
* Defence:
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Archibald Hamilton MP;
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Sir Patrick Wall MP
KBE, MC, VRD; Commander
Anthony Courtney MP
OBE;
Rear-Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...
Martin Wemyss
CB
* Foreign Affairs:
Geoffrey Stewart-Smith
(Dudley) Geoffrey Stewart-Smith (29 December 1933 – 13 March 2004) was a British Conservative politician. He served one term as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belper in Derbyshire after he defeated the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party George Br ...
MP;
The Earl of Kimberley,
John Carlisle MP and Gregory Lauder-Frost.
Foreign affairs
Anti-communism
The club was
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
and had an active Defence Committee chaired for over 15 years by Sir
Patrick Wall
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...
MP MC and produced much literature on the perceived threat posed by Soviets and communists everywhere.
When it appeared that communism was failing in the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, the club's Foreign Affairs Committee in 1990 called upon Members of Parliament to be ready and to argue for the German borders to be restored to the position they stood at on 1 January 1938, saying there must be no gains for communism. By challenging the
Oder-Neisse line, the club was arguing that Germany should take back all of the parts of Poland and the Soviet Union that been part of Germany in 1938, through what was to happen to the Poles living in such cites as
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
(formerly the German city of Breslau),
Szczecin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
(formerly the German city of Stettin), and the Russians living in
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
(formerly the German city of Königsberg) was left unexplained.
Club officers, including Gregory Lauder-Frost,
Denis Walker, and Lord Sudeley, attended a
Western Goals Institute
Western Goals Institute (WGI) was a far-right pressure group and think-tank in Britain, formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation.''Labour Research'', November 1988, p. 2. ...
dinner in September 1989 in honour of
Salvadorian
Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...
president
Alfredo Cristiani
Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard (born 22 November 1947) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994.
Life and career
Born into a wealthy family in San Salvador, his father Felix Cristiani was an Italian immig ...
, whose military was at the time fighting the
FMLN.
The club also took a hard line on the return of White Russians by the British Army to Joseph Stalin's Red Army in 1945–46, who executed nearly all of them. In this respect it gave its support to Count
Nikolai Tolstoy, historian and author of ''
Victims of Yalta
''Victims of Yalta'' (British title) or ''The Secret Betrayal'' (American title) is a 1977 book by Nikolai Tolstoy that chronicles the fate of Soviet citizens who had been under German control during World War II and at its end fallen into the ha ...
'' and ''
The Minister and the Massacres
''The Minister and the Massacres'' (1986) is a history written by Nikolai Tolstoy about the 1945 repatriations of Croatian soldiers and civilians and Cossacks, who had crossed into Austria seeking refuge from the Red Army and Partisans who had ...
'', who was then being sued for libel, by holding a dinner for him at London's
Charing Cross Hotel
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via As ...
on 26 October 1988.
Africa
The club opposed what it described as the "premature" independence of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, and the breakup of the
Central African Federation
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
, which was the subject of its first major public meeting in September 1961. It was fundamentally opposed to decolonisation, and defended
white minority rule
In political science, minoritarianism (or minorityism) is a neologism for a political structure or process in which a minority segment of a population has a certain degree of primacy in that entity's decision making. Minoritarianism may be contr ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
During the
Unilateral Declaration of Independence
A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...
(UDI) period in
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, the club strongly backed the White minority government of
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...
and the
Rhodesian Front
The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...
, being seen as its strongest supporters in Britain. In November 1963, the club had hosted a large reception for Smith at the Howard Hotel in London. That was followed the next year by receptions for
Clifford Dupont
Clifford Walter Dupont, GCLM, ID (6 December 1905 – 28 June 1978) was a British-born Rhodesian politician who served in the internationally unrecognised positions of officer administrating the government (from 1965 until 1970) and president ...
and
Moise Tshombe
Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a surname, Moisè and Mo ...
. The club continued its support for white minority rule in South Africa, with Lauder-Frost organising a large dinner in central London, on 5 June 1989, for its guest-of-honour Dr
Andries Treurnicht
Andries Petrus Treurnicht (19 February 1921 – 22 April 1993) was a South African politician, Minister of Education during the Soweto Riots and for a short time leader of the National Party in Transvaal. In 1982 he founded and led the Conse ...
, leader of the pro-apartheid
Conservative Party of South Africa, and his delegation.
Tim Janman MP and the Lord Sudeley were amongst those present from Parliament.
Croatia
The government of
Franjo Tuđman
Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
invited the Monday Club to send a delegation to observe its conflict with
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, in October 1991, when the war for Croatian independence from the tottering
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
was at its height, with the armies of both sides engaged in serious fighting. The club delegation arrived just days after the Yugoslav Air Force bombing of the historic upper city in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. It was the first British political delegation to go to Croatia during the conflict.
European Union
Debate within the club was intense on the European issue. In the early days of the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
(EEC) one of the club's MPs,
Geoffrey Rippon
Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, QC (28 May 1924 – 28 January 1997) was a British Conservative Party politician. He is most known for drafting the European Communities Act 1972 which took the United Kingdom into ...
, was so pro-EEC that he was known as "Mr. Europe". Because of the divisions within the club on this issue the decision was taken not to have a policy on it. However, by 1980 the mood had changed. A club discussion paper in October 1980 was entitled "Do Tories Really want to Scrap 80% of Britain's Fishing Fleet", and the club adopted a firm anti-
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU) position.
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend Eas ...
, an anti-EEC MP, became chairman of the club's EEC Affairs Policy Committee and authored a club policy paper in December 1982 entitled "Proposals to Rescue the British Fishing Industry". The club's Scottish branch's newspaper, ''The Challenger'', carried a further article against the EEC by Taylor in September 1985 entitled "Swallowing the Nation".
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 ...
also spoke against the EEC at one of the Monday Club's fringe meetings at the Conservative Party Conference at Blackpool on 8 October 1991, with Lauder-Frost presiding, which was filmed and broadcast on
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
's ''
Newsnight
''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' that night. In 1992, the chairman, Dr. Mark Mayall, authored another club booklet entitled: ''Maastricht: The High Tide of European Federalism'', a fierce attack on the EEC.
Immigration
In September 1972, the club held a "Halt Immigration Now!" public meeting in
Westminster Central Hall
The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
, opposite Parliament, at which the speakers
Ronald Bell QC MP,
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison (7 June 1918 – 17 September 1988) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figur ...
MP,
Harold Soref
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916—14 March 1993) was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom for Ormskirk, Lancashire, first elected at the 1970 general election. He subsequently lost the seat to Labour in Febru ...
MP, and
John Heydon Stokes
Sir John Heydon Romaine Stokes (23 July 1917 – 27 June 2003) was a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and career
The son of Victor Romaine Stokes, a stockjobber, Stokes was educated at Haileybury College ...
MP (all club members) called on the government to halt all immigration, repeal the
Race Relations Act, not the separate
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Act
The Act amended the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, further reducing rights of citizens of the Commonwealth of Nations countries (as of 2 ...
, and start a full repatriation scheme. A resolution was drafted, approved by the meeting, and delivered to the Prime Minister,
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...
, who replied that "the government had no intention of repealing the Race Relations Act". When
Reginald Maudling
Reginald Maudling (7 March 1917 – 14 February 1979) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1962 to 1964 and as Home Secretary from 1970 to 1972. From 1955 until the late 1960s, he was spoken of as a prospecti ...
resigned from the Cabinet, the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
leader,
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at th ...
, commented that "Mr. Heath has been left to wrestle with the Monday Club single-handed."
In October 1982, the Monday Club published a slightly revised, policy on immigration. It called for:
# Scrapping of the
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...
and Community Relations Councils.
# Repeal of the race relations laws.
# An end to the use of race or colour as criteria for the distribution of state benefits and loans.
# An end to positive discrimination.
# To bring an end to large-scale permanent immigration from the
New Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
.
# An improved repatriation scheme with generous resettlement grants for all those who wish to take advantage of them.
Although more explicit in detail, the general thrust of policy accorded with that found in 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 ...
manifesto published ahead of the general election
the following year.
The club's position on immigration was reiterated in a letter in ''
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 ...
'' from Lauder-Frost on the club's behalf in October 1991, in which he stated that the annual levels of immigration "were unacceptable".
Northern Ireland
Following an
Official Irish Republican Army
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "socialist state, workers' republic" en ...
(IRA) bombing at
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, in February 1972, club member and MP
Jill Knight
Joan Christabel Jill Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, (; 9 July 1923 – 6 April 2022) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1966 to 1997. S ...
called for legislation to outlaw the Official IRA and its political wing,
Official Sinn Féin
The Workers' Party ( ga, Páirtí na nOibrithe) is a Marxist–Leninist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
It arose as the original Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, but took ...
. The club was opposed to the dismantling of the
Stormont government in Northern Ireland and the imposition of direct rule.
Controversies and criticism
''The Guardian'' claimed in 1968 that the organisation was "probably the nearest British equivalent to the American
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas.
T ...
". It was claimed by opponents that the
National Front had started an active programme of entryism into the organisation, mainly via the growing number of regional branches. Throughout the early part of the 1970s the leadership stepped up its efforts considerably to try to address this issue. A new standardised set of rules and procedures were instituted which sought to institute a far greater level of centralised control over the growth and activity of the regional branches. There were a number of expulsions, and some branches were forced to disband.
The playwright
David Edgar described the Monday Club, in 1986, as "proselytis
ngthe ancient and venerable conservative traditions of
paternalism
Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expres ...
,
imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
and
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
."
On 24 February 1991, ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' ran a lengthy article entitled "Far Right takes over the Monday Club", stating that a number of senior members had tendered their resignations in protest at the club's "takeover" by "extreme right-wingers." The club's solicitors, Rubenstein, Callingham & Gale, sent a formal letter of protest to the editor of ''The Observer'' about the article, and demanded a right of reply for the club. The editor agreed and Lauder-Frost, writing on behalf of the club, subsequently challenged the article's accusations in a
Letter to the Editor
A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...
, which was published the following Sunday. He denied that a takeover had occurred, said that none of the club's policies had changed and that its direction was consistent with its aims and historical principles.
After the defeats in the
1997 general election and
2001 general election, the Conservative Party began decisive moves towards becoming more centrist; the 2002–2003 party chairman and future Prime Minister,
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
, would later state that it had been perceived by voters as the "Nasty Party". The then party leader,
Iain Duncan Smith
Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...
, suspended the Monday Club's longstanding links with the party in October 2001, saying his party would have nothing to do with the organisation unless it stopped making "distasteful" remarks on race and immigration.
[Right-wing club appeals for Tory return](_blank)
" ''BBC News''. 10 May 2002. Since 1993 new full members of the club must be members of the Conservative Party, though there is no such requirement for associate membership. Monday Club observers, such as
Denis Walker, have attended
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
conferences.
In 2002 the club was described as a "bastion on the Tory hard right" by
BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...
. The club's agenda stresses support for what it calls "traditional Conservative values", including "resistance to '
political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
.
Suspension of links by the Conservative Party (2001)
Faction fighting within the club following Lauder-Frost's departure led to a period of instability and a resulting loss of membership. The club's influence declined. Although the Monday Club was a completely autonomous pressure-group and not part of the Conservative Party organisation, Conservative Party chairman
David Davis informed the club's National Executive in 2001 that links between it and the party were being severed until it stopped promoting several of its (long-held and established
) policies such as the voluntary repatriation of ethnic minorities.
Davis later told the media: "I have told them that until a number of things are concluded—particularly some concerns about the membership of the club, and a review of the club's constitution and a requirement that the club will not promulgate or discuss policies relating to race—the club is suspended from any association with the Conservative party".
Three MPs,
Andrew Hunter Andrew Hunter or Andy Hunter may refer to:
Sports
*Andrew Hunter (British swimmer) (born 1986), British swimmer who was a medalist in the Commonwealth Games
*Andrew Hunter (Irish swimmer) (born 1952), Irish swimmer
*Andy Hunter (footballer, born 18 ...
,
Andrew Rosindell
Andrew Richard Rosindell MP (; born 17 March 1966) is a British Conservative politician. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Romford constituency in Greater London in 2001.
He has been the international director of the European ...
and
Angela Watkinson
Dame Angela Eileen Watkinson, DBE (''née'' Ellicott; born 18 November 1941) is a British politician. She was Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch and Upminster until 2017, and was first elected in 2001 to the earlier s ...
, were ordered to resign from the club.
The club today
On 10 May 2002, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
reported that the club sought to restore its links with the Conservative Party.
'' reported on 2 June 2006 that, as the club "is now slowly nudging back into the mainstream, many members feel that it is time to return to the fold". Having returned to being a much smaller organisation, the Club continues to lobby Parliamentarians, to publish comment pieces and an annual journal. It also organises occasional meetings and hosts dinners in London. Recent speakers have included Sir
MP.
The group's website lists its priorities as the maintaining the monarchy and the Union; protecting the "family unit"; restoring law and order; opposition to Britain's membership in the EU; promoting a "sound economy" and a "robust defence capability"; opposition to "political correctness" and maintaining traditional values.
* Copping, Robert, ''No Punches Pulled - Britain Today'', Current Affairs Information Service (CAIS), Ilford, Essex, n/d but probably circa 1970 (P/B).
* Copping, Robert, ''The Story of The Monday Club - The First Decade'', (i) (Foreword by
, Essex, April 1972 (P/B).
* Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club - Crisis and After'', (foreword by
MP), (ii) CAIS, Ilford, May 1975 (P/B).
* Rose, Professor Richard, ''Politics in England - Persistence and Change'', London, 1st published 1965. 4th edition 1985, p. 301,
*
'', London, 1998, (many references to the Monday Club).
* Coxall, Bill, and Lynton Robins, ''Contemporary British Politics'', Macmillan Press, Basingstoke, 1993 reprint, (P/B), Monday Club profile on p. 239.