Defunct
191-763: 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 Unionist Party (UUP) in Northern Ireland . Founded in 1961, in reaction to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan 's opposition to white minority rule in Southern Rhodesia ,
382-527: A dame school run by a friend of his mother's until he was eleven. He was then a pupil for three years at King's Norton Grammar School for Boys before he won a scholarship to King Edward's School in Birmingham in 1925, aged thirteen. The legacy of the First World War loomed large for Powell: Almost all his teachers had fought in the war, and some of the pupils who had scratched their names on
573-662: A lexicon of Herodotus. In January 1936 Powell delivered an address to the Classical Association on "The War and its Aftermath in their Influence on Thucydidean Studies", which was published in The Times . Since 1932 Powell had been working on the Egyptian manuscripts of J. Rendel Harris and his translation from the Greek into English was published in 1937. Powell's first collection of poems, First Poems ,
764-766: A minority government . Powell was returned to the House of Commons in October 1974 as the Ulster Unionist Party MP for the Northern Ireland constituency of South Down . He represented the constituency until he was defeated at the 1987 general election . John Enoch Powell was born in Stechford , within the city of Birmingham , on 16 June 1912, and was baptised at Newport , Shropshire, in St Nicholas's Church , where his parents had married in 1909. He
955-703: A united Ireland as well as Scottish and Welsh independence , and has been critical of devolution . Historically, the party supported the continuance and maintenance of the British Empire . The party has taken various approaches towards the European Union (EU), with eurosceptic and, to a decreasing extent, pro-European factions within it. Historically, the party took a socially conservative approach. In defence policy, it supports an independent nuclear weapons programme and commitment to NATO membership. For much of modern British political history,
1146-821: A British passport at the German frontier in December 1938". He met again Paul Maas, other German Jews and members of the anti-Nazi movement , and helped Maas obtain a British visa from the British consul, which enabled Maas to escape Germany just before war broke out. In another letter to his parents in June 1939, before the beginning of war, Powell wrote: "It is the English, not their Government; for if they were not blind cowards, they would lynch Chamberlain and Halifax and all
1337-684: A Cambridge academic colleague, Glyn Daniel , for a drink or dinner as he was devoting his limited leisure time to studying the poet John Donne . Powell had continued to learn Urdu and was taught by a nephew of the Urdu poet Altaf Hussain Hali . He had an unrealised ambition to compose a critical edition of Hali's Musaddas , The Rise and Fall of Islam . He also had an ambition of eventually becoming Viceroy of India , and when Mountbatten transferred his staff to Kandy , Ceylon , Powell chose to remain in Delhi. He
1528-675: A Russian parachute training manual—a task he completed after 11 pm in addition to his normal duties, deducing the meaning of many technical terms from the context; he was convinced that the Soviet Union must eventually enter the war on the Allied side. On one occasion, he was arrested as a suspected German spy for singing the Horst-Wessel-Lied . He was sent to the Staff College, Camberley . In October 1941, Powell
1719-493: A brigadier within a year or two, and in that role helped plan the Second Battle of El Alamein , having previously helped plan the attack on Rommel 's supply lines. Powell and his team began work at 0400 each day to digest radio intercepts and other intelligence data (such as estimating how many tanks Rommel currently had and what his likely plans were) ready to present to the chiefs of staff at 0900. The following year, he
1910-831: 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 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
2101-609: A coalition with the Liberal Democrats —the first postwar coalition government . Cameron's premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the 2007–2008 financial crisis ; these involved a large deficit in government finances that his government sought to reduce through controversial austerity measures . In September 2014, the Unionist side, championed by Labour as well as by the Conservative Party and
SECTION 10
#17327727225232292-465: A coalition government. Labour won the October 1974 election with an overall majority of three seats. Loss of power weakened Heath's control over the party and Margaret Thatcher deposed him in the 1975 leadership election . Thatcher led her party to victory at the 1979 general election with a manifesto which concentrated on the party's philosophy. As Prime Minister, Thatcher focused on rejecting
2483-604: A colleague that he expected to be head of all military intelligence in "the next war". Powell never experienced combat and felt guilty for having survived, writing that soldiers who did so carried "a sort of shame with them to the grave" and referring to the Second Battle of El Alamein as a "separating flame" between the living and the dead. When once asked how he would like to be remembered, he at first answered, "Others will remember me as they will remember me", but when pressed he replied, "I should like to have been killed in
2674-460: A copy of Carl von Clausewitz 's On War in the original German in a second-hand bookshop, which he read every night. In later years, Powell recorded his promotion from private to lance-corporal in his Who's Who entry, on other occasions describing it as a greater promotion than entering the Cabinet. Early in 1940, he was trained for a commission after, while working in a kitchen, answering
2865-630: A dynamic application of traditional Tory principles". The group brought together supporters of Rhodesia and South Africa ; 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
3056-560: A few days of arriving in India, Powell bought as many books as he could about India and read them avidly. On one occasion, he wrote to his parents in a letter "I soaked up India like a sponge soaks up water." Powell was appointed Secretary to the Joint Intelligence Committee for India and Lord Louis Mountbatten 's South East Asia Command, involved in planning an amphibious offensive against Akyab , an island off
3247-575: A few minutes' walk from the Palace of Westminster . 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. In 1991
3438-616: 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
3629-459: A house after August 1939 and still occupied it in December 1955 if this property would be compulsorily purchased by the government if it was deemed unfit for human habitation. In early 1956, Powell attended a subcommittee on immigration control as a housing minister and advocated immigration controls. In August, he gave a speech at a meeting of the Institute of Personnel Management and was asked
3820-408: A leadership challenge in 1995 by Redwood, but Redwood received 89 votes, further undermining Major's influence. The Conservative government was increasingly accused in the media of " sleaze ". Their support reached its lowest ebb in late 1994. Over the next two years the Conservatives gained some credit for the strong economic recovery and fall in unemployment. But an effective opposition campaign by
4011-444: 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
SECTION 20
#17327727225234202-674: A move would demonstrate, Powell argued, that the UK could no longer maintain a position there, and that any claim to the Suez Canal would therefore be illogical. However, after the troops had left in June 1956 and the Egyptians nationalised the Canal a month later, Powell opposed the attempt to retake the canal in the Suez Crisis because he thought the British no longer had the resources to be
4393-428: A narrow victory at the 1951 general election , despite losing the popular vote, Churchill was back in power. Apart from rationing, which was ended in 1954, most of the welfare state enacted by Labour were accepted by the Conservatives and became part of the "post-war consensus" that was satirised as Butskellism and that lasted until the 1970s. The Conservatives were conciliatory towards unions, but they did privatise
4584-513: A net gain of one seat for the Conservative Party and returned a mostly unscathed Labour Party back to government. This all occurred months after the fuel protests of September 2000 had seen the Conservatives briefly take a narrow lead over Labour in the opinion polls. In 2001, Iain Duncan Smith was elected leader of the party. Although Duncan Smith was a strong Eurosceptic , during his tenure, Europe ceased to be an issue of division in
4775-571: A political comeback that won them the 1951 general election . In 1947, the party published its Industrial Charter which marked its acceptance of the " post-war consensus " on the mixed economy and labour rights . David Maxwell Fyfe chaired a committee into Conservative Party organisation that resulted in the Maxwell Fyfe Report (1948–49). The report required the party to do more fundraising, by forbidding constituency associations from demanding large donations from candidates, with
4966-422: A question about immigration. He answered that limiting immigration would require a change in the law: "There might be circumstances in which such a change of the law might be the lesser of two evils". But he added, "There would be very few people who would say the time had yet come when it was essential that so great a change should be made". Powell later told Paul Foot that the statement was made "out of loyalty to
5157-411: A recluse and devoted his time to studying: On days without lectures or supervisions, he would read from 5:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. Granta called him "The Hermit of Trinity". He later said "I thought the only thing to do was to work. I thought that was what I was going to Cambridge for, because I never knew of anything else". At the age of eighteen his first paper to a classical journal
5348-420: A resulting loss of membership. The club's influence declined. 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 , would later state that it had been perceived by voters as the "Nasty Party". The then party leader, Iain Duncan Smith , suspended
5539-724: A self-created myth ... The spiritual homeland had not been a spiritual homeland after all, since nothing can be a homeland, let alone a spiritual homeland, where there is no justice, where justice does not reign". In 1935, Powell met the German–Jewish classical scholar Paul Maas in Venice, who confirmed Powell's belief about the nature of Nazi Germany , and he had a "furious" argument with an adherent of Oswald Mosley 's British Union of Fascists , who had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Powell of Mosley's merits. He spent his time at Trinity teaching and supervising undergraduates, and worked on
5730-429: A sizable discount. The new owners were more likely to vote Conservative, as Thatcher had hoped. Thatcher led the Conservatives to two further electoral victories in 1983 and 1987 . She was deeply unpopular in certain sections of society due to high unemployment and her response to the miners' strike . Unemployment had doubled between 1979 and 1982, largely due to Thatcher's monetarist battle against inflation. At
5921-413: 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". That year Alan Clark joined the club and was soon chairman of its Wiltshire branch. Under its chairman from 1964 to 1969, Paul Williams , who until 1964 had been MP for Sunderland South, the club enjoyed significant growth and influence. Some argued that
Monday Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
6112-699: A speech that Indian independence from the British Empire would mean that the "USA will really have won the greatest war in the world for democracy". After the Axis defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein, Powell's attention increasingly moved to the Far East theatre, and he wanted to go there to take part in the campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) because: "the war in Europe
6303-1002: A temperature of 104 degrees (40 °C) when he sat the last of the seven papers, Powell gained a first class with distinction. The Cambridge classical scholar Martin Charlesworth said after Powell's graduation: "That man Powell is extraordinary. He is the best Greek scholar since Porson ". As well as his education at Cambridge, Powell took a course in Urdu at the School of Oriental Studies (now SOAS, University of London ), because he felt that his long-cherished ambition of becoming Viceroy of India would be unattainable without knowledge of an Indian language . Later, during his political career, he would speak to his Indian-born constituents in Urdu. Powell went on to learn other languages, including Welsh (in which he edited jointly with Stephen J. Williams Cyfreithiau Hywel Dda yn ôl Llyfr Blegywryd ,
6494-724: A text on Cyfraith Hywel , the medieval Welsh law), modern Greek , and Portuguese . After graduating from Cambridge, Powell stayed on at Trinity College as a fellow , spending much of his time studying ancient manuscripts in Latin and producing academic works in Greek and Welsh. He won the Craven travelling scholarship, which he used to fund travels to Italy, where he read Greek manuscripts in libraries. He also learned Italian. On his first trip to Italy, during 1933–1934, he visited Venice , Florence and Parma , and on his second excursion in 1935 he went to Venice, Naples and Turin . Powell
6685-721: A world power. On 21 December 1955, Powell was appointed parliamentary secretary to Duncan Sandys at the Ministry of Housing . He called it "the best ever Christmas box". In early 1956, he spoke for the Housing Subsidies Bill in the Commons and argued for the rejection of an amendment that would have hindered slum clearances. He also spoke in support of the Slum Clearances Bill , which provided entitlement for full compensation for those who purchased
6876-528: Is "nonetheless valuable" and demonstrated Powell's "sharp, clear and nit-picking mind". Robin Waterfield , in his translation of Herodotus' Histories for Oxford World's Classics , said Powell's lexicon was "absolutely indispensable". The Australian academic Athanasius Treweek called it "the most fantastically accurate work of this type that I have ever handled". Soon after arrival in Australia, he
7067-428: Is Monarch of a certain territory and his other realms and territories is as good as to say that he is king of his kingdom. We have perpetrated a solecism in the title we are proposing to attach to our Sovereign and we have done so out of what might almost be called an abject desire to eliminate the expression 'British'. The same desire has been felt ... to eliminate this word before the term 'Commonwealth' ... Why
7258-504: Is it, then, that we are so anxious, in the description of our own Monarch, in a title for use in this country, to eliminate any reference to the seat, the focus and the origin of this vast aggregate of territories? Why is it that this "teeming womb of royal Kings", as Shakespeare called it, wishes now to be anonymous? Powell said that the answer was that because the British Nationality Act 1948 had removed allegiance to
7449-496: 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. From 1993, new full members of the club had to be members of the Conservative Party, though there was no such requirement for associate membership. Monday Club observers, such as Denis Walker , have attended Democratic Unionist Party conferences. In 2002,
7640-418: Is that we are doing it for the sake not of our friends but of those who are not our friends. We are doing this for the sake of those to whom the very names 'Britain' and 'British' are repugnant. ... We are doing this for the sake of those who have deliberately cast off their allegiance to our common Monarchy. For the rest of his life, Powell regarded this speech as the finest he ever delivered (rather than
7831-503: Is the current address as of Jan 2023. 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 Monday Club had various study groups (later renamed policy committees) including: The club
Monday Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
8022-550: The Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was formally adopted under the aegis of Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto . The term "Conservative Party" rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. The widening of the electoral franchise in the 19th century forced
8213-537: 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: Among sitting MPs who joined the club after that and other elections, along with those who became MPs were: Peers of the House of Lords who were Monday Club members: Other notable members: A number of other Monday Club members contested Labour-held seats, some of which had large majorities, and although
8404-432: The 2005 general election , the Conservative Party increased their total vote share and—more significantly—their number of parliamentary seats, reducing Labour's majority. The day following the election, Howard resigned. David Cameron won the 2005 leadership election . He then announced his intention to reform and realign the Conservatives. For most of 2006 and the first half of 2007, polls showed leads over Labour for
8595-535: The African National Congress 's Oliver Tambo 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 leader Ken Livingstone inviting Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to visit London in 1982. An early member, in his Diaries , Alan Clark describes speaking later to a county-branch of
8786-592: The Community Charge (known by its opponents as the poll tax ) in 1989 is often cited as contributing to her political downfall. Internal party tensions led to a leadership challenge by the Conservative MP Michael Heseltine and she resigned on 28 November 1990. John Major won the party leadership election on 27 November 1990, and his appointment led to an almost immediate boost in Conservative Party fortunes. The election
8977-771: The House of Commons on 3 September 2019. Later that same day, 21 Conservative MPs had the Conservative whip withdrawn after voting with the Opposition to grant the House of Commons control over its order paper. Johnson would later halt the Withdrawal Agreement Bill , calling for a general election. The 2019 general election resulted in the Conservatives winning a majority, the Party's largest since 1987 . The party won several constituencies, particularly in formerly traditional Labour seats . On 20 December 2019, MPs passed an agreement for withdrawing from
9168-594: The House of Commons , speaking on a white paper on defence and beginning by saying, "There is no need for me to pretend those feelings of awe and hesitation which assail any honourable Member who rises to address this House for the first time." On 3 March 1953, Powell spoke against the Royal Titles Bill in the House of Commons. He said he found three major changes to the style of the United Kingdom, "all of which seem to me to be evil". The first one
9359-510: The Liberal leader, Jeremy Thorpe , 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: 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
9550-597: The Liberals were mostly against the war until the invasion of Belgium, Conservative leaders were strongly in favour of aiding France and stopping Germany. The Liberal party was in full control of the government until its mismanagement of the war effort under the Shell Crisis badly hurt its reputation. An all-party coalition government was formed in May 1915. In late 1916 Liberal David Lloyd George became prime minister but
9741-457: The Oxford University Press in 1938, and his most lasting contribution to classical scholarship was his Lexicon to Herodotus , published by Cambridge University Press the same year. William Lorimer reviewed the lexicon in the Classical Review and praised Powell's "amazing industry, much thought and care, and fine scholarship". The classicist Robin Lane Fox said the lexicon is "an entirely mechanical production with no intellectual power" but
SECTION 50
#17327727225239932-412: The United Kingdom should end any remaining pretence that it was a world power. After unsuccessfully contesting the Labour Party's safe seat of Normanton at a by-election in 1947 (when the Labour majority was 62 per cent), he was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West at the 1950 general election . On 16 March 1950, Powell made his maiden speech in
10123-429: The United Kingdom , along with the Labour Party . Following defeat by Labour in the 2024 general election , it is currently the second largest political party by the number of votes cast and number of seats in the House of Commons , followed by the Liberal Democrats . As the second largest party, it has the formal parliamentary role of the Official Opposition . The party sits on the right-wing to centre-right of
10314-408: The cost of living crisis , including price caps on energy bills and government help to pay them. Truss's mini-budget on 23 September faced severe criticism and markets reacted poorly; the pound fell to a record low of 1.03 against the dollar, and UK government gilt yields rose to 4.3 per cent, prompting the Bank of England to trigger an emergency bond-buying programme. After condemnation from
10505-521: The " Phoney War " the War Office did not want men with no military training. Rather than waiting to be called up, he claimed to be Australian, as Australians, many of whom had travelled to Britain at great expense to join up, were allowed to enlist straight away. In a poem, he wrote of men joining the army like "bridegrooms going to meet their brides", but his biographer points out that it is unlikely that many other men shared his joy, particularly not those who were leaving actual brides behind. He purchased
10696-413: The 1780s. They were known as "Independent Whigs", " Friends of Mr Pitt ", or "Pittites" and never used terms such as "Tory" or "Conservative". From about 1812, the name "Tory" was commonly used for a new party that, according to historian Robert Blake, "are the ancestors of Conservatism". Blake adds that Pitt's successors after 1812 "were not in any sense standard-bearers of 'true Toryism'". The term Tory
10887-428: The 1950s and early 1960s. The Suez Crisis of 1956 was a humiliating defeat for Prime Minister Eden, but his successor, Macmillan, minimised the damage and focused attention on domestic issues and prosperity. Following controversy over the selections of Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home via a process of consultation known as the 'Magic Circle', a formal election process was created and the first leadership election
11078-411: The 20th century made it one of the most successful political parties in the Western world . The most recent period of Conservative government was marked by extraordinary political turmoil. Some writers trace the party's origins to the Tory Party , which it soon replaced. Other historians point to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party , that coalesced around William Pitt the Younger in
11269-440: 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 , historian and author of Victims of Yalta and The Minister and the Massacres , who was then being sued for libel, by holding a dinner for him at London's Charing Cross Hotel on 26 October 1988. The club opposed what it described as the "premature" independence of Kenya , and
11460-436: The Chancellor of the Exchequer Peter Thorneycroft and his Treasury colleague Nigel Birch , in protest at government plans for increased expenditure; he was a staunch advocate of disinflation, or, in modern terms, a monetarist , and a believer in market forces. Powell was also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society . The by-product of this expenditure was the printing of extra money to pay for it all, which Powell believed to be
11651-411: The Club are to support the Conservative & Unionist Party in those policies designed: During the period that Margaret Thatcher 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
SECTION 60
#173277272252311842-418: The Conservative Party , including allegations against its policies, fringes, and structure, was often in the public eye. These include allegations against senior politicians such as Boris Johnson , Michael Gove , Theresa May , and Zac Goldsmith . During the period of the Cameron and Johnson governments, a number of Conservative MPs have been accused or convicted of sexual misconduct, with cases including
12033-413: The Conservative Party leader Stanley Baldwin , told the Master of Trinity J. J. Thomson : "Powell reads as if he understands". Shortly before his finals in May 1933, Powell became ill with tonsillitis and then suffered pyelitis . His neighbour in Trinity Great Court , Frederick Simpson , arranged that the Tripos examination papers be sent to the nursing home where he was convalescing. Despite having
12224-477: The Conservative Party to popularise its approach under Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli , who carried through their own expansion of the franchise with the Reform Act of 1867 . The party was initially opposed to further expansion of the electorate but eventually allowed passage of Gladstone's 1884 Reform Act . In 1886, the party formed an alliance with Spencer Cavendish and Joseph Chamberlain 's new Liberal Unionist Party and, under
12415-439: 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
12606-435: The Conservative whip at Westminster, essentially forming the Irish wing of the party until 1922. In Britain, the Conservative party was known as the Unionist Party because of its opposition to home rule. Under Bonar Law 's leadership in 1911–1914, the Party morale improved, the "radical right" wing was contained, and the party machinery strengthened. It made some progress toward developing constructive social policies. While
12797-415: The Conservatives amidst the crisis. Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell MBE (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar, and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party from 1950 to February 1974 and as MP for South Down for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from October 1974 to 1987. He
12988-629: The Conservatives. Polls became more volatile in summer 2007 with the accession of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. The Conservatives gained control of the London mayoralty for the first time in 2008 after Boris Johnson defeated the Labour incumbent, Ken Livingstone . In May 2010 the Conservative Party came to government, first under a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and later as a series of majority and minority governments. During this period there were five Conservative Prime Ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. The initial period of this time, primarily under
13179-418: The Crown, and who signified a desire to be in the future as were in the past; if it were our friends who had come to us and said: "We want this," I would say: "Let it go. Let us admit the divisibility of the Crown. Let us sink into anonymity and cancel the word 'British' from our titles. If they like the conundrum 'Head of the Commonwealth' in the Royal style, let it be there." However, the underlying evil of this
13370-445: The ERM, a day thereafter referred to as Black Wednesday . Soon after, approximately one million householders faced repossession of their homes during a recession that saw a sharp rise in unemployment, taking it close to 3 million people. The party subsequently lost much of its reputation for good financial stewardship. The end of the recession was declared in April 1993. From 1994 to 1997, Major privatised British Rail . The party
13561-429: The EU referendum vote, and through the premierships of May, Boris Johnson, and their successors, the party shifted right on the political spectrum. In July 2019 Boris Johnson became Leader of the party. He became Prime Minister the next day. Johnson had made withdrawal from the EU by 31 October "with no ifs, buts or maybes" a key pledge during his campaign for party leadership . Johnson lost his working majority in
13752-546: The EU. On 24 June 2016, Cameron announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister, after he failed to convince the British public to stay in the European Union . On 11 July 2016, Theresa May became the leader of the Conservative Party. May promised social reform and a more centrist political outlook for the Conservative Party and its government. May's early cabinet appointments were interpreted as an effort to reunite
13943-838: The EU; the United Kingdom formally left on 31 January 2020. Johnson presided over the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic . From late 2021 onwards, Johnson received huge public backlash for the Partygate scandal, in which staff and senior members of government were pictured holding gatherings during lockdown contrary to Government guidance. The Metropolitan Police eventually fined Johnson for breaking lockdown rules in April 2022. In July 2022, Johnson admitted to appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip while being aware of allegations of sexual assault against him. This, along with Partygate and increasing criticisms on Johnson's handling of
14134-571: The Executive Council, the organisation was formally disbanded in July 2024. 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; died 16 Mar 2023), and Anthony Maclaren. The club was formed "to force local party associations to discuss and debate party policy". Its first general policy statement deplored
14325-601: The Government line". Powell also spoke for the Rent Bill, which ended wartime rent controls when existing tenants moved out, thereby phasing out regulation. At a meeting of the 1922 Committee on 22 November 1956, Butler made a speech appealing for party unity in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis. His speech did not go down well and Harold Macmillan , whom Butler had taken along for moral support, addressed them and
14516-529: The Irish question, socialism, electoral reform, and the issue of intervention in the economy. The fresh emphasis on anti-Socialism was its response to the growing strength of the Labour Party. When electoral reform was an issue, it worked to protect their base in rural England. It aggressively sought female voters in the 1920s, often relying on patriotic themes. In 1922, Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin led
14707-427: The Labour Party culminated in a landslide defeat for the Conservatives in 1997 , their worst defeat since the 1906 general election . The 1997 election left the Conservative Party as an England-only party, with all Scottish and Welsh seats having been lost, and not a single new seat having been gained anywhere. Major resigned as party leader and was succeeded by William Hague . The 2001 general election resulted in
14898-553: The Liberal Democrats, won in the Scottish Independence referendum by 55% No to 45% Yes on the question "Should Scotland be an independent country". At the 2015 general election , the Conservatives formed a majority government under Cameron. After speculation of a referendum on the UK's EU membership throughout his premiership, a vote was announced for June 2016 in which Cameron campaigned to remain in
15089-614: The Liberal Party and the Labour Party ( National Labour and National Liberals ). In May 1940 a more balanced coalition was formed —the National Government —which, under the leadership of Winston Churchill , saw the United Kingdom through the Second World War. However, the party lost the 1945 general election in a landslide to the resurgent Labour Party. The concept of the "property-owning democracy"
15280-474: The Liberals soon split and the Conservatives dominated the government, especially after their landslide in the 1918 election . The Liberal party never recovered, but Labour gained strength after 1920. Nigel Keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914 but the war pulled the party together, allowing it to emphasise patriotism as it found new leadership and worked out its positions on
15471-497: The Lightfoot Thucydides Prize. In December 1929, aged seventeen, he sat the classics scholarship paper at Trinity College, Cambridge , and won the top award. Sir Ronald Melville , who sat the exams at the same time, recalled that "the exams mostly lasted three hours. Powell left the room halfway through each of them". Powell later told Melville that, in one-and-a-half hours on the Greek paper, he translated
15662-518: The Lord Sudeley were amongst those present from Parliament. The government of Franjo Tuđman in Croatia invited the Monday Club to send a delegation to observe its conflict with Serbia , in October 1991, when the war for Croatian independence from the tottering Yugoslavia was at its height, with the armies of both sides engaged in serious fighting. The club delegation arrived just days after
15853-471: The Monday Club in 1982: "I really cannot bear the Monday Club. They are all mad, quite different from its heyday, when it was a right-wing pressure group at the time of Ted Heath's Government. Now they are a prickly residue in the body politic, a nasty sort of gallstone." The playwright David Edgar described the Monday Club, in 1986, as "proselytis[ing] the ancient and venerable conservative traditions of paternalism , imperialism and racism ." In 1988–89,
16044-440: 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. Although the Monday Club was a completely autonomous pressure-group and not part of the Conservative Party organisation, Conservative Party chairman David Davis then informed the club's National Executive that links between it and
16235-566: 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 , James Molyneaux had an article "What Future for Ulster", and Dr. Harvey Ward 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 's declaration to
16426-465: The Powells were financially comfortable, and their home included a library. By the age of six, Powell was addicted to reading, predominantly history books. Powell's Toryism and regard for institutions was formed at an early age: Around this time, his parents took him to Caernarfon Castle , and he removed his cap when he entered one of the rooms. His father asked him why, to which Powell replied that it
16617-587: The Russians living in Kaliningrad (formerly the German city of Königsberg) was left unexplained. Club officers, including Gregory Lauder-Frost, Denis Walker , 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
16808-539: The UK , especially rapid immigration from the New Commonwealth , and opposed the anti-discrimination Race Relations Bill (which ultimately became law). The speech was criticised by some of Powell's own party members and The Times . Heath, who was then the leader of the Conservative Party and the leader of the Opposition , dismissed Powell from the Shadow Cabinet the day after the speech. In
16999-840: The Unionists worked hard at grassroots organizing. Two general elections were held in 1910, in January and in December . The two main parties were now almost dead equal in seats, but the Liberals kept control with a coalition with the Irish Parliamentary Party . In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party. In Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged Unionists who were opposed to Irish Home Rule into one political movement. Its MPs took
17190-512: The United Kingdom exhibited a wide urban–rural political divide ; the Conservative Party's voting and financial support base has historically consisted primarily of homeowners , business owners , farmers , real estate developers and middle class voters, especially in rural and suburban areas of England . Since the EU referendum in 2016, the Conservatives targeted working class voters from traditional Labour strongholds. The Conservatives' domination of British politics throughout
17381-673: The Whig's true vocation of detecting trends in events and riding them skilfully so as to preserve the privileges, property and interests of his class". However, when Macmillan replaced Eden as Prime Minister, Powell was offered the office of Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 14 January 1957. This office was the Chancellor of the Exchequer 's deputy and the most important job outside the Cabinet. In January 1958 he resigned, along with
17572-602: The Yugoslav Air Force bombing of the historic upper city in Zagreb . It was the first British political delegation to go to Croatia during the conflict. Debate within the club was intense on the European Union . 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
17763-544: The aftermath of the speech several polls suggested that 67 to 82 per cent of the British population agreed with Powell's opinions. His supporters argued that Powell's large public following helped the Conservatives to win the 1970 general election , and perhaps cost them the February 1974 general election , when Powell turned his back on the Conservatives by endorsing a vote for the Labour Party , which returned as
17954-647: The assignment. Having declined two posts carrying the rank of full colonel (in Algiers and Cairo, which would have left him in the now moribund North African theatre "indefinitely"), and despite expecting to have to accept a reduction in rank to major in order to get the transfer, he secured a posting to the British Indian Army in Delhi as a lieutenant-colonel in military intelligence in August 1943. Within
18145-927: 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 and Rhodesia . During the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) period in Rhodesia , the club strongly backed the White minority government of Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front , being seen as its strongest supporters in Britain. In November 1963,
18336-490: The breakup of the coalition, and the Conservatives governed until 1923, when a minority Labour government led by Ramsay MacDonald came to power. The Conservatives regained power in 1924 but were defeated in 1929 as a minority Labour government took office. In 1931, following the collapse of the Labour minority government, it entered another coalition, which was dominated by the Conservatives with some support from factions of both
18527-498: The challenge was unsuccessful, their majorities were reduced. These included: Tim Keigwin, who almost unseated the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe at North Devon , Councillor John Pritchard of Bromley London Borough Council , 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 . By 1971,
18718-569: 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
18909-473: The club became embroiled in the decolonisation and immigration 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 Southern Rhodesia . By 1971, the club had 35 MPs, six of them ministers, and 35 peers , with membership (including branches) totaling about 10,000. In 1982,
19100-507: The club had a disproportionate influence within Conservative circles, especially after six of its members who were MPs joined the Cabinet in 1970. Harold Wilson , twice Labour Prime Minister , described the club as "the guardian of the Tory conscience". Oxford political scholar Roger Griffin referred to the club as practicing an anti- socialist and elitist form of conservatism. By 1970, eighteen Members of Parliament were club members: In
19291-587: 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 , and his delegation. Tim Janman MP and
19482-399: 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 (EU) position. Teddy Taylor , an anti-EEC MP, became chairman of the club's EEC Affairs Policy Committee and authored
19673-476: The club was described as a "bastion on the Tory hard right" by BBC News Online . The club's agenda stresses support for what it calls "traditional Conservative values", including "resistance to ' political correctness ' ". Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative and Unionist Party , commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories , is one of the two main political parties in
19864-470: 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,
20055-399: 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
20246-630: The club's office was moved to an office belonging to W. Denis Walker , 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". Since then the club office has moved to the premises of other companies associated with Walker, at 65 Chapel Hill, Bishop's Stortford , CM23 3XR and Southmill Trading Centre, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 3DY, which according to Companies House
20437-478: The club, subsequently challenged the article's accusations in a Letter to the Editor , 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. Faction fighting within the club following Lauder-Frost's departure at the end of May 1992 led to a period of instability and
20628-400: The coast of Burma. Orde Wingate , also involved in planning that operation, had taken such a dislike to Powell that he asked a colleague to restrain him if he were tempted to "beat his brains in". On one occasion, Powell's yellow skin (he was recovering from jaundice ), over-formal dress and strange manner caused him to be mistaken for a Japanese spy. During this period, he declined to meet
20819-536: The coming war with Germany. During his time in Australia as a professor, he grew increasingly angry at the appeasement of Germany and what he saw as a betrayal of the UK's national interests. After Neville Chamberlain 's first visit to Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden , Powell wrote in a letter to his parents on 18 September 1938: I do here in the most solemn and bitter manner curse the Prime Minister of England for having cumulated all his other betrayals of
21010-399: 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 had ceased to exercise significant influence, with full membership below 600. Following a vote of
21201-400: The consumption of pornography in parliament, rape, groping, and sexual harassment. In 2017, a list of 36 sitting Conservative MPs accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour was leaked. The list is believed to have been compiled by party staff. Following accusations of multiple cases of rape against an unnamed Tory MP in 2023 and allegations of a cover-up, Baroness Warsi , who has served as
21392-408: The cost-of-living crisis, provoked a government crisis following a loss in confidence and nearly 60 resignations from government officials, eventually leading to Johnson announcing his resignation on 7 July. Boris Johnson's successor as leader was confirmed as Liz Truss on 5 September, following a leadership election . In a strategy labelled Trussonomics she introduced policies in response to
21583-421: The crown as the basis of citizenship and replaced that with nine separate citizenships combined together by statute. Therefore, if any of these nine countries became republics the law would not change, as happened with India when it became a republic. Furthermore, Powell went on, the essence of unity was "that all the parts recognise they would sacrifice themselves to the interests of the whole." He denied that there
21774-464: The desks had subsequently died in the conflict. Powell also read books on the war, which helped form his opinion that Britain and Germany would fight again. The head of classics at the school saw that Powell had an interest in the subject and agreed to transfer him to the classics side of the school. Powell's mother taught him Greek in just over two weeks during the Christmas break in 1925, and, by
21965-416: 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. On 24 February 1991, The Observer ran
22156-596: The expediency, cynicism and materialism which motivated Harold Macmillan '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
22347-447: The family moved to Kings Norton , Birmingham, where Powell remained until 1930. The Powells were of Welsh descent and from Radnorshire (a Welsh border county), having moved to the developing Black Country during the early 19th century. His great-grandfather was a coal miner , and his grandfather had been in the iron trade. Powell read avidly from a young age; as early as three, he could "read reasonably well". Though not wealthy,
22538-406: The floor and formally joined the Liberal Party (he rejoined the Conservatives in 1925). In December, Balfour lost control of his party, as the defections multiplied. He was replaced by Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman who called an election in January 1906 , which produced a massive Liberal victory. Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith enacted a great deal of reform legislation, but
22729-546: The government to halt all immigration, repeal the Race Relations Act , (not the separate Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 ), and start a full repatriation scheme. A resolution was drafted, approved by the meeting, and delivered to the Prime Minister, Edward Heath , who replied that "the government had no intention of repealing the Race Relations Act". When Reginald Maudling resigned from the Cabinet,
22920-517: The group. Control passed effectively into the hands of Denis Walker , 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 opposed. Defunct The national club established its offices at 51–53 Victoria Street,
23111-401: The history of the club, stated that "by its principles [the club] has 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 club's revised constitution (21 May 1984) stated that "the objects of
23302-625: The horizon the greater peril than Germany or Japan ever were... our terrible enemy, America". Powell's suspicion of the anti-British Empire demeanour of the U.S. Government's foreign policy continued for the remainder of the war and into his subsequent post-war political career. He cut out and retained an article from the New Statesman magazine published on 13 November 1943 in which the American writer and congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce said in
23493-450: The intention of broadening the diversity of MPs. In practice, it may have had the effect of lending more power to constituency parties and making candidates more uniform. Winston Churchill , the party leader, brought in a Party chairman to modernise the party: Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton rebuilt the local organisations with an emphasis on membership, money, and a unified national propaganda appeal on critical issues. With
23684-404: The last century. David Cameron sought to modernise the Conservatives after his election as leader in 2005, and the party governed from 2010 to 2024 under five prime ministers, latterly Rishi Sunak . The party has generally adopted liberal economic policies favouring free markets since the 1980s, although historically it advocated for protectionism . The party is British unionist , opposing
23875-754: The last four years at King Edward's School, he was top of his form and won a number of prizes in Greek and Divinity. In 1929, he was awarded the Higher School Certificate with a distinction in Latin , Greek and ancient history, and won the school's Lee Divinity Prize for an essay on the New Testament after having memorised St Paul 's Epistle to the Galatians in Greek. Powell also won the Badger Prize for English Literature twice and
24066-471: The late 1940s but was too great a challenge to the post-war consensus to win Conservative endorsement. Thatcher favoured the idea because it would lead to a "property-owning democracy", an important idea that had emerged in the 1920s. Some local Conservative-run councils enacted profitable local sales schemes during the late 1960s. By the 1970s, many working-class people could afford to buy homes, and eagerly adopted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at
24257-723: The mild liberalism of the post-war consensus that tolerated or encouraged nationalisation, strong labour unions, heavy regulation, and high taxes. She did not challenge the National Health Service , and supported the Cold War policies of the consensus, but otherwise tried to dismantle and delegitimise it. She built a right-wing political ideology that became known as Thatcherism , based on social and economic ideas from British and American intellectuals such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman . Thatcher believed that too much socially democratic-oriented government policy
24448-535: The much more well-known 1968 anti-immigration speech). In mid-November 1953, Powell secured a place on the 1922 Committee 's executive at the third attempt. Butler also invited him onto the committee that reviewed party policy for the general election, which he attended until 1955. Powell was a member of the Suez Group of MPs who were against the removal of British troops from the Suez Canal , because such
24639-500: The national interest and honour, by his last terrible exhibition of dishonour, weakness and gullibility. The depths of infamy to which our accurst "love of peace" can lower us are unfathomable. During the winter of 1938–1939 he travelled to Britain to arrange his appointment as professor of Greek and classical literature at Durham University , which he was due to take up in 1940. After his arrival in Britain he visited Germany and later remembered his "sensation of embarrassment on producing
24830-433: 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 faction fighting and to a period of instability, with more departures and a resulting loss of membership and the club's influence declined. Subsequent failed expulsion attempts resulted in huge legal bills, and when Dr. Mark Mayall's term as chairman expired in April 1993 he left
25021-500: The other smarmy traitors". At the outbreak of war, Powell immediately returned to the UK, but not before buying a Russian dictionary, since he thought "Russia would hold the key to our survival and victory, as it had in 1812 and 1916 ". During October 1939, almost a month after returning home from Australia, Powell enlisted as a private in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment . He had trouble enlisting, as during
25212-474: The party as it united behind calls for a referendum on the proposed European Union Constitution . However, before he could lead the party into a general election, Duncan Smith lost the vote on a motion of no confidence by MPs. This was despite the Conservative support equalling that of Labour in the months leading up to his departure from the leadership. Michael Howard then stood for the leadership unopposed on 6 November 2003. Under Howard's leadership in
25403-543: The party in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union . She began the process of withdrawing the UK from the European Union in March 2017. In April 2017, the Cabinet agreed to hold a general election on 8 June. In a shock result, the election resulted in a hung parliament , with the Conservative Party needing a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP to support a minority government. May's Premiership
25594-465: 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
25785-427: The party's co-chairman under David Cameron, stated that the Conservative Party has had a problem handling complaints of sexual misconducts against members appropriately. The 2010 election resulted in a hung parliament with the Conservatives having the most seats but short of an overall majority. Following the resignation of Gordon Brown , Cameron was named Prime Minister, and the Conservatives entered government in
25976-605: The party. Heath had come to power in June 1970 and the last possible date for the next general election was not until mid-1975. However a general election was held in February 1974 in a bid to win public support during a national emergency caused by the miners' strike. Heath's attempt to win a second term at this "snap" election failed, as a deadlock result left no party with an overall majority . Heath resigned within days, after failing to gain Liberal Party support to form
26167-403: The political spectrum. It encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives , Thatcherites , and traditionalist conservatives . There have been twenty Conservative prime ministers . The party traditionally holds the annual Conservative Party Conference during party conference season , at which senior Conservative figures promote party policy. The Conservative Party
26358-602: 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 (formerly the German city of Breslau), Szczecin (formerly the German city of Stettin), and
26549-458: The premiership of David Cameron, was marked by the ongoing effects of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the implementation of austerity measures in response. From 2015 the predominant political event was the Brexit referendum and the process to implement the decision to leave the trade bloc. The Conservatives' time in office was marked by several controversies. The presence of Islamophobia in
26740-444: The public, the Labour Party and her own party, Truss reversed some aspects of the mini-budget, including the abolition of the top rate of income tax. Following a government crisis Truss announced her resignation as prime minister on 20 October after 44 days in office, the shortest premiership in British history. Truss also oversaw the worst polling the Conservatives had ever received, with Labour polling as high as 36 per cent above
26931-461: The question of an inspecting brigadier with a Greek proverb; on several occasions, he told colleagues that he expected to be at least a major-general by the end of the war. He passed out top from his officer training. On 18 May 1940, Powell was one of the cadets from the 166th, 167th, 168th, and 170th Officer Cadet Training Units commissioned as a second lieutenant onto the General List . He
27122-407: The recovering British economy, saw the Conservatives returning quickly to the top of the opinion polls and winning the 1983 general election with a landslide majority, due to a split opposition vote. By the time of the general election in June 1987, the economy was stronger, with lower inflation and falling unemployment and Thatcher secured her third successive electoral victory. The introduction of
27313-716: The reply: "Dear Mr Powell. You analyse the difficulties of the passage correctly, and your emendation removes them. Yours sincerely, A. E. Housman". In later life, Powell claimed that "no praise in the next forty years was ever to be so intoxicating". Powell won a number of prizes, including the Percy Pemberton Prize, the Porson Prize , the Yeats Prize and the Lees Knowles. He won a distinction in Greek and Latin for Part I of his Classical Tripos and
27504-566: The resigned, masculine gloom of the Trinity ethos into which he had been inducted". A further collection of poems, Dancer's End and The Wedding Gift , were published in 1951, and all his poems were published in one volume in 1990. Powell said the first two volumes were "dominated by the War – the War foreseen, the War imminent, and the War actual", and the second group were a "response to a brief period...of intense emotional excitement". In 1937, he
27695-558: The resulting 470-page report was almost entirely written by Powell. For a few weeks he was the youngest brigadier in the British Army, and he was one of only two men in the entire war to rise from private to brigadier (the other being Sir Fitzroy Maclean ). He was offered a regular commission as a brigadier in the Indian Army, and the post of assistant commandant of an Indian officers' training academy, which he declined. He told
27886-409: The right wing of the Conservative Party itself for its tolerance of socialist policies and reluctance to curb the legal powers of labour unions. The Conservatives were re-elected in 1955 and 1959 with larger majorities. Conservative Prime Ministers Churchill, Anthony Eden , Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home promoted relatively liberal trade regulations and less state involvement throughout
28077-399: The second time since the scholarship was established in 1647 that a freshman had won it. It was at Cambridge that Powell fell under the influence of the poet A. E. Housman , then Professor of Latin at the university. He attended Housman's lectures during his second year in 1931, and he later recalled that he was "gripped by the spectacle of that rigorous intellect dissecting remorselessly
28268-533: The statesmen Robert Gascoyne-Cecil and Arthur Balfour , held power for all but three of the following twenty years before suffering a heavy defeat in 1906 when it split over the issue of free trade . Young Winston Churchill denounced Chamberlain's attack on free trade, and helped organise the opposition inside the Unionist/Conservative Party. Nevertheless, Balfour, as party leader, introduced protectionist legislation. Churchill crossed
28459-443: The steel and road haulage industries in 1953. During the Conservatives' thirteen-year tenure in office, pensions went up by 49% in real terms, sickness and unemployment benefits by 76% in real terms, and supplementary benefits by 46% in real terms. However, family allowances fell by 15% in real terms. "Thirteen Wasted Years" was a popular slogan attacking the Conservative record, primarily from Labour. In addition, there were attacks by
28650-464: 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
28841-499: The text into Thucydides's style of Greek and then in the style of Herodotus. For another paper, Powell also had to translate a passage from Bede , which he did into Platonic Greek. In the remaining time, Powell later remembered, "I tore it up and translated it again into Herodotean Greek – Ionic Greek – (which I had never written before) and then, still having time to spare, I proceeded to annotate it". He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1930 to 1933. Powell became almost
29032-414: The textual deformation of poetry which his sensitivity would not permit him to read without betraying his emotions"; it was Housman's "ruthless and fearless logic with which he dissected the text" in an atmosphere of "suppressed emotion" that impressed him. Powell also admired Housman's lectures on Lucretius , Horace , Virgil and Catullus . Powell sent him a correction of Virgil's Aeneid and received
29223-437: The time of the 1979 general election , inflation had been at 9% or under for the previous year, then increased to over 20% in the first two years of the Thatcher ministry, but it had fallen again to 5.8% by the start of 1983. The period of unpopularity of the Conservatives in the early 1980s coincided with a crisis in the Labour Party, which then formed the main opposition. Victory in the Falklands War in June 1982, along with
29414-454: The time that he started the next term, he had attained fluency in Greek that most pupils would reach after two years. Within two terms, Powell was top of the classics form. His classmate, Christopher Evans , recalled that Powell was "austere" and "really unlike any schoolboy one had known ... He was quite a phenomenon". Another contemporary, Denis Hills , later said that Powell "carried an armful of books (Greek texts?) and kept to himself ... he
29605-557: The upper sixth, recalled in 1952: "Of all my pupils, he always insisted on the highest standards of accuracy and knowledge in those who taught him ... He was a pupil from whom I learnt more than most". It was during his time in the sixth form that Powell learned German and began reading German books, which would influence his move towards atheism. Aged thirteen, he also read James George Frazer 's The Golden Bough and Thomas Carlyle 's Sartor Resartus , which led him towards Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Nietzsche . During
29796-512: The war". Though he voted for the Labour Party in their 1945 landslide victory , because he wanted to punish the Conservative Party for the Munich Agreement , after the war he joined the Conservative Party and worked for the Conservative Research Department (CRD) under Rab Butler , where his colleagues included Iain Macleod and Reginald Maudling . Powell's ambition to be Viceroy of India crumbled in February 1947, when Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that Indian independence
29987-443: The way for that other remaining unity—the last unity of all—that of the person, to go the way of the rest?" The second change he objected to was "the suppression of the word 'British', both from before the words 'Realms and Territories' where it is replaced by the words 'her other' and from before the word 'Commonwealth', which, in the Statute of Westminster , is described as the 'British Commonwealth of Nations ' ": To say that he
30178-602: Was Minister of Health from 1960 to 1963 in the second Macmillan ministry and was Shadow Secretary of State for Defence from 1965 to 1968 in the Shadow Cabinet of Ted Heath . Before entering politics he was a classical scholar . He served in both staff and intelligence positions during the Second World War , reaching the rank of brigadier . Powell also wrote poetry, and several books on classical and political subjects. In 1968, while serving as Shadow Defence Secretary, Powell attracted attention nationwide for his "Rivers of Blood" speech , in which he criticised immigration to
30369-421: Was anti-communist 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 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
30560-436: Was "that in this title, for the first time, will be recognised a principle hitherto never admitted in this country, namely, the divisibility of the crown." Powell said that the unity of the realm had evolved over centuries and included the British Empire: "It was a unit because it had one Sovereign. There was one Sovereign: one realm." He feared that by "recognising the division of the realm into separate realms, are we not opening
30751-467: Was a great success. In Powell's view this was "one of the most horrible things that I remember in politics ... seeing the way in which Harold Macmillan, with all the skill of the old actor-manager, succeeded in false-footing Rab. The sheer devilry of it verged upon the disgusting". After Macmillan's death in 1986, Powell said "Macmillan was a Whig, not a Tory ... he had no use for the Conservative loyalties and affections; they interfered too much with
30942-442: Was almost immediately transferred to the Intelligence Corps . He was soon promoted to captain and posted as GSO3 (Intelligence) to the 1st (later 9th) Armoured Division. During this time he taught himself the Portuguese language to read the poet Camões in the original; as insufficient Russian-speaking officers were available at the War Office , his knowledge of the Russian language and textual analysis skills were used to translate
31133-436: Was an insult that entered English politics during the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681, which derived from the Middle Irish word tóraidhe (modern Irish : tóraí ) meaning outlaw or robber , which in turn derived from the Irish word tóir , meaning pursuit , since outlaws were "pursued men". The term " Conservative " was suggested as a title for the party in an article by J. Wilson Croker published in
31324-489: Was appointed Curator of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney. He stunned the vice-chancellor by informing him that war would soon begin in Europe and that when it did, he would be heading home to enlist in the army. He later recalled that his attitude towards Germany was of "great hatred as well as fear ... a fear of my country being defeated" and in his inaugural lecture as professor of Greek on 7 May 1938 he condemned Britain's policy of appeasement and prophesied
31515-418: Was appointed Professor of Greek at the University of Sydney aged 25 (failing in his aim of beating Nietzsche's record of becoming a professor at 24). He was the youngest professor in the British Empire . Among his students was future Labor Prime Minister of Australia , Gough Whitlam , who described his lectures as 'dry as dust'. He revised Henry Stuart Jones 's edition of Thucydides ' Historiae for
31706-452: Was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his military service. It was in Algiers that the beginning of Powell's distrust of the United States began. After socially mixing with senior American officers that he met and exploring their cultural views of the world, he became convinced that one of America's war aims was to destroy the British Empire . Writing home on 16 February 1943, Powell stated: "I see growing on
31897-432: Was awarded the Members' prize for Latin prose and the First Chancellor's Classical Medal. He also won the Cromer Greek essay prize of the British Academy in March 1933, having written on "Thucydides, his moral and historical principles and their influence in later antiquities". Also in 1933, Powell won the Browne Medal and delivered his winning essay in the Senate House, Cambridge . The Chancellor of Cambridge University,
32088-417: Was coined by Noel Skelton in 1923 and became a core principle of the party. While serving in Opposition during the late 1940s, the Conservative Party exploited and incited growing public anger at food rationing , scarcity, controls, austerity , and government bureaucracy. It used the dissatisfaction with the socialist and egalitarian policies of the Labour Party to rally middle-class supporters and build
32279-407: Was dominated by Brexit as she carried out negotiations with the European Union, adhering to the Chequers Plan , which resulted in her draft Brexit withdrawal agreement . May survived two votes of no confidence in December 2018 and January 2019, but after versions of her draft withdrawal agreement were rejected by Parliament three times , May announced her resignation on 24 May 2019. Subsequent to
32470-496: Was filmed and broadcast on BBC TV 's Newsnight 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. 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
32661-422: Was founded in 1834 from the Tory Party and was one of two dominant political parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party . Under Benjamin Disraeli , it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of the British Empire . In 1912, the Liberal Unionist Party merged with the party to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Rivalry with the Labour Party has shaped modern British politics for
32852-426: Was held in 1965, won by Edward Heath. Edward Heath 's 1970–74 government was known for taking the UK into the EEC , although the right-wing of the party objected to his failure to control the trade unions at a time when a declining British industry saw many strikes, as well as the 1973–75 recession . Since accession to the EEC, which developed into the EU, British membership has been a source of heated debate within
33043-401: Was held on 9 April 1992 and the Conservatives won a fourth successive electoral victory, contrary to predictions from opinion polls. The Conservatives became the first party to attract 14 million votes in a general election. On 16 September 1992, the Government suspended Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), after the pound fell lower than its minimum level in
33234-419: Was imminent. Powell was so shocked by the change of policy that he spent the whole night after it was announced walking the streets of London. He came to terms with it by becoming fiercely anti-imperialist, believing that once India had gone the whole empire should follow it. This logical absolutism explained his later indifference to the Suez Crisis , his contempt for the Commonwealth and his urging that
33425-585: Was in India that "recognition of belonging to a greater whole which involves the ultimate consequence in certain circumstances of self-sacrifice in the interests of the whole." Therefore, the title 'Head of the Commonwealth', the third major change, was "essentially a sham. They are essentially something which we have invented to blind ourselves to the reality of the position." These changes were "greatly repugnant" to Powell: ... if they are changes which were demanded by those who in many wars had fought with this country, by nations who maintained an allegiance to
33616-475: Was leading to a long-term decline in the British economy. As a result, her government pursued a programme of economic liberalism , adopting a free-market approach to public services based on the sale of publicly owned industries and utilities, as well as a reduction in trade union power. One of Thatcher's largest and most successful policies assisted council house tenants in public housing to purchase their homes at favourable rates. The "Right to Buy" had emerged in
33807-409: 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 , who, in
33998-443: Was opposed to the dismantling of the Stormont government in Northern Ireland and the imposition of direct rule. The Guardian claimed back in 1968 that the organisation was "probably the nearest British equivalent to the American John Birch Society ". 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
34189-439: Was plagued by internal division and infighting, mainly over the UK's role in the European Union . The party's Eurosceptic wing, represented by MPs such as John Redwood , opposed further EU integration, whilst the party's pro-European wing, represented by those such as Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke , was broadly supportive. The issue of the creation of a single European currency also inflamed tensions. Major survived
34380-431: Was posted to Cairo and transferred back to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. As secretary to the Joint Intelligence Committee, Middle East, he was soon doing work that would normally have been done by a more senior officer and was promoted to major in May 1942 (backdated to December 1941 ). He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in August 1942, telling his parents that he was doing the work of three people and expected to be
34571-509: Was printed in 1939. In its review, The Times Literary Supplement said Powell's "lyrical feeling, reflection, and an epigrammatic conciseness are pleasantly balanced, and he is particularly happy perhaps in saluting the blossoms of spring". Maurice Cowling appraised Powell's poems as "restrained and pessimistic, and written out of a high sense of human destiny. It expressed the position of youth and had an eschatological overtone characteristic of Housman's repressed tombstone emotion. It registered
34762-409: Was promoted to full colonel at the end of March 1944, as assistant director of military intelligence in India, giving intelligence support to the Burma campaign of Sir William Slim . Having begun the war as the youngest professor in the British Empire, Powell ended it as a brigadier . He was given the promotion to serve on a committee of generals and brigadiers to plan the postwar defence of India:
34953-410: Was published (in German) in the Philologische Wochenschrift , on a line of Herodotus. While studying at Cambridge, Powell became aware that there was another classicist who signed his name as "John U. Powell". Powell decided to use his middle name and, from that moment, referred to himself as "Enoch Powell". Powell won the Craven scholarship at the beginning of his second term in January 1931, only
35144-500: Was published in 1937 and was influenced by Housman. The Times Literary Supplement reviewed them and said they possessed to a degree "the tone and temper" of Housman's A Shropshire Lad . The Poet Laureate John Masefield told Powell he read them "with a great deal of admiration for their concision and point", and Hilaire Belloc said "I have read them with the greatest pleasure and interest ... I shall always retain them". His second volume of poems, Casting Off, and Other Poems ,
35335-426: Was reiterated in a letter in The Times from Lauder-Frost on the club's behalf in October 1991, in which he stated that the annual levels of immigration "were unacceptable". Following an Official Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing at Aldershot , Hampshire , in February 1972, club member and MP Jill Knight called for legislation to outlaw the Official IRA and its political wing, Sinn Féin (Official) . The club
35526-447: Was remembered as a hard-working student; his contemporary, Roy Lewis , recalled that "we thought that the masters were afraid of him". Powell also won a medal in gymnastics and gained a proficiency in the clarinet. He contemplated studying at the Royal Academy of Music but his parents persuaded him to try for a scholarship at Cambridge . Duggie Smith, Powell's form-master in the lower classical sixth and his principal classics master in
35717-417: Was reputed to be cleverer than any of the masters". Powell won all three of the school's classics prizes (in Thucydides , Herodotus and Divinity ) in the fifth form, two or three years younger than anyone else had won them. He also began to translate Herodotus's Histories and completed the translation of the first part when he was fourteen. He entered the sixth form two years before his classmates, and
35908-463: Was still convinced of the inevitability of war with Germany after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933: he told his father in 1934, "I want to be in the army from the first day that Britain goes to war". He suffered a spiritual crisis when he heard of the Night of the Long Knives in July 1934, which shattered his vision of German culture. He later recalled that he sat for hours in a state of shock: "So it had all been illusion, all fantasy, all
36099-489: Was the only child of Albert Enoch Powell, a primary school headmaster, and his wife, Ellen Mary. Ellen was the daughter of Henry Breese, a Liverpool policeman, and his wife Eliza, who had been a teacher. His mother did not like his name, and as a child he was known as "Jack". At the age of three, Powell was nicknamed "the Professor" because he used to stand on a chair and describe the stuffed birds that his grandfather had shot, which were displayed in his parents' home. In 1918,
36290-422: Was the room where the first Prince of Wales had been born. Every Sunday, Powell would give lectures to his parents on the books that he had read, and he would also conduct evensong and preach a sermon. Once he was old enough to go out on his own, Powell would walk around rural Worcestershire with the aid of Ordnance Survey maps, which instilled in him a love for landscape and cartography. Powell attended
36481-468: Was won now", and he wanted to see the Union Flag back in Singapore before, Powell feared, the Americans beat the British Empire to it and secured an imperial domination of their own over the region. He had at this time an ambition to be assigned to the Chindits units operating in Burma , and secured an interview with their commander, Orde Wingate , to this end while the latter was on a temporary stop-over in Cairo, but Powell's duties and rank precluded
#522477