The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a minor,
Pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
British
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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 an American 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 organi ...
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 two 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 ...
who had resigned from the
UK Conservative Party in protest at its anti-
euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
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 refor ...
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...
as Conservative leader with Europhile Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
.[ Stevens later said that they had intended to push Ken Clarke, ]Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...
, Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...
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 (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
, 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 the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
.[
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 two 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 ...
over the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
and the European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the 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)#International ...
, 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 Commission. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce ...
, a European defence and security policy, stronger political and economic ties to the Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...
, 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 politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 to 2 ...
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 democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...
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
A party political broadcast (also known, in pre-election campaigning periods, as a party election broadcast) is a television or radio broadcast made by a political party.
In the United Kingdom the Communications Act 2003 prohibits (and previou ...
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. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India.
Italian surname
* Camilo Mori, Chilean painter
* Cesare Mori, Italian "Iron Prefect"
* Claudia Mori, Italian actress, singer, televisio ...
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, 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 a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
and Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...
,[ 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
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
said he would vote for the PECP. Four former Conservative MPs – Sir Julian Critchley, Sir Nicholas Scott
Sir Nicholas Paul Scott (5 August 1933 – 6 January 2005), also known as Nick Scott, was a Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative Party politician.
He was a liberal, pro-European Conservative who became President of the Tory Reform G ...
, Sir David Knox, and Sir Robert Hicks – and four former MEPs – Margaret Daly
Margaret Daly (born 26 January 1938) was a British Conservative Party politician who represented Somerset and West Dorset in the European Parliament from 1984 to 1994.
Daly had a younger twin brother named Robert. She attended Methodist Colleg ...
, Adam Fergusson, Madron Seligman and Anthony Simpson – wrote in a letter to ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' 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
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...
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
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to ...
, 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 the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
and Foreign Secretary 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. Init ...
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 politician who previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridges ...
, 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
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.
History
Initially the Euro ...
and originally from parties other than the Conservatives, such as Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The chief press officer Mark Littlewood 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 (both through defect ...
, 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
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo ( ; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Jou ...
. 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 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Le ...
"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
{{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)
Parties related to the European People's Party
Political parties disestablished in 2001
Political parties established in 1999
Pro-European political parties in the United Kingdom