Blue Collar Conservatism was set up in 2012 when the Conservative Party was more interested in chasing metropolitan liberal voters. Remember the misguided objective of international aid at 0.7% of GDP! This focus, cost the Conservatives a majority in 2010.

 

Blue Collar argued that the voters who needed us most were the millions of hard working Brits who had been taken for granted by Labour. They shared our values and didn't want a Labour-lite agenda. They might as well have stuck with Labour for that! They stood to benefit most from a transformative Conservative programme which rewards people who work hard. Blue Collar's vision was to deliver for working people from Kent to Cumbria.

 

We shifted the focus of the Conservatives on the importance of working class voters which delivered a majority in 2015.  We supported giving voters a say on membership of the EU and weren't surprised when voters rejected an elitist institution which had driven down wages with its influx of cheap labour. This should have been the moment of realignment, but the disaster which was the 2017 campaign opened the door not for a radical reset, but years of out of touch politicians trying to ignore and thwart the popular will. 

 

2019 looked like an unparalleled opportunity to deliver on our Blue Collar ambitions. We were proud to play a part in campaigning across the country to deliver a historic majority built on the support of voters and seats that had never supported the Conservatives before. A great victory, but with what followed we blew it. Big time! Historic events challenged us like never before, but with an economy trashed by lockdown and uncontrolled immigration we soon lost a unique opportunity to transform our country.

 

We failed Workington Man! And many more besides.

 

Understandably the Conservatives were turfed out in 2024. The Conservatives left millions feeling that their country did not work for them. They worked hard and yet felt insecure. Their towns and communities felt worse off, with closed shops, shabby high streets and the pressures of illegal immigration visible for all to see. 

​Our Vision

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Under Labour the decline of our country is in over-drive. Millions are fearful of where things will end up by 2029. Open borders, the something for nothing culture, two tier policing, unsafe streets, not enough homes, spiralling costs of net zero and job destroying taxes, there is nothing Labour is getting right. Half of Labour's MPs care more about Palestine, than Preston or Penarth.

 

Yet people have not forgiven the Conservatives. The logic of 'well you had 14 years to do something' is impeccable. There are no guarantees that the Conservatives will be given another chance. Lets face it there is a clear alternative talking sense on issues like immigration and nailing the sense of dissatisfaction with our country.  But they are also talking Labour's language on the myth of unlimited spending. So there is everything to play for.

 

If the Conservative party is to stand for anything it must stand for working people. The millions who do the right thing and are footing the bill for the rest. The ones who will have to pick up the tab when we can't pile on any more debt or find something else to tax. Labour talk about austerity, but if we don't live within our means what's coming will be much worse. Real austerity is not cutting back on the state, real austerity is working families struggling to pay for essentials as a result of Government's breaking our economy. 

 

​Whether a manual worker, a hospitality worker, an agricultural worker, a small business owner, an IT worker, a police officer, a retiree who worked all their life, a school leaver entering the workforce, those working in our biggest companies, a nurse or anyone who does the right thing, the mission of Blue Collar Conservatism is to build a Britain which works for them. 

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Time for a reset. Time for Blue Collar Britain.