# List of British conservatives

British conservatism refers to a political and philosophical tradition in the United Kingdom that emphasizes the preservation of established institutions, the rule of law, gradual societal change, traditionalism British Unionism, loyalism, euroscepticism, a free market economy, individualism and a strong belief in personal responsibility.
Along with liberalism and socialism, it is one of the major political ideologies in the UK.
Entries on the list must have achieved notability after the writing of Reflections on the Revolution in France which is often seen as the starting point of conservatism.

## People
### Intellectuals, philosophers and historians

| Name | Lifetime | Notability | Ref. |
| Edmund Burke | 1729–1797 | Philosopher and statesman, generally understood as part of a liberal tradition, but sometimes associated with a 20th-century movement called modern conservatism | |
| Thomas Carlyle | 1795–1881 | Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher | Philosophy of Thomas Carlyle |
| Henry Sidgwick | 1838-1900 | Philosopher and economist | |
| George Saintsbury | 1845-1933 | Literary critic | |
| F. J. C. Hearnshaw | 1869-1946 | British historian | |
| C. H. Douglas | 1879-1952 | British engineer, economist, and historian | |
| Friedrich Hayek | 1899–1992 | Political philosopher and economist | |
| Keith Feiling | 1884-1977 | British historian | |
| Christopher Dawson | 1889–1970 | Catholic historian and independent scholar | |
| Herbert Butterfield | 1900-1979 | British historian and philosopher | |
| Michael Joseph Oakeshott | 1901-1990 | Philosopher and political theorist | |
| Lord David Cecil | 1902-1986 | British historian and biographer | |
| Maurice Cranston | 1920-1993 | Philosopher and political scientist | |
| Maurice Cowling | 1926–2005 | British historian | |
| Antony Flew | 1923-2010 | Philosopher | |
| Anthony Quinton | 1925-2010 | Political and moral philosopher, writer, and metaphysician | |
| Norman Stone | 1941-2019 | British historian and author | |
| Roger Scruton | 1944–2020 | Philosopher, writer, and social critic | |
| Anthony O'Hear | 1942 - | Philosopher | |
| Niall Ferguson | 1964 - | Scottish–American historian | |

### Politicians and office holders

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| Prime Minister Robert Peel | 1788–1850 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1834 to 1835 and later from 1841 to 1846 |
| Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli | 1804–1881 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1874 to 1880 |
| Prime Minister Winston Churchill | 1874–1965 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and later from 1951 to 1955 |
| Prime Minister Edward Heath | 1916-2005 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 |
| Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher | 1925–2013 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 |
| Prime Minister John Major | 1943 - | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1997 |
| Prime Minister Theresa May | 1956 - | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019 |
| Prime Minister Boris Johnson | 1964 - | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 |
| Prime Minister David Cameron | 1966 - | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 |
| Prime Minister Rishi Sunak | 1980 - | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024 |

### Media personalities, journalists, broadcasters, publishers, editors, radio hosts, columnists and bloggers

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| T. E. Utley | 1921-1988 | British journalist and writer |
| Peregrine Worsthorne | 1923-2020 | British journalist, writer, and broadcaster |
| David Pryce-Jones | 1936- | British author and commentator |
| Auberon Waugh | 1939-2001 | British journalist and novelist |
| Andrew Neil | 1949 - | Scottish journalist, chairman and broadcaster |
| Peter Hitchens | 1951 - | Conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator |
| Charles Moore | 1956 - | British journalist and editor |
| Allison Pearson | 1960 - | British columnist and author |
| Tony Gallagher | 1963 - | British newspaper journalist and editor |
| Piers Morgan | 1965 - | Broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality |
| Tim Davie | 1967 - | British media executive |
| Julia Hartley-Brewer | 1968 - | British radio presenter, political journalist and newspaper columnist |
| Fraser Nelson | 1973 - | Political journalist and editor |
| Isabel Oakeshott | 1974 or 1975 - | British political journalist |
| Camilla Tominey | 1978 - | Journalist, broadcaster and news presenter |
| Douglas Murray | 1979 - | Author, columnist, editor and political commentator |

### Painters, printmakers, fine-art photographers, visual artists and sculptors

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| John Constable | 1776–1837 | English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition |
| Samuel Palmer | 1805–1881 | British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker |
| George Richmond | 1809–1896 | Painter, portraitist and member of The Ancients |
| Wyndham Lewis | 1882–1957 | Painter, art critic and co-founder of the Vorticist movement |
| L. S. Lowry | 1887–1976 | Mancunian painter known for his naïve artworks |
| Francis Bacon | 1909–1992 | Irish-born British figurative painter |
| Gilbert & George | 1942 - 1943 - | Collaborative performance art duo |
| Tracey Emin | 1963 - | English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork |

### Composers, musicians and record producers

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| Edward Elgar | 1857-1934 | English composer best known for his orchestral works including the Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches |
| Bill Wyman | 1936 - | Bassist of The Rolling Stones |
| Errol Brown | 1943-2015 | British-Jamaican singer-songwriter and frontman of the soul band Hot Chocolate |
| Jimmy Page | 1944 - | Guitarist, writer and composer of the renowned hard rock band Led Zeppelin |
| Roger Daltrey | 1944 - | Co-founder and lead singer of the hard rock band The Who |
| John Entwistle | 1944-2002 | Bassist of the hard rock band The Who |
| Eric Clapton | 1945 - | Highly influential guitarist known for his solo work as well as being a member of blues rock band The Yardbirds and psychedelic rock band Cream |
| Bryan Ferry | 1945 - | Vocalist and principal songwriter of the art rock band Roxy Music |
| Roy Wood | 1946 - | Member and co-founder of rock bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard |
| Steve Winwood | 1948 - | English blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter and member rock bands The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith |
| Lynsey de Paul | 1948-2014 | English singer-songwriter and producer |
| Kenney Jones | 1948 - | Drummer of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces |
| Rick Wakeman | 1949 - | Keyboardist of the progressive rock band Yes |
| Mike Oldfield | 1953 - | Prominent progressive rock musician |
| John Lydon | 1956 - | Lead vocalist of the pioneering punk rock band Sex Pistols and frontman of the experimental post-punk band Public Image Ltd |
| Ian Curtis | 1956-1980 | Lead singer and lyricist of the prolific post-punk band Joy Division |
| Mark E. Smith | 1957-2018 | Frontman and lyricist of the pivotal experimental post-punk band The Fall |
| Jon Moss | 1957 - | Drummer of the New Romantic group Culture Club |
| Bruce Dickinson | 1958 - | Frontman of the influential heavy metal band Iron Maiden |
| Morrissey | 1959 - | Frontman and lyricist of the important indie pop band The Smiths |
| Tony Hadley | 1960 - | Lead singer of the New Romantic group Spandau Ballet |
| Gary Barlow | 1971 - | Lead singer of the pop group Take That |
| Kerry Katona | 1980 - | Original member of the pop group Atomic Kitten |

### Filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| Noël Coward | 1899-1973 | Director and writer of films including In Which We Serve |
| Laurence Olivier | 1907-1989 | Director and writer of films including Hamlet and Richard III |
| Peter Glenville | 1913-1996 | Director of films including The Prisoner and Becket |
| Peter Sellers | 1925-1980 | Writer and director of films including The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film and Mr. Topaze |
| Bryan Forbes | 1926-2013 | Director and writer of films including Séance on a Wet Afternoon, King Rat and The Stepford Wives |
| Michael Caine | 1933 - | Executive producer of films including The Fourth Protocol (film) |
| Michael Winner | 1935-2013 | Director of films including Hannibal Brooks and Death Wish |
| Terence Donovan | 1936-1996 | Photographer and director of music videos |
| Tom Stoppard | 1937 - | Writer of films including Brazil, Empire of the Sun and The Russia House |
| Julian Fellowes | 1949 - | Creator and writer of Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age |
| Gary Oldman | 1958 - | Writer and director of films including Nil by Mouth |

### Novelists, poets and short story writers

| Name | Lifetime | Notability |
| Charlotte Brontë | 1816-1855 | Author of Jane Eyre and Villette |
| Lewis Carroll | 1832–1898 | Author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass |
| Alfred Austin | 1835–1913 | Author of A Poem – To England |
| Mary Augusta Ward | 1851-1920 | Author of Robert Elsmere, Marcella, and The Marriage of William Ashe |
| Robert Louis Stevenson | 1850-1894 | Author of Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde |
| George Gissing | 1857–1903 | Author of The Nether World, New Grub Street and The Odd Women |
| Joseph Conrad | 1857–1924 | Author of Heart of Darkness and Nostromo |
| Arthur Conan Doyle | 1859-1930 | Creator of Canon of Sherlock Holmes and The Lost World |
| W. W. Jacobs | 1863–1943 | Author of The Lady of the Barge including The Monkey's Paw |
| Rudyard Kipling | 1865–1936 | Nobel Laureate author of The Jungle Book duology, Kim and Just So Stories |
| Saki | 1870-1916 | Author of The Westminster Alice and When William Came |
| Lord Alfred Douglas | 1870-1945 | Author of The City of the Soul and The Duke of Berwick |
| Robert Hugh Benson | 1871–1914 | Author of Lord of the World and Come Rack! Come Rope! |
| G. K. Chesterton | 1874–1934 | Author of The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Everlasting Man and the Father Brown stories |
| John Hay Beith | 1876–1952 | Author of Pip, A Safety Match and The Midshipmaid under the pen name Ian Hay |
| T. E. Hulme | 1883–1917 | Author of "Autumn" and "A City Sunset", both published in 1909 in a Poets' Club anthology, have the distinction of being the first Imagist poems. |
| D. H. Lawrence | 1885-1930 | Author of The White Peacock, Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow and Lady Chatterley's Lover |
| T. S. Eliot | 1888-1965 | Author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men and Four Quartets |
| Agatha Christie | 1890-1976 | Author of Murder on the Orient Express, A Murder Is Announced, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd |
| J. R. R. Tolkien | 1892–1973 | Author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit |
| C. S. Lewis | 1898–1963 | Author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity |
| Elizabeth Bowen | 1899–1973 | Author of The Last September, The House in Paris, The Death of the Heart, The Heat of the Day and Eva Trout |
| Barbara Cartland | 1901-2000 | Author of A Ghost in Monte Carlo |
| Evelyn Waugh | 1903–1966 | Author of the Decline and Fall , A Handful of Dust, Brideshead Revisited, and the Sword of Honour trilogy |
| Anthony Powell | 1905-2000 | Author of the 12-volume roman-fleuve A Dance to the Music of Time |
| Lawrence Durrell | 1912–1990 | Author of The Alexandria Quartet |
| Anthony Burgess | 1917–1993 | Author of The Malayan Trilogy and A Clockwork Orange |
| P. D. James | 1920–2014 | Author of the Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Children of Men |
| John Braine | 1922–1986 | Author of Room at the Top |
| Kingsley Amis | 1922-1995 | Author of Lucky Jim, Jake's Thing and The Old Devils |
| Philip Larkin | 1922–1985 | Author of The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows |
| J. G. Ballard | 1930–2009 | Author of The Atrocity Exhibition, Crash and High-Rise |
| V. S. Naipaul | 1932-2018 | Nobel Laureate author of the A House for Mr Biswas, In a Free State, A Bend in the River and The Enigma of Arrival |
| Jilly Cooper | 1937 - | Author of the Rutshire Chronicles including Riders, Rivals and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous |
| Frederick Forsyth | 1938 - | Author of The Day of the Jackal, The Dogs of War and The Fist of God |

## Media

| Name | Founded/defunct | Notability |
| The Times | 1785 – | British daily national newspaper based in London that is widely considered to be the newspaper of record along with The Daily Telegraph |
| The Sunday Times | 1821 – | British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category |
| The Spectator | 1828 – | Conservative news magazine first published in July 1828 making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world |
| The Daily Telegraph | 1855 – | British daily conservative broadsheet newspaper founded by Arthur B. Sleigh which is often regarded as the paper of record newspaper of record together with The Times |