Popular Conservatism or PopCon, is a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

faction within the Conservative Party of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The director of the group is Mark Littlewood, who is an ally of the former

prime minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

Ideology

The group is ideologically on the right wing of the Conservative Party, particularly on economic issues. It is

right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism". ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

and opposes what it sees as a left-wing establishment consensus, saying: "a majority in the House of Commons is no longer enough to turn us away from the path of

Blairite In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the '' New Penguin English Dictio ...

declinism. The institutions of Britain – from the

Office for Budget Responsibility The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the HM Treasury, UK Treasury that provides independent Economic forecasting, economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formal ...

(OBR) to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to the

Climate Change Committee The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act 2008, Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved G ...

– now stand in the way of meaningful reform".

History

The inaugural public meeting of the movement was held at the Emmanuel Centre, London on 6 February 2024. Speakers included former minister

Jacob Rees-Mogg Sir Jacob William Rees-Mogg ( ; born 24 May 1969) is a British politician, broadcaster and member of the Conservative Party who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset from 2010 to 2024. He served as Leader of the House o ...

, backbench MP

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 ...

, and political strategist and lobbyist Matthew Elliott. In the audience were former Home Secretary

Priti Patel Dame Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secr ...

, former minister and

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 ...

negotiator

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

, former

UKIP 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 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

and

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

leader

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

, attending in his capacity as a journalist for

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...

, and former actress and pop singer

Holly Valance Holly Rachel Candy (; born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is an Australian and British actress, singer, model, and a right-wing political activist. Valance became well known for her role as Felicity Scully on the Austra ...

. The group met again at the same venue on 9 July 2024, following Labour's landslide victory in the 2024 UK General Election. Liz Truss, who lost her seat in the election, was not present.

, who had also lost his seat, was amongst the speakers.

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes; born 3 April 1980) is a British politician and barrister who served as Home Secretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022, and again from 25 October 2022 to 13 November 2023. A ...

contributed with a recorded message.

References

External links

* Conservative Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) factions Conservative political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Liz Truss {{UK-poli-stub

Ideology

History

References

See also

External links