"Bright Blue and its contributors have been tireless in bringing forward new ideas and fresh thinking to the conservative cause."
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Centre Write
Saturday, 10 May 2014 17:31
We won’t win Eurovision until we trust the market
Matthew Plummer is a professional photographer and long-time Conservative activist. His Twitter handle is @mwyp. There was a wonderful moment a couple of months ago when I realised just how awfully monolithic the BBC can be. The news had emerged (in a manner not too dissimilar to announcements from Moscow) that some apparatchik at Auntie had chosen Molly Smitten-Downes to represent the UK at this year's Eurovision song contest. In finest TASS Report style the cameras cut to dear old…
Thursday, 08 May 2014 06:36
Growing and supporting the Conservative voluntary party
Charles Heslop is the President of the National Conservative Convention, and has served on the Board of the Conservative Party for the last three years. Charles is the Vice Chairman of the Conservative Policy Forum, and also manages two investment companies and a property company based in Newcastle. With May 2015 fast approaching, there is a growing desire from Conservative activists across the country that David Cameron be returned to No. 10 not only as Prime Minister, but as the…
Tuesday, 06 May 2014 13:07
The Conservatives need to take some bullets for ordinary people: but do they have too many wounds from last time?
James Worron is a public affairs professional. His Twitter handle is @JamesWorron . To rebuild their reputation the Conservatives need to take some bullets for ordinary people by taking on vested interests in public services. It’s hard to argue with the point former No 10 Adviser Sean Worth made at the launch of the Bright Blue Modernisers Manifesto on Wednesday. The case was simple. Worth argued that there is still what Matthew Parris has called a “whiff” about the Conservative…
Friday, 02 May 2014 11:52
Launching Bright Blue’s Think Forums
Bright Blue’s Think Forums are spaces for people the centre-right of politics to come together to discuss policy and politics. Aristotle’s observation that human beings are political animals is not so much a profound insight as it is a statement of the obvious. Caring about the taxes you pay and laws you abide by requires no instruction: it comes for free. People can grow disillusioned with politicians or disenchanted with systems, but the challenges which politics is aimed at addressing…
Thursday, 01 May 2014 06:31
Survey Results: Conservative Members want the Party to be positive
A couple of weeks ago we surveyed our members and supporters. The full results will be published next week, but here are the key headlines from what Conservative Party members said. We found that Tory members believe that the Conservative Party can shape its destiny. Cameron & Co should not be worried by Ukip, with only 19% believing that they are the biggest threat to the Conservative Party’s chances of getting a majority in 2015. They should certainly not be…
Wednesday, 30 April 2014 05:38
Bright Blue – the next chapter
Ryan Shorthouse is the Director of Bright Blue After years building Bright Blue, today we’re celebrating a new chapter for the organisation: as an established think tank and pressure group. As the journalist Matthew d’Ancona, a member of our Advisory Board, writes about Bright Blue in our new book The modernisers’ manifesto: “Modernising Toryism now has a home and an HQ for the next generation of Conservatives”. Back in 2010, a group of Conservative activists and advisers came together to…
Tuesday, 29 April 2014 06:24
What will the Modernisers’ Manifesto achieve?
In this podcast preview of our Modernisers' Manifesto, Nick Denys asks some of the authors: · Why is the manifesto is need? · What role does modernisation play in UK Conservatism? · How can the Conservatives win the next election? The podcast features Paul Goodman (Conservative Home), Professor Tim Bale (Queen Mary University), Isabel Hardman (Spectator), Rick Nye (Populus) and Ryan Shorthouse (Bright Blue).You can listen to the podcast by scrolling to the bottom of the screen and pressing play.…
Tuesday, 22 April 2014 06:10
Why Ukip’s poster doesn’t feel English
My first reaction to the Ukip poster was that it just didn’t feel right, that it was out of place in English discourse. As we come up to St George’s day I have been looking into what being English means. More and more of us now define ourselves as English, despite the fact there hasn’t been a big conversation about what this means. The Scots and the Welsh have a clear idea about what being Scottish and Welsh means to…
Wednesday, 16 April 2014 06:13
How do we get more and better apprenticeships?
Britain needs more apprenticeships for reasons of equity and efficiency: specifically, to improve life chances and enhance productivity. So, how can we get more and better apprenticeships? Bright Blue recently held a roundtable discussion with top decision makers and opinion formers to explore this question. Things are improving, from a low base Apprenticeships almost died when big industry declined in the 1980s. At the time apprenticeships were almost exclusively associated with manual work. This is no longer true. Now they…
Thursday, 10 April 2014 09:13
Tell us your views: The Bright Blue Spring Survey.
It is the time of the year again when we ask you – our supporters and sympathisers – to tell the world what you think about Britain today. The survey asks 10 questions and should only take around 5 minutes to fill in. Some of the questions are: What were the best announcements in the Budget? What is the biggest the challenge facing the UK? What are your views on immigration and the EU? What is the biggest impediment to…
