The New Conservatives were a parliamentary group of predominantly red wall Conservative MPs created in May 2023, who aimed to shape the Conservative Party's policies ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election. Politico described the group as having 25 members in July 2023. All but three members lost their seats in the election, and the group has been inactive since the election.
History The group was created on Sunday, 21 May 2023, and has no official leader, although the co-founders, the former Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Miriam Cates and the former Devizes MP Danny Kruger are the chairs behind the initiative.
In October 2023, the group proposed banning "gender ideology" within state schools as one of their platforms.
In November 2023, it was reported by Sky News that the group had met to discuss Suella Braverman potentially "making a play" for a Conservative party leadership.
Policies The group described itself as wishing to return to the Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto. Politico by cutting immigration to below 226,000, as well as focusing on law and order and to tackle perceived bias in education.
10-point policy The New Conservatives' primary goals are listed in their 10-point plan, which consists of the following:
Closing temporary schemes that grant work visa eligibility for care workers and senior care workers. Raising the minimum income required to gain a skilled work visa. Extending the closure of the student dependant route. Closing the graduate route to students. Reserving university Study Visas for the brightest international students. Monitoring the reduction in visa applications under the humanitarian schemes. Implementing the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill rapidly. Capping the number of refugees legally accepted for resettlement in the UK. Raising the minimum combined income threshold for sponsoring a spouse and raising the minimum language requirement. Capping the amount of social housing that councils may assign to non-UK nationals.
Membership +ParliamentComposition2024 (at dissolution) Prior to the general election, the group was made up of 24 Conservative MPs; only three members retained their seats.
Unless otherwise mentioned, all members in this table were first elected to parliament in 2019 and defeated in their bid for reelection in 2024. MPConstituencyNotesMiriam CatesPenistone and StocksbridgeFounding memberDanny KrugerDevizesFounding member. Reelected in 2024 for successor constituency East Wiltshire; defected to Reform UK in 2025.Jonathan GullisStoke-on-Trent NorthConservative party deputy chairmanAlexander StaffordRother ValleyNick FletcherDon ValleySarah AthertonWrexhamTom HuntIpswichGareth BaconOrpingtonReelected in 2024.Duncan BakerNorth NorfolkPaul BristowPeterboroughBrendan Clarke-SmithBassetlawJames DalyBury NorthAnna FirthSouthend WestFirst elected in 2022Chris GreenBolton West First elected in 2015Eddie HughesWalsall NorthFirst elected in 2017Mark JenkinsonWorkingtonAndrew LewerNorthampton SouthFirst elected in 2017Marco LonghiDudley NorthRobin MillarAberconwyLia NiciGreat GrimsbyJohn HayesSouth Holland and The DeepingsPresident of group, elected 1997. Reelected in 2024.Lee AndersonAshfieldDefected to Reform UK in March 2024 and reelected for Reform in 2024
See also Common Sense Group Red Wall Caucus
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