Blue Collar Conservatives are a pressure group and

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

of Conservative Party Members of Parliament who identify as

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

conservatives. It was founded in 2012 by former

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Esther McVey Esther Louise, Lady Davies (born 24 October 1967), styled as Esther McVey, is a British Conservative Party politician and television presenter who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017, and served as the M ...

and a former conservative parliamentary candidate for

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

and Fujitsu UK's head of corporate affairs, Clark Vasey. It was relaunched at the beginning of the

2019 Conservative Party leadership election The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as Prime Minister of the Unite ...

by Esther McVey, Ben Bradley, the MP for

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

since 2017, and Scott Mann, the MP for

North Cornwall North Cornwall () is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, Padstow, and Camel ...

since 2015. The relaunch was reported to have rivalled the recent establishment of the One Nation Conservatives. As a group, they aim to "champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour". In the weeks prior to becoming Prime Minister,

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

said, "the blue-collar conservatism agenda – particularly in relation to supporting schools, police and other public services ..is something I've already signalled I want to take forward in government." The ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' has described the caucus as an influential grouping within the parliamentary party. In October 2022, Esther McVey stood down as chair and was replaced by

Lee Anderson Lee Anderson (born 6 January 1967) is a British politician and television presenter who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield since 2019. A member of Reform UK, he has served as its Chief Whip since July 2024. Anderson was ...

Campaigns

The group focus their campaigning on empowering

blue-collar worker A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labour, manual labor or Tradesman, skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, Warehouse, warehousing, mining, ...

s and other working-class people. They have also campaigned on

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

, public services,

Education in the United Kingdom Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments. The UK Government is responsible for England, whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh ...

and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

. The values of the caucus focus on "Conservative Values, Practical Delivery" and were attributed to the result of the 2019 general election, where the Conservatives won many seats in the " Red wall". Esther mcvey 2

Many in the caucus have supported cancelling

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a Spur line, branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to ...

Leadership until 2024

Board members

MP, president and founder * Ben Bradley MP, chairman * Councillor Clark Vasey, director *

Dehenna Davison Dehenna Sheridan Davison (; born 27 July 1993) is a British former Conservative Party politician and broadcaster. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland from 2019 to 2024. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary o ...

MP, vice chair * Scott Mann MP, vice chair * Eddie Hughes MP, vice chair * John Stevenson MP, vice chair *

Lee Rowley Lee Benjamin Rowley (born 11 September 1980) is a British politician and former management consultant who has served as chief of staff to the Leader of the Opposition since November 2024. He previously served as Minister of State for Housing, ...

MP, vice chair *

Andrea Jenkyns Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns (born 16 June 1974) is a British politician who has been the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire since May 2025. A member of the Reform UK party, she was previously the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Morle ...

MP, vice chair *

Andrew Lewer Andrew Iain Lewer (born 18 July 1971 in Burnley, Lancashire) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Northampton South from 2017 Unite ...

MP, vice chair * Sir

Gary Streeter Sir Gary Nicholas Streeter (born 2 October 1955) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 30 years, representing South West Devon from its creation in 1997 to 2024, and previ ...

MP, vice chair

Membership until 2024

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

Blue Collar Conversations: from pub to podcast

Since its relaunch, the group travelled to pubs across the country holding open events called 'Blue Collar Conversations' in which UK cabinet ministers and MPs discussed ideas and policies in an informal setting with members of the public. Speaking at one of those events, a member of the group is reported to have said: "The party needs to adopt the blue-collar Conservatism approach – travel to pubs across the country and reach out to the people… a pub-ocracy!" The group then launched a weekly podcast of the same name. The podcast is described as "a space to champion working people". New episodes are released every Sunday and cover a range of topical issues, from crime and justice to care homes and football, and the cosmetic industry to education. The podcast is hosted by Esther McVey and guests have included

Nick Knowles Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles (born 21 September 1962) is an English television presenter, writer and musician. He has hosted several television programmes including '' Real Rescues'' (2007–2013), '' Who Dares Wins'' (2007–2019), '' Break ...

Ching He Huang Ching-He Huang (; (born 8 April 1978), often known in English-language merely as Ching, is a Taiwanese-born British Food writing, food writer and Celebrity chef#Television celebrity chefs, TV chef. She has appeared in a variety of television ...

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young, Baron Young of Acton (born 17 October 1963), is a British social commentator and life peer. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', creator of '' The Daily S ...

, Linda Yueh,

Tom Harwood Thomas Hedley Fairfax Harwood (born 26 August 1996) is a British journalist, political commentator and television show host. He became the deputy political editor of GB News in March 2023. Harwood previously worked as a reporter for the right-win ...

Chris Wright Christopher Allen Wright (born January 15, 1965) is an American government official, engineer, and businessman serving as the 17th United States Secretary of Energy, United States secretary of energy since 2025. Before his appointment, he was th ...

, Mark Radcliffe and

Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

; however, the podcast prides itself on also providing a platform for everyday working people.

References

External links

Official website/
{{Brexit topics 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Brexit Conservative Party (UK) factions Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom Groups of British MPs Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK) Political organizations established in 2019 Right-wing politics in the United Kingdom Right-wing populism in the United Kingdom