Pro-Euro Conservative Party
Encyclopedia
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British
political party announced by John Stevens
and Brendan Donnelly
in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament Elections. The founders were Members of the European Parliament
who had resigned from the UK Conservative Party
in protest at its anti-euro
stance. Their reported aim was to replace the Eurosceptic
Conservative leadership of William Hague
with that of Kenneth Clarke
. Stevens later said that they had intended to push Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine
, Chris Patten
and other pro-Europeans in the Conservative Party into "an SDP
-style breakaway, in combination with the Liberal Democrats
". The party disbanded in 2001.
". The main aim of the party was for the United Kingdom to join the euro
, also known as "the single currency", for economic reasons. At the time the British pound was strong against the euro, which had dropped in value to be equal to the US dollar, and the then-Governor of the Bank of England Eddie George said that it would be "an act of faith" for Britain to join the Eurozone
.
The party manifesto, published on 17 May 1999 and titled "Time to decide", argued for greater powers for the European Parliament over the European Commission and the European Central Bank, reform of the commission, reduction of countries' veto powers, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, a European defence and security policy, stronger political and economic ties to the Balkans, and faster EU enlargement in eastern Europe.
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party distributed leaflets calling William Hague "Bill Duce", after Mussolini, when a group of Conservative MEPs led by Daniel Hannan
were reported to be planning leave the EPP
grouping and join with an Italian far-right party. John Stevens said Hague was "taking the Tories into an extreme, nationalist party. This is dangerous for the country and catastrophic for the Conservative Party". The PECP's party political broadcast
showed an actor portraying Hague as "a down-and-out in a baseball cap ranting about pride in being British and disliking 'frogs', the European single currency and anything else from the continent", which was called "a tacky and amateurish exercise" by the Conservative Party.
opinion poll of 1911 people published 16 February 1999 suggested that a new pro-EU conservative party could possibly win 11% of the vote.
The party received an endorsement in The Independent
from writer A. N. Wilson
, as well as support from Paul Howell
, who was a speech writer for Margaret Thatcher and Edward Heath and a Conservative MEP, and Anthony Meyer
, the "stalking horse" candidate against Margaret Thatcher in 1990. After William Hague ruled out Britain joining the euro under a Conservative government, former cabinet minister Ian Gilmour
said he would vote for the PECP, and four former Conservative MPs - Julian Critchley
, Nicholas Scott
, David Knox
, Robert Hicks
- and four former MEPs - Margaret Daly
, Adam Fergusson
, Madron Seligman
and Anthony Simpson
- wrote in a letter to The Times that "We would have wished that William Hague's party had put forward a manifesto more like that of the Pro Euro Conservative Party. Like many Conservatives, we shall find it very difficult to know how best to cast our vote on 10 June." The Conservative Party threatened to expel any members who supported the PECP, and did expel Critchley and Gilmour a fortnight after the election.
Although the party's election literature featured Ken Clarke, asking voters "Are you more a Clarke Conservative than a Hague Conservative?," Clarke did not approve of the party or its campaign and with Michael Heseltine
met with the PECP at Heseltine's home in May 1999 to try to persuade them not to stand. Conservative MP Geoffrey Howe
who became head of pro-euro group Britain in Europe
during the election campaign did not endorse the PECP, but said the resignations from the Conservatives "should send a clear and sombre signal to our party leadership". Andrew Lansley
, then a vice-chairman of the Conservatives called them "a party of the disgruntled and disaffected".
Despite the party's name and their position as "rebel Tories", some of their candidates and officials were from the European Movement
and originally from parties other than the Conservatives, such as Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The chief press officer Mark Littlewood
was a Liberal Democrat who had also been a spokesman for the European Movement
and later rejoined the Liberal Democrats
.
, which campaigns for withdrawal from the European Union, received just under 7% of the vote and three seats in the European Parliament.
John Stevens received 3.8% of the vote as the PECP candidate in the 1999 Kensington & Chelsea by-election
against Michael Portillo
. The party announced that it planned to change its name after the by-election due to voter hostility.
In November 2001, the PECP urged Conservatives to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Ipswich by-election
.
"a cancer of extremism and xenophobia". He was one of approximately 20 supporters who joined the Liberal Democrats and urged the remainder of the party's claimed 500 members to follow suit.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
political party announced by John Stevens
John Stevens (politician)
John Christopher Courtenay Stevens is an English politician. A Conservative Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999, he contested the Buckingham constituency in the 2010 general election as an independent, against Commons speaker John Bercow.-Background:Stevens was educated at...
and Brendan Donnelly
Brendan Donnelly (politician)
Brendan Patrick Donnelly is a pro-European Union British politician.Donnelly was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in Sussex South and Crawley at the European Parliament election, 1994 for the Conservative Party...
in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament Elections. The founders were Members of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
who had resigned from the UK Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in protest at its anti-euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
stance. Their reported aim was to replace the Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom
Euroscepticism , is a significant element in the politics of the United Kingdom since the inception of the European Communities —comprising the European Economic Community , the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Coal and Steel Community...
Conservative leadership of William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
with that of Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...
. Stevens later said that they had intended to push Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, Chris Patten
Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC , is the last Governor of British Hong Kong, a former British Conservative politician, and the current chairman of the BBC Trust....
and other pro-Europeans in the Conservative Party into "an SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
-style breakaway, in combination with the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
". The party disbanded in 2001.
Policies
The party said it was "based on traditional Conservative values", and they self-defined as "One Nation ConservativesOne Nation Conservatism
One nation, one nation conservatism, and Tory democracy are terms used in political debate in the United Kingdom to refer to a certain wing of the Conservative Party...
". The main aim of the party was for the United Kingdom to join the euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
, also known as "the single currency", for economic reasons. At the time the British pound was strong against the euro, which had dropped in value to be equal to the US dollar, and the then-Governor of the Bank of England Eddie George said that it would be "an act of faith" for Britain to join the Eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
.
The party manifesto, published on 17 May 1999 and titled "Time to decide", argued for greater powers for the European Parliament over the European Commission and the European Central Bank, reform of the commission, reduction of countries' veto powers, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, a European defence and security policy, stronger political and economic ties to the Balkans, and faster EU enlargement in eastern Europe.
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party distributed leaflets calling William Hague "Bill Duce", after Mussolini, when a group of Conservative MEPs led by Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
were reported to be planning leave the EPP
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
grouping and join with an Italian far-right party. John Stevens said Hague was "taking the Tories into an extreme, nationalist party. This is dangerous for the country and catastrophic for the Conservative Party". The PECP's party political broadcast
Party political broadcast
A party political broadcast is a short television or radio broadcast made by a political party....
showed an actor portraying Hague as "a down-and-out in a baseball cap ranting about pride in being British and disliking 'frogs', the European single currency and anything else from the continent", which was called "a tacky and amateurish exercise" by the Conservative Party.
Reception
A MORIMORI
Ipsos MORI is the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom, formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI, two of the Britain's leading survey companies in October 2005...
opinion poll of 1911 people published 16 February 1999 suggested that a new pro-EU conservative party could possibly win 11% of the vote.
The party received an endorsement in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
from writer A. N. Wilson
A. N. Wilson
Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views...
, as well as support from Paul Howell
Paul Howell
Paul Frederick Howell was a British politician who served as a Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament for Norfolk from 1979 to 1994.-Biography:...
, who was a speech writer for Margaret Thatcher and Edward Heath and a Conservative MEP, and Anthony Meyer
Anthony Meyer
Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative and later Liberal Democrat politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989...
, the "stalking horse" candidate against Margaret Thatcher in 1990. After William Hague ruled out Britain joining the euro under a Conservative government, former cabinet minister Ian Gilmour
Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar
Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, PC, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his father's baronetcy, until he became a life peer in 1992. He served as Secretary of State for...
said he would vote for the PECP, and four former Conservative MPs - Julian Critchley
Julian Critchley
Sir Julian Michael Gordon Critchley was a British Conservative Party politician.Born in Islington, the son of a distinguished neurosurgeon, as a boy Critchley was brought up in Swiss Cottage, north London, and Shropshire, where he attended preparatory school, and later Shrewsbury School...
, Nicholas Scott
Nicholas Scott
The Rt. Hon. Sir Nicholas Paul Scott, PC, JP , was a British Conservative Party politician.Scott was educated at Clapham College and was national chairman of the Young Conservatives in 1963...
, David Knox
David Knox (UK politician)
Sir David Laidlaw Knox is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Conservative MP for Leek, Staffordshire from 1970 to 1983, and for Staffordshire Moorlands from 1983 to 1997, when he retired....
, Robert Hicks
Robert Hicks (British politician)
Robert Adrian Hicks , was a British conservative Party politician.Hicks contested Aberavon in 1966. He was Member of Parliament for Bodmin from 1970 to February 1974 and from October 1974 to 1983...
- and four former MEPs - Margaret Daly
Margaret Daly
Margaret Daly was a British Conservative Party politician who represented Somerset and West Dorset in the European Parliament from 1984 to 1994.Daly was a member of various committees including:* Women's Rights Committees...
, Adam Fergusson
Adam Fergusson (MEP)
Adam Dugdale Fergusson is a British journalist, author and Conservative Party politician who served one term in the European Parliament. He has remained involved in the field of European Union affairs since, as a Special Adviser to Conservative governments and as a business consultant...
, Madron Seligman
Madron Seligman
Madron Seligman was born in Leatherhead, Surrey. He spent most of his career in industry, where he came to understand and support the European Economic Community and was latterly a Member of the European Parliament , winning the West Sussex seat in 1979 by a record margin of 95,484 votes, which...
and Anthony Simpson
Anthony Simpson
Anthony Simpson is a former Member of the European Parliament.He served as Conservative MEP for Northamptonshire from 1979 until 1994.-References:...
- wrote in a letter to The Times that "We would have wished that William Hague's party had put forward a manifesto more like that of the Pro Euro Conservative Party. Like many Conservatives, we shall find it very difficult to know how best to cast our vote on 10 June." The Conservative Party threatened to expel any members who supported the PECP, and did expel Critchley and Gilmour a fortnight after the election.
Although the party's election literature featured Ken Clarke, asking voters "Are you more a Clarke Conservative than a Hague Conservative?," Clarke did not approve of the party or its campaign and with Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
met with the PECP at Heseltine's home in May 1999 to try to persuade them not to stand. Conservative MP Geoffrey Howe
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...
who became head of pro-euro group Britain in Europe
Britain in Europe
Prior to August 2005, Britain in Europe was the main British pro-European pressure group. Despite connections to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds...
during the election campaign did not endorse the PECP, but said the resignations from the Conservatives "should send a clear and sombre signal to our party leadership". Andrew Lansley
Andrew Lansley
Andrew David Lansley, CBE, MP is the UK Secretary of State for Health, who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire since the 1997 general election, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Health from June 2004 until becoming Secretary of State for Health in May 2010...
, then a vice-chairman of the Conservatives called them "a party of the disgruntled and disaffected".
Despite the party's name and their position as "rebel Tories", some of their candidates and officials were from the European Movement
European Movement UK
The European Movement UK is an independent pressure group in the United Kingdom which campaigns in support of greater European integration and for reform of the European Union. It is part of the European Movement International....
and originally from parties other than the Conservatives, such as Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The chief press officer Mark Littlewood
Mark Littlewood
Mark Littlewood is the Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs . He has formerly been chief press spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and the Pro Euro Conservative Party....
was a Liberal Democrat who had also been a spokesman for the European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
and later rejoined the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
.
Electoral performance
The party stood 84 candidates in the European Parliament elections, receiving 138,097 votes, or 1.4% of the vote and no seats. In the same election the United Kingdom Independence PartyUnited Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
, which campaigns for withdrawal from the European Union, received just under 7% of the vote and three seats in the European Parliament.
John Stevens received 3.8% of the vote as the PECP candidate in the 1999 Kensington & Chelsea by-election
Kensington and Chelsea by-election, 1999
The Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea, Alan Clark, died of a brain tumour on September 5, 1999.This was the first safe Conservative seat to have a by-election in the Parliament. There was immediate speculation that Michael Portillo, the most high-profile casualty of the 1997 general...
against Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
. The party announced that it planned to change its name after the by-election due to voter hostility.
In November 2001, the PECP urged Conservatives to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Ipswich by-election
Ipswich by-election, 2001
The member of Parliament for Ipswich in Suffolk, Jamie Cann, of the Labour Party died on 15 October 2001.The by-election to fill his seat was held on 22 November that year, and was the first of six by-elections which took place during the 2001-2005 parliament....
.
Disbanding
In December 2001 the Pro-Euro Conservative Party disbanded, expressing disappointment at failing to persuade pro-European "grandees" to leave the Conservative Party and cooperate with the Liberal Democrats. Leader John Stevens called the Conservative Party under their then newly elected leader Iain Duncan SmithIain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
"a cancer of extremism and xenophobia". He was one of approximately 20 supporters who joined the Liberal Democrats and urged the remainder of the party's claimed 500 members to follow suit.