The Revolutionary Conservative Caucus was a small, right-wing

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

which attempted to introduce a new radicalism into British conservatism. It was founded in November 1992 by Stuart Millson, an officer of the

Western Goals Institute Western Goals Institute (WGI) was a far-right pressure group and think-tank in Britain, formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation.''Labour Research'', November 1988, p. 2. ...

, and Jonathan Bowden; members included

Mark Cotterill Mark Adrian Cotterill (born 3 October 1960) is a far right political figure who has been involved in a number of movements throughout his career. He is noted for activity to establish links between the far right in Britain and America, by foundin ...

, Tom Acton and Steve Brady formerly of the National Front and

Derek Turner Derek Turner (13 November 1932 – 31 July 2015), also known by the nickname of "Rocky", was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. ...

. Millson's close friend from the

Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) was a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also had links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unio ...

, Gregory Lauder-Frost, acknowledged he was a "supporter" in a letter published in one of their journals.

Influence

It met limited success in its short existence of just over two years, lacking a substantive membership base. Sir

Norman Fowler Peter Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, (born 2 February 1938) is a British politician who served as a member of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major's ministries during the 1980s and 1990s. He held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 201 ...

attacked them, stating in ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in ...

'': "These people are not remotely typical of mainstream Conservatives", and

Jerry Hayes Jeremy Joseph James Hayes (born 1952 or 1953) is a British barrister and former Conservative politician, who was the MP for Harlow in Essex from 1983 until he failed to be re-elected in 1997. He subsequently returned to practising criminal law. ...

, Conservative Party MP was quoted in the same newspaper as saying "They are a grim bunch". Labour MEP

Glyn Ford Glyn Ford (born 28 January 1950) is a British academic and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 2009, initially for Greater Manchester East until 1999, then South West England from 1999 to 2009 ...

went even further by announcing at the 1993 Labour Party Conference: "The Tories have a far-Right tendency....I have passed details of the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus to Special Branch". However the Conservative MP

Rupert Allason Rupert William Simon Allason (born 8 November 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subject of esp ...

was quoted in ''Searchlight'' magazine as saying "If they are against

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, they can't be bad." Although disbanded after Millson and Bowden parted company at the end of 1994, it "managed to redraw a right-wing nationalist agenda" and played a crucial part towards introducing philosophical discussion into far-right politics in Britain and was an influence on the establishment of the magazine '' Right Now!'' which was edited by Derek Turner. In its lifetime, the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus published policy papers as well as a magazine entitled ''The Revolutionary Conservative''.

References

Conservative political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK) 1992 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub