The Conservative Woman

[[File:TCW.png|thumb|right|165px|Love it or hate it, just don't swallow it!]]{{UKpolitics}}
{{cquote|''The Conservative Woman'' has found a gap for a ''[[Marmite]]'' strand of thinking, which is to say one that is either loved or hated.|||Laura Perrins<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/the-irish-woman-who-became-a-leading-brexiteer-1.3378065 The Irish woman who became a leading Brexiteer] by Shane Hickey (10 Oct 2007) ''Irish Times''</ref>}}

'''The Conservative Woman''' aka '''TCW Defending Freedom''' is an untrustworthy{{efn|TCW, according to Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC),<ref name=mbfc/> engages in poor source citation and the promotion of conspiracy theories.}} far-right{{efn|TCW's story selection and opinion pieces are, according to Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC),<ref name=mbfc/> consistently biased in favor of the far-right.}} political [[webshite]]<ref name=mbfc>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-conservative-woman/ The Conservative Woman – Bias and Credibility] ''Media Bias/Fact Check''</ref> launched in London, UK, in 2014<ref>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09224574 THE CONSERVATIVE WOMAN LIMITED] ''Companies House''</ref> which claims to have 1.5 million monthly views.<ref name=hnh>[https://hopenothate.org.uk/case-files-conservative-women/ CASE FILE: Conservative Woman] ''Hope Not Hate''</ref> It was founded by former {{wpl|TV-am}} producer Kathy Gyngell<ref name=chkg>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/VnpI07Qhuzt9xqj-ws29BcjItn4/appointments Kathryn Julia GYNGELL] ''Companies House''</ref> and former barrister {{wpl|Laura Perrins}}<ref name=chlp>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/-C5bKrYPaTupV_ZkQ7KX4lp_RFs/appointments Laura Jean Mary PERRINS] ''Companies House''</ref> as a "counter-cultural offensive against the forces of [[Leftism]], [[feminism]] and modernism."<ref name=ds>[https://www.desmog.com/conservative-woman/ TCW Defending Freedom (formerly The Conservative Woman)] ''DeSmog''</ref> The founders, who describe their values as “unashamedly those of [[faith]], [[married]] family and [[nation-state]],” have supported [[Brexit]], denied [[climate change]] and [[COVID-19 denialism|COVID-19]], and promoted a smorgasbord of [[right-wing]] [[conspiracy theories]]. The website derives its revenue through donations and sponsored content and is published by ''The Conservative Woman Limited''. 

TCW Ltd is majority owned by Gyngell, with Perrins having ceased to be co-editor and a minority stake holder in 2021.<ref>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09224574/persons-with-significant-control THE CONSERVATIVE WOMAN LIMITED - Persons with Significant Control] ''Companies House''</ref> According to its latest filing (as of September 2024)<ref>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09224574/filing-history THE CONSERVATIVE WOMAN LIMITED - Filing History] ''Companies House''</ref> the company holds assets worth just over £4,000 (down from just over £19,000 in 2022), capital reserves just over £40,000 (up from just over £24,000 in 2022) and has no employees (down from 2 in 2022).

The {{wpl|British Board of Film Classification}} has, following a 2022 review,<ref>[https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/statement-on Statement on The Conservative Woman website] ''British Board of Film Classification''</ref> classified the website, under the BBFC Mobile Classification Framework, as being suitable only for adults and required it to be placed behind adult filters due to comments left unchallenged by the blog's administrators representing unbridled [[racism]], [[sexism]], and [[Islamophobia]] as well as advocating for [[white supremacy]].

==Content warnings==
===Climate change denialism===
{{main|Climate change}}
TCW's opposition to ''climate quackery'' sees it regularly publishing work by the [[Global Warming Policy Foundation]], of which TCW editor Kathy Gyngell is a Trustee and Director, and it's leading lights {{wpl|Ruth Lea||,}} Harry Wilkinson and John Constable.<ref name=ds />

===COVID-19 denialism===
{{main|COVID-19 denialism}}
TCW promoted the use of the unproven treatment of [[COVID-19]] with [[hydroxychloroquine]] and pushed the disredited ideas of {{wpl|Peter A. McCullough||,}} thereby earning itself an impressive seven-failed fact checks for a single article.<ref name=mbfc /><ref>[https://fullfact.org/health/conservative-woman-article-falsely-claims-vaccines-dont-work/ Conservative Woman article falsely claims vaccines don’t work] by Abbas Panjwani (Aug 18, 2021) ''Full Fact''</ref>

==Key people==
===Kathy Gyngell===
'''Kathryn Julia Gyngell''' née '''Rowan''' {{lived|1950|}}<ref name=chkg /> is the co-founder and editor of ''The Conservative Woman'' as well as a director of The Conservative Woman Ltd.<ref name=ds /><ref name=ds2>[https://www.desmog.com/2019/08/09/cambridge-professor-and-anti-bbc-campaigner-join-board-climate-science-denial-campaign-group/ Cambridge Professor and Anti-BBC Campaigner Join Board of Climate Science Denial Campaign Group] by Rich Collett-White (Aug 9, 2019) ''DeSmog''</ref> 

Gyngell holds a Bachelor’s in social [[anthropology]] from Cambridge and a Master’s in [[sociology]] from Oxford and was a Research Fellow under {{wpl|Jay Blumler}} at the Centre for Television Research at Leeds University. She worked in the Features and Current Affairs Department at {{wpl|LWT}} and was a Features Editor at {{wpl|TV-am}} before leaving her career to become a stay-at-home mother to the children she had with her then boss and now late husband {{wpl|Bruce Gyngell||.}}{{efn|Bruce Gyngell was [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s favourite broadcaster and received a personal letter from her when government legislation inadvertently killed off TV-am.}}<ref name=ds /><ref name=ds2 />

In 1999 she and fellow TV-am alumni [[David Keighley]] founded the anti-[[BBC]] watchdog [[Minotaur Media Tracking]], which was the precursor to [[News-watch]].<ref name=ds /><ref name=ds2 />

In 2006, Gyngell was appointed as a research fellow working on drugs and early-years policies at the influential [[Free market|free-market]] [[think tank]] {{wpl|Centre for Policy Studies}} co-founded by her and her late husband's close personal friend [[Margaret Thatcher]].<ref name=ds /><ref name=ds2 />

Since 2019, Gyngell has been a Trustee and Director of the climate-change denialist Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), founded by [[Nigel Lawson]].<ref name=ds /><ref name=ds2 />

===Laura Perrins===
'''Laura Jean Mary Perrins''' née '''McGowan''' {{lived|1981|}}<ref name=chlp /> is the co-founder and former co-editor of ''The Conservative Woman'' as well as a director of The Conservative Woman Ltd.<ref name=ds /> 

Perrins qualified as a barrister before leaving her career to become a stay-at-home mother. A 2013 LBC radio interview in which she confronted then Deputy Prime Minister [[Nick Clegg]] for ''discriminating'' against single mothers brought her to public prominence.<ref name=ds />

===Editorial board===
* Alan and Margaret Ashworth, former [[journalist]]s.<ref name=ds />
* [[David Keighley]], director of the anti-BBC watchdog [[News-watch]] who writes the regular ''BBC Watch'' column.<ref name=ds />

===Notable contributors===
* [[James Delingpole]], who claimed the {{wpl|2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes}} were targeted at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for refusing "to toe the [[globalist]] line."<ref name=hnh /><ref name=ds />
* John Ellwood, who claimed "the [[New World Order]] are in the ascendency", "bolstered by the success of their COVID-19 [[Bioweapon]]" and "climate nonsense".<ref name=ds />
* David Kurten, leader of the [[Heritage Party]].
* {{wpl|John Longworth||,}} executive director of the Centre for Brexit Policy, former co-chair of {{wpl|Leave Means Leave}} and a [[Brexit Party]] MEP sacked by [[Nigel Farage]].<ref name=ds />
* Nick Wood, chairman of Westminster-based PR firm Media Intelligence Partners (MIP) and a director and minority stakeholder of TCW ltd until 2017.<ref name=ds />

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservative Woman, The}}

[[Category:Antifeminism]]
[[Category:Brexit]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Webshites]]

Categories: Antifeminism, Brexit, Conspiracy theorists, Global warming denialists, Internalized discrimination, Webshites