Conservative Democratic Alliance
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The Conservative Democratic Alliance is a United Kingdom pressure group opposed to the liberal direction (or "modernisation") of the Conservative Party. It was formed by disaffected members of the Conservative Monday Club, another pressure group, over the way in which the Club should have responded to the Conservative Party's very public severing of 'links' with the Club in 2001, due to the Club's alleged racism.
The CDA is planning to field its own candidates against Conservative MPs with small majorities at the next general election, concentrating on Oliver Letwin the Shadow Treasury Spokesman, MP for West Dorset whom they describe as "simply not a Conservative at all". The stated aim is to cull those whom they see as non-Conservatives so that a new, more genuine, party of the right can emerge.
Mike Smith, the CDA chairman, was expelled from the Conservative Party in May 2002 for 'disreputable' conduct. He subsequently challenged this unlawful expulsion with a writ. He was readmitted before it reached court and his costs paid by Central Office. Smith has been a member of the Monday Club for 30 years. Serving on the CDA's steering committee are Sam Swerling, a former Monday Club chairman (1980-1982), founder of the Philosophy Group, a member of the Campaign for an Independent Britain, and former councillor on Westminster Council, and Stuart Millson, former editor of Kent Writers, founder of the now defunct Revolutionary Conservative Caucus (1992), and member of the council of the Traditional Britain Group, who is also a former Monday Clubber and past member of its Executive.
The CDA fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference in October 2002 was addressed by Roger Knapman, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party; Ashley Mote, prominent UKIP member and author of "Overcrowded Britain - Our Immigration Crisis Exposed" (2004); John Gouriet, a founder of the Freedom Association alongside Derek Turner, editor of Right Now! magazine; and Adrian Davies, chairman of the Freedom Party and a prominent barrister amongst whose clients has been the revisionist historian David Irving.
An anti-Conservative Party advertisement for the CDA that appeared in Right Now! caused a stir in Parliament. Andrew Hunter MP claims that the extremism expressed in its text prompted him to withdraw his patronage from the magazine. This is denied by the magazine's editor who claims Hunter was under substantial party pressure to distance himself anyway.
The CDA committee meets quarterly and the group is one of the fastest growing groupings of the conservative right, claiming up to 1,000 members. Funds seem not to be a problem.
On Wednesday 6th October 2004 the Conservative Democratic Alliance held a rally in tribute to Enoch Powell as a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth.
External links
- Conservative Democratic Alliance (http://conservativedemocrats.20m.com/)