Tory Reform Group

Tory Reform Group logo

The Tory Reform Group (TRG) is a group aligned to, but independent of, the British Conservative Party, that works to promote the values of the One Nation Tory vision.[1]

One of the largest groups aligned with the Party, the TRG sees itself as the voice of moderate, One Nation Conservatism throughout the Party. In 2009, writing for the TRG's journal, The Reformer, David Cameron stated that "the TRG has contributed greatly to the Conservative Party over the last 30 years and is central to where we need to be in the future. Not just because of the people involved and the events held. But because your core beliefs in 'freedom, individual responsibility and community' matter now more than ever".[2]

The TRG has an events programme and publications, principally its journal.[3] The TRG brings together members and supporters of the Conservative Party who share this approach to Conservative politics. Members include parliamentarians, councillors, association officers and private individuals.

Europe

Most pro-Europe Conservative politicians of the last thirty years have at one time or another been associated with the Tory Reform Group, while no TRG member of note has struck a view that is more eurosceptic than the official Conservative Party position. The TRG was a constituent organisation of Conservative Mainstream alongside the Conservative Europe Group and Parliamentary Mainstream, and, at one time, all were run from shared offices in Westminster. TRG members formed the core of the short lived Pro-Euro Conservative Party, which disbanded in favour of the Liberal Democrats just short of its third birthday.

The TRG is commonly seen as being pro-Europe. However, it has no official position on Europe and it includes many Eurosceptics amongst its members and supporters.[4]

History

The oldest known branch, which pre-dated the National TRG, was founded in the University of Oxford in 1962, when they split from the Oxford University Conservative Association. This branch disbanded in 2007.[5]

The Tory Reform Group (TRG) was formally established in June 1975 from the merger of four like-minded groups: PEST (Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism), two separate London dining clubs named the Macleod Group and Social Tory Action Group, and a consortium in the North West also known as the McLeod Group led by two Young Conservative activists and parliamentary candidates Steve Perry (PPC Liverpool Edge Hill) and Stuart Lindsay (former PPC Ellesmere Port) who had already switched the name to the TRG.[6]

The TRG sees itself following the philosophies of Benjamin Disraeli's "One Nation" and Harold Macmillan's "Middle Way". With an interventionist attitude, the TRG was set in the image of historical figures such as Iain Macleod and R.A. Butler.

The key figure in the formation of TRG was Peter Walker MP, a former Minister in Heath's Government from 1970–1974. Once out of government, he was urged by MPs to form a parliamentary group that represented the liberal Conservative view of the Tory Party.

Walker was reluctant to form such a group at first, not least because he was sensitive to the damaging effects the Tribune Group had wrought on Labour and did not like the idea of similarly factionalising the Conservative Party. As time passed, however, other groups emerged, including right-wing Conservative groups, and the perceived need for a counteracting group increased. At his home in Westminster, Walker met with chairmen of four organizations he had previously had contact with, and they agreed to come together to form the TRG. From the start, the TRG was an activist group with membership, as opposed to being a think tank. The TRG hoped to spread its view through publication of pamphlets, discussion with MPs, use of media, and by widening its membership. Weekly lunches were inherited from PEST. London PEST had organized a Tuesday Luncheon Club in local pubs, such as Magpie and Stump in Old Bailey. These lunches provided a programme of speakers as well as opportunities for members to become involved in constituency activities.

In January 1976, TRG released its first publication, entitled Home Run by Nicholas Scott MP, the President of TRG, arguing for a nationwide extension of the GLC's sale of council houses to their tenants a key part of the Conservative policy platform.

The 1980s saw TRG pitched headlong into some passionate debates within the Conservative Party, notably over the direction of economic policy and the apartheid regime in South Africa.[7][8] The group made annual Budget submissions representing their opposition to Thatcherite economic views.

Past chairmen

Officers

Defections from the Conservative Party

In the past, some Conservatives, who were also members of the TRG, have defected to parties to the left of the Conservatives. The following TRG members subsequently left the Conservative Party to other parties:

References

  1. ↑ http://www.trg.org.uk/index.php Tory Reform Group
  2. ↑ Cameron, David. , The Reformer, London, June 2009.
  3. ↑ The Reformer
  4. ↑ "Phil Pedley: A former Euro-enthusiast admits – 'I was wrong'"
  5. ↑ http://www.cherwell.org/content/7468
  6. ↑ Thatcher Foundation: Letter from Peter Walker to Leader 1975
  7. ↑ Associated Press: Anti-Apartheid Demonstrators pelt Thatcher's car, 1 August 1986
  8. ↑ Gainsville Sun 1 August 1986
  9. 1 2 TRG People – From the Official site
  10. 1 2 Tory left starts fightback
  11. 1 2 "Recent Liberal recruits include ex-Conservative MP Anna McCurley, ex-Tory Reform Group leader Arthur Bell and his wife Susan Bell" from North East Scotland by-election in Scottish Politics – The almanac of Scottish elections and politics
  12. ↑ Where are they now: Keith Raffan, Total Politics
  13. ↑ Reformer, August 2003, page 25
  14. ↑ Times; Guardian; Daily Telegraph; Sun; Daily Mail; Daily Express; Mirror 12–14 August 1985
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