Cornerstone Group
Political organisation within the Conservative Party
title: "Cornerstone Group" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["organisations-associated-with-the-conservative-party-(uk)", "2005-establishments-in-the-united-kingdom", "right-wing-politics-in-the-united-kingdom", "conservative-party-(uk)-factions"] description: "Political organisation within the Conservative Party" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone_Group" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Political organisation within the Conservative Party ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox political party"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Cornerstone Group |
| colorcode | |
| logo | Cornerstone Group.jpg |
| slogan | Faith, Flag and Family |
| founded | |
| headquarters | United Kingdom |
| affiliation1 | Conservative Party |
| affiliation1_title | Party |
| seats1_title | House of Commons (Conservative seats (2019) |
| seats1 | |
| leader1_title | President |
| leader1_name | Sir Edward Leigh |
| leader2_title | Chairman |
| leader2_name | Sir John Hayes |
| position | Right-wing |
| ideology | High Toryism |
| website | |
| (Inactive) | |
| :: |
| name = Cornerstone Group | colorcode = | logo = Cornerstone Group.jpg | slogan = Faith, Flag and Family | founded = | headquarters = United Kingdom | affiliation1 = Conservative Party | affiliation1_title = Party | seats1_title = House of Commons (Conservative seats (2019) | seats1 = | leader1_title = President | leader1_name = Sir Edward Leigh | leader2_title = Chairman | leader2_name = Sir John Hayes | position = Right-wing | ideology = High Toryism | website = (Inactive)
The Cornerstone Group is a High Tory or traditional conservative political organisation within the British Conservative Party. It comprises Members of Parliament with a traditionalist outlook and was founded in 2005. The Group's president is Edward Leigh and its chairman John Hayes. Many Conservative Party Members of Parliament and Peers belong to the Cornerstone Group, including several members of the Shadow Cabinet.
The Conservative Party incorporates three main schools of thought; along with the traditionalist-leaning Cornerstone Group, there are also the One Nation and Thatcherite elements. There is more than a degree of overlap between these groups, depending on the issue. The Cornerstone Group supports the unitary governance of the British state and opposes attempts to transfer power away from it — either downwards through regionalism and devolution, or upwards to the international control of the European Union. A manifesto released at the time of its foundation set out the Group's intentions:
| source = Strange Desertion of Tory England: The Conservative Alternative to the Liberal Orthodoxy, July 2005
The Cornerstone Group appeared to be inactive after the 2019 elections (the source of the Cornerstone "About" page shows a last modified date in 2018);
Principles
Its name derives from the Cornerstone Group's support for three British social institutions: the Church of England, the unitary British state, and the family. To this end, it emphasises England's Anglican heritage, opposes any transfer of power away from the central government and institutions of the United Kingdom — either downwards to the nations and regions or upwards to the European Union — and seeks to place greater emphasis on traditional family structures to repair what has been termed as Britain's broken society, as well as calling for lower levels of immigration into the UK.
Its core focus points according to its website include the "monarchy; traditional marriage; family and community duties; proper pride in the United Kingdom's distinctive qualities; quality of life over soulless utility; social responsibility over personal selfishness; social justice as civic duty, not state dependency; compassion for those in need; reducing government waste; lower taxation and deregulation; and promotion and protection of ancient liberties against politically correct censorship and a commitment to the democratically elected UK parliament."
A prominent MP from this wing of the party is John Redwood. Though the group is marked out by its support for the Anglican Church, it also includes more traditional Catholic members such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Edward Leigh.
Members
MPs, but not peers, listed on the Cornerstone Web site as members as of 20 June 2018. ::data[format=table]
| Member | Constituency | Elected |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Leigh | Gainsborough | 1983 |
| Bill Cash | Stone | 1984 |
| John Redwood | Wokingham | 1987 |
| John Whittingdale | Maldon | 1992 |
| John Hayes | South Holland and the Deepings | 1997 |
| Christopher Chope | Christchurch | 1997 (prev. 1983) |
| Laurence Robertson | Tewkesbury | 1997 |
| Ian Liddell-Grainger | Bridgwater and West Somerset | 2001 |
| Greg Knight | East Yorkshire | 2001 (prev. 1983) |
| Andrew Rosindell | Romford | 2001 |
| Peter Bone | Wellingborough | 2005 |
| Stephen Crabb | Preseli Pembrokeshire | 2005 |
| David T C Davies | Monmouth | 2005 |
| Philip Davies | Shipley | 2005 |
| Robert Goodwill | Scarborough and Whitby | 2005 |
| Greg Hands | Chelsea and Fulham | 2005 |
| Philip Hollobone | Kettering | 2005 |
| Adam Holloway | Gravesham | 2005 |
| David Jones | Clwyd West | 2005 |
| Daniel Kawczynski | Shrewsbury and Atcham | 2005 |
| Charles Walker | Broxbourne | 2005 |
| Nigel Adams | Selby and Ainsty | 2010 |
| Steve Baker | Wycombe | 2010 |
| Fiona Bruce | Congleton | 2010 |
| Robert Halfon | Harlow | 2010 |
| Sajid Javid | Bromsgrove | 2010 |
| Kwasi Kwarteng | Spelthorne | 2010 |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg | North East Somerset | 2010 |
| Priti Patel | Witham | 2010 |
| Martin Vickers | Cleethorpes | 2010 |
| :: |
References
References
- "What is the Cornerstone group? Matthew Barrett profiles the socially conservative Tory backbench group".
- (25 July 2005). "Conservative MPs call for 'moral values' agenda".
- Toynbee, Polly. (27 October 2022). "Braverman's return shows how deeply Sunak is in hock to the hard right". The Guardian.
- (20 June 2018). "About us".
- Chope was MP for [[Southampton Itchen (UK Parliament constituency). Southampton Itchen]] from 1983 until 1992.
- Knight was MP for [[Derby North (UK Parliament constituency). Derby North]] from 1983 until 1997.
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