The week in Westminster

The Sunday Times reports that Liz Truss is launching a new movement, Popular Conservatism, on Tuesday.

According to the paper, several hundred guests are expected at the event in central London, including Nigel Farage, although 'sources' say he has been invited only in his role as a GB News presenter.

Director of the new initiative is Mark Littlewood, former director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs (pictured above at the Forest Freedom Dinner in 2014).

I should have known something was afoot because on January 26, almost two months after Mark stood down as director-general, the IEA issued a press release announcing that he was moving on completely, even relinquishing the title ‘senior economics fellow’.

I’m guessing that was not unrelated to Mark’s new role running a ‘grassroots movement of popular conservatism’.

Anyway, on Wednesday evening, 24 hours after the launch of Popular Conservatism (aka PopCon), another Conservative MP, Philip Davies, is hosting a rather smaller event at the House of Commons on behalf of Forest.

It’s a reception with speakers, the aim of which is to highlight the breadth of opposition to the generational tobacco ban.

Invited guests include MPs and peers, plus individuals and representatives of groups outside parliament who oppose the ban.

As I say, it's not a large event but the good news is that it is fully subscribed.

I can’t deny I’m a bit jealous, though, because I would love to be organising something on the scale of the PopCon event.

Back in October, after Rishi Sunak’s announcement, I did come up with an idea for a large event to oppose the tobacco ban (part of a broader campaign).

I suggested one of two venues in Westminster - the Emmanuel Centre or Church House, both of which can accommodate 300 people - and among the proposed speakers were Liz Truss and Nigel Farage.

Sadly, we didn’t have the resources to take it any further, hence the more modest event at the House of Commons.

I am nevertheless extremely grateful to Philip Davies for hosting it, not least because this is the second time he has hosted an event for Forest in the House.

The previous time was on July 1, 2008, which was the first anniversary of the public smoking ban in England.

On that occasion he hosted a 'champagne tea party' and we invited MPs and a small group of people for whom the ban had had a major social or economic impact.

As I wrote here, the event exceeded expectations. Including our host, there were 17 MPs plus five peers. Sadly, most of them are no longer in parliament, or have subsequently died.

From that event emerged the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign that was launched in 2009 with the help of … Mark Littlewood, who was then director of a small classical liberal think tank called Progressive Vision.

Mark was one of a number of speakers that day. Another was … Nigel Farage.

The primary aim of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign was to persuade MPs to amend the smoking ban.

That part of the campaign ultimately failed but not before 80+ MPs supported a private member's bill to allow designated smoking rooms in pubs and clubs.

The campaign also featured a reception for 200 people on the terrace of the House of Commons. It's remembered today largely for the appearance of Britain’s greatest living artist. (See David Hockney lights up the House of Commons.)

This week's event may be smaller but it's no less ambitious. Our goal? To stop the generational tobacco ban.

A tall order, certainly, but I've never been one to throw in the towel so we'll give it our best shot until there is nothing more we can do.

Meanwhile, if anyone represents popular conservatism it’s Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley.

Elected to Parliament in 2005 by the slender margin of 422 votes (defeating the incumbent Labour MP), in 2010 he retained his seat with a greatly increased majority of 9,944 votes.

Although it slipped a little in 2015, and fell to 4,681 votes two years later, he nevertheless increased his share of the vote in 2017, and in 2019 increased his majority to 6,242.

Unlike many MPs who set their sights on ministerial positions and even the Cabinet, Philip’s ambition was always to be a good constituency MP, and in my experience he is also one of the most principled politicians we have.

For example, he has never hidden the fact that he dislikes smoking. Despite that, he has consistently voted against anti-smoking legislation because he is firmly against excessive state intervention.

In fact it’s no exaggeration to say that if there were more Conservative MPs like Philip Davies in parliament both the party and the Government might not be in the mess they are, flip-flopping from one unconservative policy to another.

As for Popular Conservatism, we’ll learn more about it on Tuesday, but I wish it well. The Tories may be toast, election-wise, in 2024 but there’s still the future to fight for.

Below: David Hockney with Greg Knight (now The Rt Hon Sir Greg Knight) MP at the Save Our Pubs & Clubs reception on the terrace of the House of Commons in June 2011

Comments

[Costas Kitis]

Many congratulations to our former prime minister Liz Truss who led a majority government for the last time before Rishi Sunak took over from her and decided that an adult smoking prohibition would be his own idea to materialise.

Liz Truss defeated Rishi Sunak who came second when she was elected to lead the ruling party from 2019, and Rishi Sunak is now the prime minister owing to the fact that Liz Truss was toppled from power in a similar fashion to the way the elected prime minister from the last general election Boris Johnson was toppled from power by the state mechanism of ministers and highly ranked civil servants. Thus while Liz Truss led a majority government like Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak is currently leading a minority government according to what happened as a record of events. The reason he is leading the government and our country has more to do with the course of action of those civil servants and ministers who resigned and parliamentarians who revolted than with what the majority wants or what the people of the country elected. But on supporting adult smoking prohibition on his part his minority government has gone too far in parallel with its nature as a minority government supported by those who support him who are less than those who supported Liz Truss or Boris Johnson.

Liz Truss is indeed a populist conservative who was foreign minister in Boris Johnson's elected government which has still been elected the last time elections were held. The reason she is not still in power had nothing to do with what the people of this country or the majority prefered, rather has to do with what only a small fraction of individuals decided for us instead of us and those are the ones who toppled Liz Truss from power after her brief time in office. This is not a democratic procedure as it took place but intergovernmental strife and conflict that determined who rules the country at present. Which is of course the second choice to herself and the third choice after the person who has been elected from the last time elections were held, who even resigned from his seat in parliament within the same term during which he was chosen to lead the country.

It does not make any sense to elect a leader who is later deprived of his properties of representing those who elected him to the parliament if he loses his seat in it within the same term during which he got elected to be the prime minister. The correct order of events is that Boris Johnson should not only be an MP but a minister of state and the prime minister - he cannot end up to be none of the above given the popular verdict of the last general election that was held. Yet this is what happened and it is a constitutional question to be solved.

When the prime minister resigns, fresh elections should be held to renew the popular wish. The next leader of the same ruling party to be elected internally from its members does not equate to what elections are held for and the next leader of the ruling party is not the de facto next leader of the whole country, but of the ruling party which held internal elections. The leader of the whole country will attain their post through calling elections and appointing the majority leader after asking each and every person to vote for their preference. Party-elections are not a substitute of general parliamentary elections because they happened within the ruling party itself. Otherwise, this is the way Rishi Sunak got into power, somebody who cannot judge why adult smoking prohibition is wrong for the people of this country. Not only wrong for the people of this country, but bad for its reputation as well just like the smoking ban upheld in most other countries is bad for our reputation.