# Blue Collar Conservatism

Blue Collar Conservatives are a pressure group and caucus of Conservative Party Members of Parliament who identify as working class conservatives. It was founded in 2012 by former cabinet minister Esther McVey and a former conservative parliamentary candidate for Workington and Fujitsu UK's head of corporate affairs, Clark Vasey. It was relaunched at the beginning of the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election by Esther McVey, Ben Bradley, the MP for Mansfield since 2017, and Scott Mann, the MP for North Cornwall since 2015. The relaunch was reported to have rivalled the recent establishment of the One Nation Conservatives.
As a group, they aim to "champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour". In the weeks prior to becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said, "the blue-collar conservatism agenda – particularly in relation to supporting schools, police and other public services [...] is something I've already signalled I want to take forward in government." The New Statesman has described the caucus as an influential grouping within the parliamentary party.
In October 2022, Esther McVey stood down as chair and was replaced by Lee Anderson.

## Campaigns

The group focus their campaigning on empowering blue-collar workers and other working-class people. They have also campaigned on Brexit, public services, Education in the United Kingdom and law enforcement. The values of the caucus focus on "Conservative Values, Practical Delivery" and were attributed to the result of the 2019 general election, where the Conservatives won many seats in the "Red wall".
Many in the caucus have supported cancelling High Speed 2.

## Leadership until 2024
### Board members

* Esther McVey MP, president and founder
* Ben Bradley MP, chairman
* Councillor Clark Vasey, director
* Dehenna Davison MP, vice chair
* Scott Mann MP, vice chair
* Eddie Hughes MP, vice chair
* John Stevenson MP, vice chair
* Lee Rowley MP, vice chair
* Andrea Jenkyns MP, vice chair
* Andrew Lewer MP, vice chair
* Sir Gary Streeter MP, vice chair

## Membership until 2024

According to the group's website; the members/supporters of the caucus included:
* Member of Parliament
* Adam Afriyie
* Lucy Allan
* Lee Anderson
* Stuart Anderson
* Caroline Ansell
* Sarah Atherton
* Shaun Bailey
* Duncan Baker
* Simon Baynes
* Aaron Bell
* Scott Benton
* Jake Berry
* Saqib Bhatti
* Bob Blackman
* Peter Bottomley
* Ben Bradley (chairperson)
* Graham Brady
* Jack Brereton
* Paul Bristow
* Sara Britcliffe
* Fiona Bruce
* Robert Buckland
* Rob Butler
* Alun Cairns
* Andy Carter
* Maria Caulfield
* Brendan Clarke-Smith
* Chris Clarkson
* Alberto Costa
* Robert Courts
* James Daly
* James Davies
* Gareth Davies
* Philip Davies (Vice-chair)
* David Davis
* Dehenna Davison (Vice-chair)
* Sarah Dines
* Iain Duncan Smith
* Mark Eastwood
* George Eustice
* David Evennett
* Ben Everitt
* Simon Fell
* Katherine Fletcher
* Mark Fletcher
* Nick Fletcher
* Liam Fox
* Richard Fuller
* Mark Garnier
* Peter Gibson
* Jo Gideon
* Cheryl Gillan
* John Glen
* James Gray
* Chris Green
* James Grundy
* Jonathan Gullis
* Robert Halfon
* Trudy Harrison
* Sally-Ann Hart
* John Hayes
* Gordon Henderson
* Darren Henry
* Antony Higginbotham
* Richard Holden
* Kevin Hollinrake
* Philip Hollobone
* Paul Howell
* Nigel Huddleston
* Neil Hudson
* Eddie Hughes (Vice-chair)
* Jane Hunt
* Ranil Jayawardena
* Bernard Jenkin
* Mark Jenkinson
* Andrea Jenkyns (Vice-chair)
* Daniel Kawczynski
* Greg Knight
* Julian Knight
* Eleanor Laing
* John Lamont
* Robert Largan
* Pauline Latham
* Edward Leigh
* Andrew Lewer (Vice-chair)
* Ian Levy
* Julian Lewis
* Chris Loder
* Mark Logan
* Marco Longhi
* Julia Lopez
* Jonathan Lord
* Tim Loughton
* Craig Mackinlay
* Cherilyn Mackrory
* Rachel Maclean
* Alan Mak
* Kit Malthouse
* Anthony Mangnall
* Scott Mann (Vice-chair)
* Paul Maynard
* Jason McCartney
* Karl McCartney
* Stephen McPartland
* Esther McVey (Founder)
* Johnny Mercer
* Huw Merriman
* Stephen Metcalfe
* Robin Millar
* Damien Moore
* Robbie Moore
* Penny Mordaunt
* Kieran Mullan
* Holly Mumby-Croft
* Lia Nici
* Neil O'Brien
* Andrew Percy
* Priti Patel
* Tom Pursglove
* Tom Randall
* Nicola Richards
* Angela Richardson
* Andrew Rosindell
* Lee Rowley (Vice-chair)
* Dean Russell
* David Rutley
* Gary Sambrook
* Selaine Saxby
* Bob Seely
* Andrew Selous
* Chloe Smith
* Greg Smith
* Henry Smith
* Amanda Solloway
* Alexander Stafford
* Jane Stevenson
* John Stevenson (Vice-chair)
* Gary Streeter (Vice-chair)
* Julian Sturdy
* James Sunderland
* Robert Syms
* Derek Thomas
* Anne-Marie Trevelyan
* Tom Tugendhat
* Matt Vickers
* Martin Vickers
* Robin Walker
* Jamie Wallis
* Suzanne Webb
* Heather Wheeler
* Craig Whittaker
* Mike Wood
* Jacob Young
* Nadhim Zahawi

## Blue Collar Conversations: from pub to podcast

Since its relaunch, the group travelled to pubs across the country holding open events called 'Blue Collar Conversations' in which UK cabinet ministers and MPs discussed ideas and policies in an informal setting with members of the public. Speaking at one of those events, a member of the group is reported to have said: "The party needs to adopt the blue-collar Conservatism approach – travel to pubs across the country and reach out to the people… a pub-ocracy!"
The group then launched a weekly podcast of the same name. The podcast is described as "a space to champion working people". New episodes are released every Sunday and cover a range of topical issues, from crime and justice to care homes and football, and the cosmetic industry to education. The podcast is hosted by Esther McVey and guests have included Nick Knowles, Ching He Huang, Toby Young, Linda Yueh, Tom Harwood, Chris Wright, Mark Radcliffe and Bradford City A.F.C.; however, the podcast prides itself on also providing a platform for everyday working people.