boris-johnson-long-nose

“We have had a prudent, sensible, one nation Conservative party in power over the past 10 years.”

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister's Questions

30 September 2020

Facts

Johnson told the House of Commons at Prime Minister's Questions that “we have had a prudent, sensible, One Nation Conservative party in power over the past 10 years.”

The term One Nation conservatism has been attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, and can be defined as an attempt to breach the divide between rich and poor through compassionate policy. 

Johnson has made this claim repeatedly. It is misleading for a number of reasons

In September 2019, Boris Johnson stripped the whip from 21 MPs, 18 of whom have been reported to be members of the One Nation conservative group in parliament. These 18 MPs were: Kenneth Clarke, Philip Hammond, David Gauke, Greg Clark, Sir Oliver Letwin, Justine Greening , Guto Bebb, Richard Benyon, Dominic Grieve, Rory Stewart, Sir Nicholas Soames, Sam Gyimah, Steve Brine, Richard Harrington, Stephen Hammond, Anne Milton, Caroline Nokes, Antoinette Sandbach and Edward Vaizey.

Verdict 

Insofar as it had any meaning, Johnson’s statement was misleading.

PreviousNext