Tim Montgomerie
Encyclopedia
ConservativeHome
Conservative Home is a British political website started by Tim Montgomerie prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign, that aims to represent UK grassroots Conservative opinion.-Editors:...
website, and has been described as "one of the most important Conservative activists of the past 20 years".
Conservative Christian Fellowship and Centre for Social Justice
Montgomerie and David BurrowesDavid Burrowes
David John Barrington Burrowes is a British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate, Parliamentary chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, and an Officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel group.-Early life:David Burrowes was born in Cockfosters...
(now an MP) jointly started the Conservative Christian Fellowship
Conservative Christian Fellowship
The Conservative Christian Fellowship is an organisation allied with the British Conservative Party, established in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and Conservative MP David Burrowes whilst they were students at Exeter University....
in 1990 while students at the University of Exeter
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
, supported by the Christian Coalition of America. During this period, he argued that the Conservative party should form closer links with churches on issues such as homosexuality and Section 28
Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...
, saying that the party should "expose the unbiblical and the libertine". Following the tradition of people such as William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, the Earl of Shaftesbury
Earl of Shaftesbury
Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II...
and Richard Oastler
Richard Oastler
Richard Oastler was an English labour reformer, "Tory radical", and abolitionist. He fought for the rights of working children in the Factory Act of 1847, and was also a prominent leader of the Factory reform and anti-Poor Law movement.-Career:Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Oastler was the...
he aimed to make the condition of the poor a priority. He established a social action project called "Renewing One Nation" which helped Iain Duncan Smith
Iain 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...
appreciate these issues. In 2004, with Iain Duncan Smith and Philippa Stroud, he established the cross-party Centre for Social Justice
Centre for Social Justice
The Centre for Social Justice is an independent, not-for-profit thinktank set up by the Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, to advance the education of the public in the subject of social justice and to promote the role of the voluntary sector...
to take forward the work that IDS had begun as party leader.
In Conservative Central Office
In September 2003, two months before 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...
was ousted as Conservative party leader, Tim Montgomerie became IDS's Chief of Staff. He had become a main influence behind Mr Duncan Smith's theme of compassionate conservatism
Compassionate conservatism
Compassionate Conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society. The term itself is often credited to U.S. historian and politician Doug Wead who used it as the title of a speech in 1979....
.
ConservativeHome.com
Montgomerie started the ConservativeHome website prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign. With John HayesJohn Henry Hayes
John Henry Hayes FRSA is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for South Holland and The Deepings, and a member of the socially conservative Cornerstone Group...
MP he also set up conservativedemocracy.com, which aimed to co-ordinate grassroots opposition during Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
's attempt to abolish the 'one member one vote' rule in the 2005 Conservative leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2005
The 2005 Conservative leadership election was called by party leader Michael Howard on 6 May 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as leader in the near future. However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted,...
.
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...
described him as "emerging as a major player in Tory politics." He is critical of the A-List and believes that 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...
Leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
is in danger of alienating working-class Tory voters, and has pressed Cameron for specific pledges on tax cuts.
Montgomerie has been used as an expert on internet campaigning by Conservative Central Office.
Internet Television
Montgomerie was a director of the internet television channel 18 Doughty Street18 Doughty Street
18 Doughty Street was a British political internet-based broadcaster that hosted a webcast as its chief product. It began broadcasting at 18:55 on 10 October 2006, from its studio at 18 Doughty Street in the Bloomsbury area of London, and ceased broadcasting at 23:00 on Thursday 8 November 2007...
which began broadcasting in October 2006 and went off air in November 2007. While at 18 Doughty Street, Montgomerie hosted its 'Campaign HQ' programme, which developed the channel's internet political advertisements after allowing viewers to vote on a choice of (usually) three different proposals. Previous adverts included attacks on taxes, state funding of political parties, and London Mayor Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
. The latest, "A World Without America", with an end scene depicting the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
wearing a burqa, was co-produced by 18 Doughty Street and the website BritianAndAmerica, and had 50,000 views within its first 24 hours of publication.
Present day
Montgomerie continues to co-edit ConservativeHome with Joseph Willits, Matthew Barrett and former Tory MP Paul Goodman. After the 2010 General Election campaign Montgomerie wrote a report that was critical of David Cameron's election campaign, entitled 'Falling short'. MediaGuardian listed him at number 90 in their 2010 list of the most powerful people in the media.Montgomerie lives in Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
, Wiltshire.
External links
- 18 Doughty Street
- ConservativeHome
- Tim Montgomerie Interviewed by Sophie Elmhirst