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Political pressure group in the UK

The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Northern Ireland. Founded in 1961, in reaction to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's opposition to white majority rule in Southern Rhodesia, the club became embroiled in the decolonisation and immigration debate, inevitably highlighting the controversial issue of race, which has dominated its image ever since. The club was known for its fierce opposition to non white immigration to Britain and its support for apartheid era South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. By 1971, the club had 35 MPs, six of them ministers, and 35 peers, with membership (including branches) totaling about 10,000. In 1982, the constitution was re written, with more emphasis on support for the Conservative Party, but it remained autonomous from the party. In fighting over the club's traditional Tory agenda led to many resignations in 1991. In 2001, the Conservative Party formally severed relations with the club, which has ceased to exercise significant influence, with full membership below 600.

The club was founded on 1 January 1961, by four young Conservative Party members, Paul Bristol (a 24 year old shipbroker and the club's first chairman, who left the club in 1968), Ian Greig (Membership Secretary until 1969), Cedric Gunnery (Treasurer until 1992; died 16 Mar 2023), and Anthony Maclaren. The club was formed "to force local party associations to discuss and debate party policy". Its first general policy statement deplored the tendency of recent Conservative governments to adopt policies based upon expediency and demanded that instead Tory principles should be the guiding influence. It believed that the principles needing to be reasserted included the preservation of the constitution and existing institutions, the freedom of the individual, the private ownership of property, and the need for Britain to play a leading part in world affairs. The club disliked what it regarded as the expediency, cynicism and materialism which motivated Harold Macmillan's government. In addition it was concerned that during this period "the left wing of the Party (had) gained a predominant influence over policy" and that as a result the Conservative Party had shifted to the left, so that "the floating voter could not detect, as he should, major differences between it and the Socialists" and, furthermore, "loyal Conservatives had become disillusioned and dispirited". The club's published aims stated that it "seeks to evolve a dynamic application of traditional Tory principles". The group brought together supporters of Rhodesia and South Africa; the main impetus for the group's formation was the Conservatives' new decolonisation policies, in particular as a general reaction to Macmillan's 'Wind of Change' speech made in South Africa. The club stated that Macmillan had "turned the Party Left", and its first pamphlet opposed these policies as indicative of the Conservative Party's move towards liberalism. The club is notable for having promoted a policy of voluntary, or assisted, repatriation for Commonwealth immigrants, a policy subsequently adopted in the 1970 Conservative Party manifesto. The 5th Marquess of Salisbury (1893–1972), who had resigned from Macmillan's Cabinet over the Prime Minister's liberal direction, became its first president in January 1962, when he stated "there was never a greater need for true conservatism than there is today". By the end of 1963 there were eleven Members of Parliament in the Club, which then had an overall membership of about 300. The club was courted by many Conservative politicians, including the Conservative Party leader Sir Alec Douglas Home who was guest of honour at the club's annual dinners of 1964 and 1969, and Enoch Powell, who, in a speech in 1968, said that "it was due to the Monday Club that many are brought within the Conservative Party who might otherwise be estranged from it". That year Alan Clark joined the club and was soon chairman of its Wiltshire branch. Under its chairman from 1964 to 1969, Paul Williams, who until 1964 had been MP for Sunderland South, the club enjoyed significant growth and influence. Some argued that the club had a disproportionate influence within Conservative circles, especially after six of its members who were MPs joined the Cabinet in 1970. Harold Wilson, twice Labour Prime Minister, described the club as "the guardian of the Tory conscience".

In 1988–89, a group of longstanding members, led by Gregory Lauder Frost, the club's Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, succeeded in getting elected to the key posts on the Executive Council, with Dr. Mark Mayall as deputy chairman, and Lauder Frost as the Political Secretary. At the beginning of January 1991, the Monday Club News announced the abolition of the only salaried position, that of Director (then held by the club's Treasurer, Cedric Gunnery, one of the club's founders). Although this was due to the club's precarious financial state, some felt more sinister moves afoot. Negative news stories began emerging and resignations followed. An internal investigation followed. The chairman, David Storey, lost an almost unanimous vote of no confidence on 17 January 1991, and his membership was terminated by the club's Executive Council on 11 February on the grounds that "he has engaged in behaviour prejudicial to the best interests, reputation, objects, and other members of the Monday Club; by abusing his position as Chairman in encouraging members to leave the Monday Club and to join a new political group". Dr. Mayall became Acting Chairman until the May AGM when he was confirmed in that post by election. By 1992, the new team had the national (as opposed to branches) membership over 1600 again. Lauder Frost's resignation on 31 May 1992 saw the club descend into faction fighting and to a period of instability, with more departures and a resulting loss of membership and the club's influence declined. Subsequent failed expulsion attempts resulted in huge legal bills, and when Dr. Mark Mayall's term as chairman expired in April 1993 he left the group. Control passed effectively into the hands of Denis Walker, a former Methodist missionary, and later Minister for Education in the Rhodesian government. He changed the role of the club from a pressure group to a Conservative Party support group, bringing in a rule that all members must firstly be members of the party, something that prior to 1992 had been opposed.

The national club established its offices at 51–53 Victoria Street, a few minutes' walk from the Palace of Westminster. The club was, however, always a pressure group, remaining separate from the Conservative Party organisation. Around 1980, the Victoria Street building was cleared for demolition, and the club moved its offices to 122 Newgate Street, London, EC1, opposite the Old Bailey. High rents forced another move to 4 Orlando Road, Clapham Common. In 1991 the club's office was moved to an office belonging to W. Denis Walker, opposite Highams Park railway station in Waltham Forest, east London, with new telephone numbers, and a new Post Office Box number in central London. The newsletter stated that "it is our long term aim to relocate back to the very heart of London". Since then the club office has moved to the premises of other companies associated with Walker, at 65 Chapel Hill, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 3XR and Southmill Trading Centre, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 3DY, which according to Companies House is the current address as of Jan 2023.

In addition to the national club, which operated through an elected Executive Council and numerous policy groups or committees, there were semi autonomous county branches, a Young Members Monday Club, and numerous university Monday Clubs, the most prominent and active being at the University of Oxford.

The club opposed what it described as the "premature" independence of Kenya, and the breakup of the Central African Federation, which was the subject of its first major public meeting in September 1961. It was fundamentally opposed to decolonisation, and defended white minority rule in South Africa and Rhodesia. During the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) period in Rhodesia, the club strongly backed the White minority government of Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front, being seen as its strongest supporters in Britain. In November 1963, the club had hosted a large reception for Smith at the Howard Hotel in London. That was followed the next year by receptions for Clifford Dupont and Moise Tshombe. The club continued its support for white minority rule in South Africa, with Lauder Frost organising a large dinner in central London, on 5 June 1989, for its guest of honour Dr Andries Treurnicht, leader of the pro apartheid Conservative Party of South Africa, and his delegation. Tim Janman MP and the Lord Sudeley were amongst those present from Parliament.

The government of Franjo Tuđman in Croatia invited the Monday Club to send a delegation to observe its conflict with Serbia, in October 1991, when the war for Croatian independence from the tottering Yugoslavia was at its height, with the armies of both sides engaged in serious fighting. The club delegation arrived just days after the Yugoslav Air Force bombing of the historic upper city in Zagreb. It was the first British political delegation to go to Croatia during the conflict.

Debate within the club was intense on the European Union. In the early days of the European Economic Community (EEC) one of the club's MPs, Geoffrey Rippon, was so pro EEC that he was known as "Mr. Europe". Because of the divisions within the club on this issue the decision was taken not to have a policy on it. However, by 1980 the mood had changed. A club discussion paper in October 1980 was entitled Do Tories Really want to Scrap 80% of Britain's Fishing Fleet, and the club adopted a firm anti European Union (EU) position. Teddy Taylor, an anti EEC MP, became chairman of the club's EEC Affairs Policy Committee and authored a club policy paper in December 1982 entitled Proposals to Rescue the British Fishing Industry. The club's Scottish branch's newspaper, The Challenger, carried a further article against the EEC by Taylor in September 1985 entitled "Swallowing the Nation". Enoch Powell also spoke against the EEC at one of the Monday Club's fringe meetings at the Conservative Party Conference at Blackpool on 8 October 1991, with Lauder Frost presiding, which was filmed and broadcast on BBC TV's Newsnight that night. In 1992, the chairman, Dr. Mark Mayall, authored another club booklet entitled: Maastricht: The High Tide of European Federalism, a fierce attack on the EEC.

In September 1972, the club held a "Halt Immigration Now!" public meeting in Westminster Central Hall, opposite Parliament, at which the speakers Ronald Bell QC MP, John Biggs Davison MP, Harold Soref MP, and John Heydon Stokes MP (all club members) called on the government to halt all immigration, repeal the Race Relations Act, (not the separate Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968), and start a full repatriation scheme. A resolution was drafted, approved by the meeting, and delivered to the Prime Minister, Edward Heath, who replied that "the government had no intention of repealing the Race Relations Act". When Reginald Maudling resigned from the Cabinet, the Liberal leader, Jeremy Thorpe, commented that "Mr. Heath has been left to wrestle with the Monday Club single handed." In October 1982, the Monday Club published a slightly revised, policy on immigration. It called for:
Scrapping of the Commission for Racial Equality and Community Relations Councils. Repeal of the race relations laws. An end to the use of race or colour as criteria for the distribution of state benefits and loans. An end to positive discrimination. To bring an end to large scale permanent immigration from the New Commonwealth. An improved repatriation scheme with generous resettlement grants for all those who wish to take advantage of them. Although more explicit in detail, the general thrust of policy accorded with that found in the Conservative Party manifesto published ahead of the general election the following year. The club's position on immigration was reiterated in a letter in The Times from Lauder Frost on the club's behalf in October 1991, in which he stated that the annual levels of immigration "were unacceptable".

Following an Official Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing at Aldershot, Hampshire, in February 1972, club member and MP Jill Knight called for legislation to outlaw the Official IRA and its political wing, Sinn Féin (Official). The club was opposed to the dismantling of the Stormont government in Northern Ireland and the imposition of direct rule.

The Guardian claimed back in 1968 that the organisation was "probably the nearest British equivalent to the American John Birch Society". It was claimed by opponents that the National Front had started an active programme of entryism into the organisation, mainly via the growing number of regional branches. Throughout the early part of the 1970s the leadership stepped up its efforts considerably to try to address this issue. A new standardised set of rules and procedures were instituted which sought to institute a far greater level of centralised control over the growth and activity of the regional branches. There were a number of expulsions, and some branches were forced to disband. On 24 February 1991, The Observer ran a lengthy article entitled "Far Right takes over the Monday Club", stating that a number of senior members had tendered their resignations in protest at the club's "takeover" by "extreme right wingers." The club's solicitors, Rubenstein, Callingham & Gale, sent a formal letter of protest to the editor of The Observer about the article, and demanded a right of reply for the club. The editor agreed and Lauder Frost, writing on behalf of the club, subsequently challenged the article's accusations in a Letter to the Editor, which was published the following Sunday. He denied that a takeover had occurred, said that none of the club's policies had changed and that its direction was consistent with its aims and historical principles. Faction fighting within the club following Lauder Frost's departure at the end of May 1992 led to a period of instability and a resulting loss of membership. The club's influence declined.

After the defeats in the 1997 general election and 2001 general election, the Conservative Party began decisive moves towards becoming more centrist; the 2002–2003 party chairman and future Prime Minister, Theresa May, would later state that it had been perceived by voters as the "Nasty Party". The then party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, suspended the Monday Club's longstanding links with the party in October 2001, saying his party would have nothing to do with the organisation unless it stopped making "distasteful" remarks on race and immigration. Although the Monday Club was a completely autonomous pressure group and not part of the Conservative Party organisation, Conservative Party chairman David Davis then informed the club's National Executive that links between it and the party were being severed until it stopped promoting several of its (long held and established Davis later told the media: "I have told them that until a number of things are concluded—particularly some concerns about the membership of the club, and a review of the club's constitution and a requirement that the club will not promulgate or discuss policies relating to race—the club is suspended from any association with the Conservative party". Three MPs, Andrew Hunter, Andrew Rosindell and Angela Watkinson, were ordered to resign from the club.

Since 1993 new full members of the club must be members of the Conservative Party, though there is no such requirement for associate membership. Monday Club observers, such as Denis Walker, have attended Democratic Unionist Party conferences. In 2002 the club was described as a "bastion on the Tory hard right" by BBC News Online. The club's agenda stresses support for what it calls "traditional Conservative values", including "resistance to 'political correctness. On 10 May 2002, the BBC reported that the club sought to restore its links with the Conservative Party. The Times reported on 2 June 2006 that, as the club "is now slowly nudging back into the mainstream, many members feel that it is time to return to the fold". Having returned to being a much smaller organisation, the Club continues to lobby Parliamentarians, to publish comment pieces and an annual journal. It also organises occasional meetings and hosts dinners in London. Recent speakers have included Sir Christopher Chope MP, Michael Nazir Ali, Andrew Rosindell MP, Arlene Foster and Ian Paisley Jr MP. The group's website lists its priorities as the maintenance of the monarchy and the Union; protecting the "family unit"; restoring law and order; opposition to Britain's membership in the EU; promoting a "sound economy" and a "robust defence capability"; opposition to "political correctness" and maintaining traditional values.