Profile of The Taxpayers Alliance

Key staff

Matthew Elliott (Co-Founder and Chief Executive); Andrew Allum (Co-Founder and Chairman); Sara Rainwater (Operations Director); Matthew Sinclair (Research Director); Susie Squire (Political Director); Mark Wallace (Campaign Director); Alex Deane (Director, Big Brother Watch).

Basic philosophy

The TPA is Britain's independent grassroots campaign for better public services and lower taxes. It currently has 32,000 signed-up supporters across the country. Its mission is to reverse the perception that big government is necessary and irreversible; to explain the benefits of a low tax economy; and to give taxpayers a voice in the corridors of power.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have been the subject of its Freedom of Information requests as the TPA aims to cut the costs of politics and increase transparency.

It has recently expanded its work into 'modernising Euroscepticism' and campaigning against 'the Big Brother State'.

Recent achievements

Over the past five years, the TPA has grown from operating as a group of volunteers meeting in various coffee shops around London, to employing fifteen members of staff working from offices in London and Birmingham, attracting an average of 700 high-quality media hits every month. Seldom a day goes by without their spokesmen being interviewed in the press or appearing on TV or radio to denounce wasteful state spending. It is Britain's most high-impact campaign group from the centre right.

It has served as a thorn in the Government's side prompting the rage of the Left. Their publication The Bumper Book of Government Waste - highlighting £101 billion worth of misspending - should be required reading for the Shadow Treasury Team as they reluctantly sharpen their axes.  Also required reading is their suggested list of £50bn of spending cuts - published with the Institute of Directors.

The Left's charge that the TPA is a Tory front would surprise some Tory Council leaders who have not been spared the TPA's wrath. The TPA has an anti-establishment mentality. Indeed some Conservatives feel they have an anti-politician mentality and fully expect it to be a nuisance to any Cameron Government.

The TPA's Quango hunting, populist denouncing of public sector fat cats, pursuit of expense-abusing politicians and scepticism about the implications of climate change policy will continue to have traction for some years to come.

The TPA's campaign for the abolition of inheritance tax - pursued with the Daily Express - reached a climax in October 2007 when the Conservative Party promised to abolish the tax for all but millionaires.

In 2006 the TPA won the ConservativeHome "One to Watch" award; in 2007 the Bumper Book of Government Waste, co-authored by Matthew Elliott and Lee Rotherham, was awarded the Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Award; and in 2008 the TPA was named 'Pressure Group of the Year' by the readers of the popular blog, Iain Dale's Diary.

In 2009, the TPA was the runner up in the Think Tank of the Year category of the Public Affairs News Awards. In October 2009, the Guardian described the TPA as "arguably the most influential pressure group in the country".

More information about the TPA can be found in its 08/09 Review.

Recently they launched a cinema advertisement pointing out the cost of EU membership.

Future plans

In 2010, the TPA plans to publish a manifesto, laying out what the government should do after the election on taxation, spending and other key policy areas. It also plans to formally launch and expand its new 'Big Brother Watch' campaign, headed up by Alex Deane; to continue its successful EU campaign; and to ensure that the voice of ordinary taxpayers is heard when the Government starts making spending cuts and considers possible tax rises.

Approximate budget and number of staff:

£1m (2009). 15 full-time members of staff plus 4 interns.

Contact details

• 83 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HW
• 0845 330 9554
• www.taxpayersalliance.com
• [email protected].