The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the
Conservative Party, 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 ...
(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 ...
(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. North ...
.
Founded in 1961, in the belief that the
Macmillan ministry had taken the party too far to the
left, the club became embroiled in the
decolonisation 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, a ...
debate, inevitably highlighting the controversial issue of
race, 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'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
. By 1971, the club had 35 MPs, six of them ministers, and 35
peer
Peer may refer to:
Sociology
* Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group
* Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm"
Computing
* Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a net ...
s, 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 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", ...
'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'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
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 count ...
; the main impetus for the group's formation was the Conservatives' new
decolonisation 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 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, Tr ...
joined the club and was soon chairman of its Wiltshire branch.
[ Trewin, Ion, ''Alan Clark – The Biography'', London, 2009, , pps: 230 & 246-7.] Under its chairman from 1964 to 1969,
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to:
Authors
* Paul O. Williams (1935–2009), American science-fiction author and poet
* Paul L. Williams (author) (born 1944), FBI consultant, journalist
* Paul Williams (journalist) (1948–2013), American founder of mu ...
, 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 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 ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
and elitist form of conservatism.
Membership
By 1970, eighteen Members of Parliament were club members:
[Copping, 1972, p. 21.]
*
Geoffrey Rippon (
Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and 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 nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administ ...
)
*
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 P ...
(
Brighton Pavilion)
*
Ronald Bell QC (
South Buckinghamshire)
*
Harold Gurden (
Selly Oak)
*
Teddy Taylor (
Glasgow Cathcart)
*
John Peyton (
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and 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 Somerset's southern border with ...
)
*
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to:
Authors
* Paul O. Williams (1935–2009), American science-fiction author and poet
* Paul L. Williams (author) (born 1944), FBI consultant, journalist
* Paul Williams (journalist) (1948–2013), American founder of mu ...
(
Sunderland South)
[Copping, Robert, ''The Story of the Monday Club - The First Decade'', London: Current Affairs Information Service, April 1972]
*
Duncan Sandys (
Streatham)
*
Joseph Hiley (
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 22,408.
History
...
)
*
John Biggs-Davison (
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 Londo ...
)
*
Stephen Hastings (
Mid Bedfordshire)
*
Victor Goodhew (
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...
)
*
Wilfred Baker
Wilfred Harold Kerton Baker (6 January 1920 – 9 November 2000), known as Bill Baker, was a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Banffshire from 1964 to 1974, when he lost his seat in the February election of ...
(
Banffshire)
*
Jasper More
Sir Jasper More (born Chelsea, 31 July 1907 – died Clun, 28 October 1987) was a British Conservative Party politician, the son of Sir Thomas Jasper Mytton More (died 1947), a Shropshire landowner, and Lady Norah Browne, daughter of Henry Br ...
(
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 (Great Britain), A49 road which ...
)
*
Jill Knight (
Edgbaston)
*
Patrick Wall (
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
Harold Frederick Martin Woodnutt (23 November 1918 – 6 November 1974), known as Mark Woodnutt, was a British Conservative Party politician, chartered secretary and company director of Woodnutts - a boat-building firm at Bembridge on the Isle of ...
(
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
)
*
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, Oldmi ...
)
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 (
Belper
Belper is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent. As w ...
)
*
Patrick Cormack (
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 ...
)
*
Anthony Fell (
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, 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 ...
)
*
Robert Boscawen (
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
* Wel ...
)
*
Harold Soref (
Ormskirk)
*
William Benyon (
Buckingham)
*
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 south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is th ...
)
*
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 Tr ...
(
Epping)
*
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 cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...
)
*
David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to:
Performers
*David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre
*David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...
(
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 ...
)
*
John Heydon Stokes (
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, Tr ...
(
Plymouth Sutton and
Kensington & Chelsea)
*
Harvey Proctor (
Basildon)
*
Sir Stephen McAdden (
Southend East
Southend East railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the Southchurch area to the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the main line from London Fenchurch Street via and it is situated between to the west ...
)
*
Richard Body (
Holland with Boston)
*
Sir Ronald Russell (
Wembley South)
*
George Gardiner (
Reigate
Reigate ( ) is a 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 earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...
)
*
William Craig (
Belfast East)
*
Gerald Howarth (
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 Alde ...
)
*
Evelyn King (
South Dorset)
*
John Carlisle (
Luton North)
*
Rhodes Boyson (
Brent North)
*
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 ...
)
*
Tim Janman
Timothy Simon Janman (born 9 September 1956) is a former Conservative Party politician in England. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock in Essex from 1987 to 1992, when he lost to the Labour Party candidate Andrew Mackinlay.
Early ye ...
(
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 ...
)
*
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)
*
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
West (or Western) Aberdeenshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 to 1918 and from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post ...
)
*
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 ...
(
Castle Point)
*
James Molyneaux (
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 John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
(
Strangford
Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census.
On the ...
)
*
Neil Hamilton (
Tatton)
*
Robert Taylor (
Croydon North West)
*
Nicholas Winterton (
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 e ...
)
*
Ann Winterton
Jane Ann, Lady Winterton (''née'' Hodgson; born 6 March 1941 in Sutton Coldfield) is a retired British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Congleton from 1983 to 2010. She is married to Sir Nicholas Winterto ...
(
Congleton)
Peers of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
who were Monday Club members:
*
George Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl
*
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury[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[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
Patrick Francis Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale, (17 March 1911 – 2 December 2008), styled The Hon. Patrick Maitland, Master of Lauderdale, from 1953 to 1968, was a Scottish Unionist politician.
Early life
Educated at Lancing, West Sussex ...
*
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
*
John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley[''Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991'', 172nd edition, Hurst Green, Sussex, p.172.]
*
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
*
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
*
Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton
*
Merlin Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley
*
Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne
*
Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby
Francis Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby, CMG, CBE, MVO, TD (29 September 1884 – 30 April 1982) was an English aristocrat, soldier and politician.
He was the son of Francis Willey, 1st Baron Barnby and was educated at Eton and Magdalen Colle ...
*
Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal
Other notable members:
*
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Sir Walter Walker KCB,
CBE,
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 Victor Raikes, former Conservative MP for
Liverpool Garston
Liverpool Garston was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP ...
(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
Commander Anthony Tosswill Courtney, OBE, RN (16 May 1908 – 24 January 1988) was a British Royal Navy officer and politician. While a Member of Parliament, he was a victim of a plot apparently instituted by the KGB to discredit him, which appe ...
, former Conservative MP for
Harrow East (1959–1966)
*
Juliet Rhys-Williams, Lady Rhys-Williams DBE
*
Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby
Francis Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby, CMG, CBE, MVO, TD (29 September 1884 – 30 April 1982) was an English aristocrat, soldier and politician.
He was the son of Francis Willey, 1st Baron Barnby and was educated at Eton and Magdalen Colle ...
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 ...
, 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 Br ...
, 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 status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...
.
[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 Chairman, George Pole, announced that "our membership, including national, branches and universities is around 10,000."
MP
John Biggs-Davison, in his foreword to Robert Copping's second book on the history of the club, stated that "by its principles
he clubhas 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 from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
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 called for the scrapping of the
Commission for Racial Equality, Sir
Patrick Wall 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 territori ...
,
James Molyneaux had an article "What Future for Ulster", and Dr.
Harvey Ward
Harvey Grenville Ward (1927 – April 1995) was a Director-General of the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation noted for his anticommunism and for supporting Ian Smith's government in Rhodesia and South Africa. Ward was a leading member of the Con ...
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 ...
's declaration to the
African National Congress
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 ...
'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
...
that the
ANC 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 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 G ...
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 2 ...
to visit
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
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
Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also company secretary, director and treasurer of the International Monarchist Le ...
, 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 and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
. 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. 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
Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also company secretary, director and treasurer of the International Monarchist Le ...
, opposite
Highams Park railway station in
Waltham Forest, 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
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
.
Policy committees
The Monday Club had various study groups (later renamed policy committees) including:
* Immigration and Repatriation: notable chairmen being
George Kennedy Young CB, MBE;
Harvey Proctor MP;
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...
Jonathan Guinness;
John Bercow, later an MP and former
Speaker of the House of Commons, was committee secretary 1981-82;
* Africa and Rhodesia:
Harold Soref MP
* Home Affairs;
* Aviation;
* Economics:
George Kennedy Young CB, MBE; 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, David Rowell, Eleanor Dodd,
John R. Pinniger
John R Pinniger is a former Conservative councillor for the London Borough of Lambeth and an unsuccessful Conservative candidate for the European Parliament. He was a leading activist and political adviser in the right-wing Conservative Monday Cl ...
, AVR Smith, Rod Morris.
* Defence:
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...
Archibald Hamilton MP;
Major Sir Patrick Wall MP
KBE
KBE may refer to:
* Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters
* Knowledge-based engineering
Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...
, MC, VRD; Commander
Anthony Courtney
Commander Anthony Tosswill Courtney, OBE, RN (16 May 1908 – 24 January 1988) was a British Royal Navy officer and politician. While a Member of Parliament, he was a victim of a plot apparently instituted by the KGB to discredit him, which appe ...
MP
OBE
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 ...
;
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 regar ...
Martin Wemyss
CB
* Foreign Affairs:
Geoffrey Stewart-Smith 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 and 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, when the United States and th ...
and had an active Defence Committee chaired for over 15 years by Sir
Patrick Wall 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, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...
(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
Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also company secretary, director and treasurer of the International Monarchist Le ...
, and Lord Sudeley, attended a
Western Goals Institute dinner in September 1989 in honour of
Salvadorian president
Alfredo Cristiani, 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
Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (russian: Граф Николай Дмитриевич Толстой-Милославский; born 23 June 1935), known as Nikolai Tolstoy, is a British monarchist and historian. He is a former ...
, 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 h ...
'' 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 t ...
'', 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
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, ...
, and the breakup of the
Central African Federation, 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
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 count ...
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'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
.
During the
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (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'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
, 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 ru ...
, 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 and
Moise Tshombe. 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, leader of the pro-apartheid
Conservative Party of South Africa
The Conservative Party of South Africa ( af, Konserwatiewe Party van Suid-Afrika) was a far-right South African political party that sought to preserve many aspects of apartheid in the system's final decade, and formed the official opposition ...
, and his delegation.
Tim Janman
Timothy Simon Janman (born 9 September 1956) is a former Conservative Party politician in England. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock in Essex from 1987 to 1992, when he lost to the Labour Party candidate Andrew Mackinlay.
Early ye ...
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 ...
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: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
, 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=Juhoslavij ...
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 and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...
. 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 (EEC) one of the club's MPs,
Geoffrey Rippon, 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 ...
(EU) position.
Teddy Taylor, 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 avail ...
'' 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, opposite Parliament, at which the speakers
Ronald Bell QC MP,
John Biggs-Davison MP,
Harold Soref MP, and
John Heydon Stokes 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 ...
, 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 from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
, 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 prospect ...
resigned from the Cabinet, 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 ...
, 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 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 C ...
.
# 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 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'' ...
'' 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 (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 Alde ...
,
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 called for legislation to outlaw the Official IRA and its political wing,
Official Sinn Féin. 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.
...
". 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 Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...
'' 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 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 conventional mail ...
, 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 cabi ...
, 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 ...
, 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
Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also company secretary, director and treasurer of the International Monarchist Le ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
. 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 Rosindell and
Angela Watkinson, were ordered to resign from the club.
The club today
On 10 May 2002, the
BBC reported that the club sought to restore its links with the Conservative Party.
''
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'' ...
'' 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
Christopher Chope MP,
Michael Nazir-Ali,
Andrew Rosindell MP,
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (née Kelly; born 17 July 1970), is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021 and ...
and
Ian Paisley Jr 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.
Monday Club publications
Notes
References
* 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
George Pole), Current Affairs Information Service,
Ilford, Essex, April 1972 (P/B).
* Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club - Crisis and After'', (foreword by
John Biggs-Davison 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,
*
Heffer, Simon, ''
Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell'', 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.
External links
Parliament & Europe: 1967 Monday Club Pamphlet - UK Parliament Living Heritage*
{{Authority control
Conservative political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom
Foreign policy and strategy think tanks based in the United Kingdom
Anti-communist organizations
Anti-immigration politics in the United Kingdom
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom
1961 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK)