ConservativeHome

ConservativeHome
Type of site	Blog
Created by	Tim Montgomerie
URL	conservativehome.com
Alexa rank	5,870 [1] (UK 10/2015)
Commercial	No
Launched	2005
Current status	Active

ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog supportive of but independent of The Conservative and Unionist Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about both social justice and a fair competitive economy.[2] A second aim of the blog is to represent grassroots Conservatives,[3][4][5] and whilst being independent of the Conservative Party, is supportive of it.

Editors

ConservativeHome was first edited by Tim Montgomerie, prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign[6] with Samuel Coates as a deputy. Coates left the blog in July 2008[7] to become a speech writer for David Cameron, and is now the party's head of digital. In November 2008, Jonathan Isaby joined as a co-editor.[8] In 2009, Paul Goodman – the former Conservative MP for Wycombe – became the executive editor of ConservativeHome.[9]

In February 2013, Montgomerie announced that he would leave the site in April of the same year to become comment editor of The Times.[10] Goodman succeeded him as editor, and Mark Wallace joined the site as executive editor in May 2013.

Content

The site took a leading role in co-ordinating grassroots support in opposing Michael Howard's attempt to abolish the "one man one vote" rule in the 2005 Conservative Party leadership election.[11]

ConservativeHome was critical of the A list and believed that former Conservative Party Leader David Cameron was in danger of alienating working class Conservative voters,[12][13][14] and pressed Cameron for specific pledges on tax cuts.[15]

It was credited with the most accurate record of MP affiliation during the 2005 Conservative Leadership election, and it also was the first to reveal the names on the "A-list" of candidates.[16][17] The Conservative chairman Francis Maude described it during the leadership election as "the only place to find out what’s going on".[11]

The site supported a Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum.[18]

The site records a fortnightly podcast with Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg called "The Moggcast".[19]

Business

In September 2009 Lord Ashcroft, the then-Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, took a controlling stake of 57.5% in PoliticsHome, the company which owns and operates ConservativeHome.[20] In 2011, Ashcroft sold PoliticsHome to Dod's and retained ConservativeHome.[21]

The site claims that it gets over two million unique visitors a year.[22]

Controversy

"A Lefty Lexicon", a satirical article published in August 2006 on the site and written by Inigo Wilson, a man described as someone who "manages community affairs for a large telecoms company",[23] was soon criticised by the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK).[24] MPAC members discovered that Wilson was Community Affairs Manager for phone company Orange, and pressured the company to dismiss him. Mr Wilson was initially suspended for the comments,[25] but later reinstated.[26]

In February 2012, ConservativeHome called for Andrew Lansley to be replaced as Health Secretary and for the Health and Social Care Bill to be abandoned.[27]