The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
announced by
John Stevens and
Brendan Donnelly
Brendan Kevin Donnelly (born July 4, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A right-hander, Donnelly pitched for twenty-one teams (two of them independents), twelve organizations, two independent leagues, eleven organized minor ...
in February 1999, formed to contest the
1999 European Parliament election
The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and ...
.
The founders were Members of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
who had resigned from the
UK Conservative Party in protest at its anti-
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
stance.
[ Their reported aim was to replace ]Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
William Hague as Conservative leader with Europhile Kenneth Clarke.[ Stevens later said that they had intended to push Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine, ]Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...
and other pro-Europeans in the Conservative Party into "an SDP-style breakaway, in combination with the Liberal Democrats".[ The Pro-Euro Conservative Party disbanded in 2001.][
]
Policies
The party said it was "based on traditional Conservative values", and they self-defined as " One Nation Conservatives".[ The main aim of the party was for the United Kingdom to join the ]euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, also known as "the single currency",[ for economic reasons. At the time the British pound was strong against the euro, which had dropped in value to be equal to the US dollar, and the then-Governor of the Bank of England Eddie George said that it would be "an act of faith" for Britain to join the ]Eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...
.[
The party manifesto, published on 17 May 1999 and titled ''Time to decide'', argued for greater powers for the ]European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
over the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
and the European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...
, reform of the commission, reduction of countries' veto powers, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...
, a European defence and security policy, stronger political and economic ties to the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, and faster EU enlargement in eastern Europe.[
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party distributed leaflets calling William Hague "Bill Duce", after Mussolini, when a group of Conservative MEPs led by ]Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan, Baron Hannan of Kingsclere (born 1 September 1971) is a British writer, journalist and former politician serving as an adviser to the Board of Trade since 2020. He is the founding president of the Initiative for Free Trade ...
were reported to be planning to leave the European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
grouping and join with an Italian far-right party. John Stevens said Hague was "taking the Tories into an extreme, nationalist party. This is dangerous for the country and catastrophic for the Conservative Party". The PECP's party political broadcast showed an actor portraying Hague as "a down-and-out in a baseball cap ranting about pride in being British and disliking 'frogs', the European single currency and anything else from the continent", which was called "a tacky and amateurish exercise" by the Conservative Party.
Reception
A MORI
Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname, and also a Persian pet name for Morteza. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India.
Italian surname
*Barbara Mori, Uruguayan-Mexican actress
*Camilo Mori, Chilean painter
* Cesare ...
opinion poll of 1911 people, published on 16 February 1999, suggested that a new pro-EU conservative party could possibly win 11% of the vote.[
The party received an endorsement in '']The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' from writer A. N. Wilson
Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950)["A. N. Wilson"](_blank)
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. , as well as support from Paul Howell, a former Conservative MEP who had been a speechwriter for 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 ...
and Edward Heath,[ and Sir Anthony Meyer, a former MP and the "stalking horse" candidate against Margaret Thatcher in 1989. After William Hague ruled out Britain joining the euro under a Conservative government, former cabinet minister Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar said he would vote for the PECP. Four former Conservative MPs – Sir ]Julian Critchley
Sir Julian Michael Gordon Critchley (8 December 1930 – 9 September 2000) was a British journalist, author and Conservative Party politician. He was the member of parliament for Rochester and Chatham from 1959 to 1964 and Aldershot from 1970 t ...
, Sir Nicholas Scott, Sir David Knox, and Sir Robert Hicks – and four former MEPs – Margaret Daly
Margaret Daly (born 26 January 1938 the older of twins, Robert) was a British Conservative Party politician who represented Somerset and West Dorset in the European Parliament from 1984 to 1994.
She attended Methodist College Belfast.
Daly was ...
, Adam Fergusson, Madron Seligman
Richard Madron Seligman (10 November 1918 – 9 July 2002) was a British Conservative Party politician. He spent most of his career in industry, where he came to understand and support the European Economic Community and was latterly a member of ...
and Anthony Simpson
Anthony Maurice Herbert Simpson (28 October 1935 – 14 August 2022) was a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He sat as Conservative for the constituency of Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbr ...
– wrote in a letter to ''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 ...
'' that "We would have wished that William Hague's party had put forward a manifesto more like that of the Pro Euro Conservative Party. Like many Conservatives, we shall find it very difficult to know how best to cast our vote on 10 June." The Conservative Party threatened to expel any members who supported the PECP, and did expel Critchley and Gilmour a fortnight after the election.
Although the party's election literature featured Ken Clarke, asking voters "Are you more a Clarke Conservative than a Hague Conservative?", Clarke did not approve of the party or its campaign and with Michael Heseltine met with the founders of the PECP at Heseltine's home in May 1999 to try to persuade the party not to stand. Geoffrey Howe, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
and Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
under Mrs Thatcher, who became head of pro-euro group Britain in Europe
Until August 2005, Britain in Europe was the main British pro-European pressure group. Despite connections to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds. Initia ...
during the election campaign, did not endorse the PECP but said the resignations from the Conservatives "should send a clear and sombre signal to our party leadership". 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 ...
, then a vice-chairman of the Conservatives, called the PECP "a party of the disgruntled and disaffected".
Despite the party's name and their position as "rebel Tories", some of their candidates and officials were from the European Movement and originally from parties other than the Conservatives, such as 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 ...
and the Liberal Democrats. The chief press officer Mark Littlewood
Mark James Littlewood (born 28 April 1972) is the director general of the libertarian free market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank. He was formerly the chief press spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and the Pro-Euro Conservative P ...
was a Liberal Democrat who had also been a spokesman for the European Movement and later rejoined the Liberal Democrats.
Electoral performance
The party stood 84 candidates in the European Parliament elections, receiving 138,097 votes, or 1.4% of the vote and no seats. In the same election the UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
, which campaigned for withdrawal from the European Union, received just under 7% of the vote and three seats in the European Parliament.
John Stevens received 3.8% of the vote as the PECP candidate in the 1999 Kensington & Chelsea by-election against Michael Portillo. The party announced that, owing to voter hostility to the words it contained, it planned to change its name after the by-election.
In November 2001, the PECP urged Conservatives to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Ipswich by-election.
Disbanding
The PECP disbanded in December 2001, expressing disappointment at failing to persuade pro-European "grandees" to leave the Conservative Party and cooperate with the Liberal Democrats. Leader John Stevens called the Conservative Party under their then newly elected 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 ...
"a cancer of extremism and xenophobia". He was one of approximately 20 supporters who joined the Liberal Democrats and urged the remainder of the party's claimed 500 members to follow suit.Marsden quits, tired of control freaks and spin
''The Daily Telegraph'', 12 December 2001
References
Further reading
*
External links
Pro-Euro Conservative Party website on the Internet Archive
{{Authority control
1999 establishments in the United Kingdom
2001 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Conservative Party (UK) breakaway groups
Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom
Organisations associated with the Liberal Democrats (UK)
Political parties disestablished in 2001
Political parties established in 1999
Pro-European political parties in the United Kingdom