The Bow Group

The Aims of the Bow Group

The Bow Group has four clear objectives:

To contribute to the formation of Conservative Party Policy.

To publish members' work.

To arrange meetings, debates and conferences.

To provide research about political and social problems.[1]

The History Of The BOW Group

Young and ambitious Tories - a brief history of the Bow Group

The Bow Group started, in February 1951, as an association of Conservative graduates, set up by a number of students who wanted to carry on discussing policy and ideas after they had left university. They were also concerned by the monopoly which socialist ideas had in intellectual university circles. It originally met at Bow, East London, from which it takes its name.

Geoffrey Howe, William Rees-Mogg and Norman St John Stevas were among those attending the first meeting. From the start, the Group attracted top-flight graduates and quickly drew the attention of a number of government ministers, notably Harold Macmillan. In the intervening time, Michael Howard, Norman Lamont and Peter Lilley have all held the Bow Group chairmanship. Christopher Bland, the current Chairman of BT, was Bow Group chairman in 1969.

Since its foundation the Bow Group has been a great source of policy ideas, and many of its papers have had a direct influence on government policy and the life of the nation. Although it has no corporate view, it has at times been associated with views both of left and right - always within the broad beliefs of the Conservative Party.

Broadly, much of the Group's thought can be categorised as supporting both a market economy and social responsibility. Along this line, it was the Bow Group which promoted the idea of a World Refugee Year in the late 1950s. In the 1960s the Group attracted significant controversy over its views on decolonisation. Though it was in tune with the Conservative Government of the day - and was believed to be influencing its line - the Group was castigated widely, especially for its outspoken view that Kenya should be granted independence. Later in the '60s, the Bow Group took a leftward turn, as the party as a whole moved to the right.

In the 1970s, the Group was also closely associated with the development of post-Keynesian economics and policy, which would come to fruition in Britain and throughout Europe in the late 1980s.

The ability of the Bow Group to house different strands of the Tory tradition was demonstrated at its 25th anniversary dinner in 1976. This occasion brought together both Margaret Thatcher, the new party leader, and Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister.

In the period to 1979, the concept of freedom infused much of the Group's work, although it was not directly associated with Mrs Thatcher, and indeed maintained an objective view of her government.

The 90 policy papers published by the Group in the 1990s covered topics including pensions, the charity sector, shareholder democracy, people with disabilities, housing, education, public transport and the reform of governmental institutions.

The Bow Group continues to enjoy a high profile. Events in 2005 included the annual lecture, addressed by John Major, the annual dinner featuring a speech by Michael Heseltine and meetings featuring various members of the Shadow Cabinet as well as recently elected rising stars of the parliamentary party. The Bow Group was one of the most active groups at the party conference of 2005, with Bow Group events playing a key role in making and breaking the bids of various contenders to succeed Michael Howard as party leader.

The 2005 election saw Bow Group representation in the Commons rise yet again, with the election of Justine Greening, John Penrose and Tobias Ellwood, all of whom had served on Bow Group council. Links with former members continued to be strong and the Group published a paper by Peter Lilley making "The Case against ID cards".

Also published in 2005 was "Choice and freedom for all", an important contribution to almost all areas of education policy, as well as papers on the Charities Bill, the increase in the economically inactive and UK health standards, the latter revealing the shocking fact that a lung cancer sufferer has a higher chance of surviving the disease in Poland than in the UK.

Shortly before the 2005 party conference the Bow Group published a book, "From the ashes", a collection of essays detailing the visions held for the future of the party by senior Conservative figures, including all who stood in the leadership contest. This accompanied some powerful structured polling evidence released by the Bow Group at conference which made it clear just how far the party would have to go in rebranding itself to become electable once again.

Early in 2006 the Group hit the headlines once again, this time due to "Keep it simple", a paper which details the extent of maladministration in the UK tax system and gives some ideas for reform.

The Bow Group remains at the forefront of new thinking within the Conservative Party, focusing in the new parliament on welfare, inner cities, social deprivation, environmental policy, public services and the causes of crime. A selection of papers is available in the Research section of this site.[2]