The most influential people on the Right?

A busy week in Blackpool prevented me from commenting upon The Telegraph’s List Of The 100 Most Influential People On The Right.  The list’s compilation was overseen by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati.  They were helped by ten MPs, journalists and commentators.  They explain the reasoning behind their choices here.

The list has certainly caused controversy in Blackpool with some people surprised at their high rating and others disappointed at being left off it altogether.  It’s certainly succeeded as a journalistic enterprise if success is determined by the attention it has commanded.  I pay tribute to Iain for the work he has put into it and I hope he’ll put the comments below in that context.

Iain Dale’s panel gets most of the big judgment calls right and the fact that there is only one religious leader on the list – Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – is a fair reflection of the failure of Christian leaders, in particular, to engage with politics.  A similar list in the USA would include many faith community leaders.

The biggest strategic error was, I think, to exclude journalists and editors from the list. Iain and Mr Brivati explained this decision by saying that it would be “invidious” to rate newspaper editors, proprietors and journalists because they, themselves, are “employees of the Telegraph Group”.  This real problem could have been overcome by configuring the judging panel to include commentators from outside The Telegraph.  A list that doesn’t include Paul Dacre and Murdoch MacLennan isn’t really a list of Britain’s most influential right-wingers.

Lady Thatcher is at number four but John Major doesn’t get into the top 100.  Odd.  Is Mr Major really less influential than the Chairman of the Conservative Women’s Organisation, Lady Hodgson (number 75 on the list) or Christine Constable, friend of Iain and Deputy Leader of the English Democrats (number 98)?  Major's devastating demolition of Brown’s Iraq trip earlier this week proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

I was pleased and surprised to be ranked at 23 but it was a very flattering position.  Apparently I’m six places more important than my former boss Iain Duncan Smith.  I cannot agree with that.  IDS has put the whole issue of social justice at the heart of the Tory programme.  If he sticks at this agenda he’ll be still more influential in the years to come.  With the Centre for Social Justice he could build a infrastructural understanding of social problems that will be a huge asset to public life.  As I look back on my own political life I’m much more proud of my role in helping him along this path than I’m of creating conservativehome.

Steve Hilton definitely deserves his place at number five – six places above Andy Coulson.  He has been Iain Duncan Smith’s great ally in putting the heart back into Conservatism.  His fingerprints are all over David Cameron’s first eighteen months.

I’m surprised at the non-appearance of Kate Fall and George Eustice.  Kate is Deputy to Cameron’s Chief of Staff Ed Llewellyn (ranked 14).  She has known David Cameron for a long time and her Deputy title understates her importance to him.  She is a very candid aide, is an early identifier of unhappy colleagues and performs vital gatekeeping roles for the Conservative leader.  George Eustice should also have appeared on the list.  After 98% of Tories had deserted Blackpool he was dining last night with Nick Robinson and Tom Bradby at Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel.  He remains a key member of Team Cameron.

Two other behind-the-scenes names I would have liked to see appear…  Nick Wood, press adviser to Hague and IDS when they led the party, handles the media for an influential number of Tory pressure groups, shadow cabinet ministers and MPs.  Few understand the press as well as Nick.  And, if you’re looking for a real below-the-radar influence, what about Christina Dykes?  Christina, now active in helping build a new generation of Conservative leaders in local government, began the process of diversifying candidate selection and did so before it became so fashionable.

One postscript: I cannot agree that Lord Ashcroft makes “no attempt to influence policy” as the thumbnail profile attached to his number three rating suggests.   His Smell The Coffee report was highly political and MPs have repeatedly complained to me about the polling presentations that he has made to MPs or have been made on his behalf.  They felt that the polling - at least as publicly presented - did not forsee the weaknesses of Project Cameron – weaknesses that were corrected, in significant part, in Blackpool this week.

The Telegraph's Top 100: 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | 76-100 

Comments

[HF]

I dont think Paul Dacre should be classed as an influential right winger since he seems to spend most of his time "bigging up" Brown's Labour and undermining the Conservatives.

Please judge a person by their actions and the company they keep, not what they say.

[Mountjoy]

Don't forget that Dr Paisley, although no longer the moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church, has certainly engaged with politics and appears, quite rightly, on Iain Dale's list.

He is someone I have admired, and continue to admire, since I was a small boy growing up in Londonderry - he has been determined and has perservered, and achieved a remarkable achievement in Ulster.

[David Lindsay]

Put these two lists (this one and the previous supposedly left-wing one) together, and there is the distinct whiff of a one-party state contriving two or more fake Oppositions, as they so often do.

[Iain Dale]

A thoughtful analysis. We did start off by including newspaper columnists, editors and proprietors, but in the end it proved an impossible circle to square. I'll leave it there.

In retrospect I regret not including John Major. The panel were unanimous that he no longer exerted influence, but the events of this week have proved us wrong.

I included Christine Constable, not because she is a friend, but because she has really pushed the English Parliament agenda more than anyone. If I had only included friends, believe me there are plenty of people on the list who wouldn't have had a look in!

Again, if I had been compiling this list today, rather than a few weeks ago, I would probably have put IDS up a few places, but I do think you deserve your ranking. Yours was one of the few where the panel were unanimous.

We did think about Kate Fall and George Eustice, and if this was purely a list of influential Conservatives then they would surely have been included. But it isn't.

Nick Wood would certainly have appeared on this list in 2003, but now? A moot point.

I agree with you about Christine Dykes. She should have been in.

On Lord Ashcroft we will have to disagree. I see no evidence of any policy influence at all.

ANyway, I hope people enjoyed the exercise even if they profoundlty disagreed with some of the ranking. If everyone had agreed it would have been a rather boring exercise.

[Editor]

Thanks Iain. Much appreciated feedback on my feedback!

[John Leonard]

OFF TOPIC COMMENT OVERWRITTEN.

JOHN: PLEASE USE THE HOMEPAGE TO ALERT PEOPLE TO BREAKING NEWS STORIES.

[HF]

To back up my comment on Paul Dacre here is a quote from him about Brown in 2002: "I have an awful lot of admiration for Gordon Brown. I feel he is one of the very few politicians of this administration who's touched by the mantle of greatness""

No wonder Conservatives get such a poor press from the Mail when its Editor believes that about Brown.

[Traditional Tory]

I included Christine Constable, not because she is a friend

If you are going to include figures from the fringe, Griffin of the BNP is obviously a far more significent figure.

Christine Constable's groupuscule is going absolutely nowhere, whereas there is a real danger that the BNP will end up with Euro and London Assembly seats under PR.

Personally I think the list is ridiculous and the rankings even more so.

[Editor]

You could argue that the BNP are as left-wing as right-wing with their protectionism and belief in big government programmes.

[Umbrella man]

I agree with you about Christine Constable. Ludicrous!

Iain obviously excluded himself from the list but he would figure prominently in any list drawn up by neutrals.

[Chad Noble]

Absolutely Tim. The BNP are authoritarian- left (ie socially right-wing, economically left-wing) as PoliticalCompass clearly show.

However, PoliticalCompass also placed Labour and the Tories in much the same place, moderately authoritarian-right so clearly there should be a lot of people who can directly affect policy thanks to being in government.

I think this poll was compiled with some very outdated ideas of 'left' and 'right' (a crude-ish Tory + UKIP) - ie do they mean economically, socially or both?

If both, then clearly Nick Griffin should, as Trad Tory notes ,be included along with many New Labs etc.

[Traditional Tory]

You could argue that the BNP are as left-wing as right-wing with their protectionism and belief in big government programmes.

Yes you could, but clearly that is not the opinion of the electorate, nor is it the verdict of history on fascist-style parties.

Most fascistic parties combine a fairly 'soft' socialism with ultra-hardline social conservatism. On the continent that has made them much closer to conservative movements, which have been much less closely wedded to free enterprise than in the case in 'Anglo-Saxon' countries.

[Richard Carey]

Chad Noble: If both, then clearly Nick Griffin should, as Trad Tory notes ,be included along with many New Labs etc.

Yes, of course, because we really want to credit people like Nick "I'm really not racist, honest guv" Griffin with undue influence in our political system, don't we? Jeez!

As for Paul Dacre's exclusion from the list, I'd personally be far more worried if he was at the top.

I am, of course, deeply offended by my own omission from the list. I really must work harder next year... :-)

[englandism]

While we are doing Christine Constable, so to speak, what happened to WLQ et al this week? I picked up some stirrings from the Scots press about a Grand Old Duke of York Council of England (Rifkind) or something equally banal but not a peep from Blackpool.

Briefed against? Dropped?

Ed: Context is trying to be right wing and influential.

[steve]

Ian Paisley? Are you kidding? The man stands for nothing other than his own ego. He's stopped at nothing to undermine and disrupt the attempts of moderate Unionism to engage with Roman Catholics since the mid 1960s. Northern Ireland would have been a much happier place without him and the polarization that we have today wouldn't be there. Folk like David Trimble took risks, gambled and lost their careers, to get Paisley to where he is today. He only reached an accommodation with republicans when he knew he could become top dog. As for his social conservativism. This is a man who stands outside gay venues with placards damming ordinary people for their sodomy. The Tories have nothing to learn from him but the politics of hate.

[IRJMilne]

The BNP appeal to Labour voters more than Tory voters; just, Labour voters who are more likely to swing to the Tories if negelected by Labour and wooed by the Tories.

But I wonder how much influence Mr Griffin actually has. He influences very few right wing thinkers or politicians outside his own smallish party. He has more influence on people like Margaret Hodge - Labour people who have to address the concerns he raises or lose their seats.

This is a garbled way of saying that Nick Griffin may be right wing in some respects (though left wing in others - though I note that protectionism is espoused by streaks of conservatism, and it was the old Liberal party that led the way on Free Trade) - but he is not "influential", per se.

[Chad Noble]

"Yes, of course, because we really want to credit people like Nick "I'm really not racist, honest guv" Griffin with undue influence in our political system, don't we? Jeez!"

LoL. No we don't Richard. So let's pretend the people with politics we loathe don't exist instead and perhaps by magic they'll disappear!

It worked me thinking of you.... ;-)

[Traditional Tory]

Yes, of course, because we really want to credit people like Nick "I'm really not racist, honest guv" Griffin with undue influence in our political system, don't we? Jeez!

The point is that if you are going to draw up this sort of list - which is a waste of time anyway - it's ridiculous to exclude a relatively well-known figure like Griffin while including someone like Constable whom not .1 of 1% of the population have ever heard of. It has nothing to do with whether you support Griffin's politics.

You can argue all you like that Griffin is really left-wing and argue the same about Hitler but nobody will take you seriously.

Fascists are essentially defined by their violent and usually racist ultra-conservatism, not by their (usually) mundane middle-of-road socialism.

[basil]

Eustice is not influential. His original role was to push out press lines not to give advice in any way shape or form. Presumably Hilton was worried that a "normal" press secretary would blur the lines of campaign.

However the neglect of newspaper editors - by in effect not having a real press secretary of any weight - was a crucial failing and was rectified with the appointment of Coulson.

Particularly since the Rwanda debacle Coulson's influence has grown.

Eustice is performing the role of an able and hard working press officer. Nothing less and nothing more!

[Richard Tyndall]

But Trad Tory it was a list of right wing influence not right wing popularity or recognisability (Is there such a word?)

As such, although Griffin may be relatively well known and popular with certain sections of the population he is neither influential nor at all right wing.

His policies on state control and nationalisation are much closer to socialism than libertarianism.

[Chad Noble]

If Lord Ashcroft is the third most influential person on the right, and as we know, is passionately against any creation of state-sponsored political parties (opposes the extension to state funding) then why has he not succeeded in reversing the Tory policy on this?

It makes no sense; he hates the idea of state parties, he is the third most influential person on the right and he is bankrolling the party but cannot get this policy reversed.

Well, unless he was overruled by someone higher up the list of course.

[IRJMilne]

Having said that Mr Griffin should not be on the list, as he is not influential, I would like to address "steve".

"steve" - Ian Paisley has been influential on the right in his advocacy of the cause of the Unionists in Ireland. He has also influenced social conservatism in Northern Ireland, which is an integral part of this country. He has therefore influenced conservatism in this country and may deserve a place.

I don't know what you mean by "ordinary people" in your post; besides being a politician he is a Christian preacher, and Christianity is fairly clearly opposed to sodomy - and Christianity has always been a core part of right-wing politics, even if it has less influence in the UK than in the USA, and even if its influence has waned in recent years.

Whether Ian Paisley is a bengin or malignant influence on the right is a matter for debate, but he is undoubtedly influential. There are various people on the list of 100 who one might wish did not influence the Tory party, but there it is - they are influential on "the right", even if not on the leadership of the largest political party on the right.

[Erasmus]

A flawed list

The exclusion of Chad Noble is nothing short of scandalous

[Chad Noble]

:-)

[Traditional Tory]

But Trad Tory it was a list of right wing influence not right wing popularity or recognisability (Is there such a word?)

Yes but some of the people included are neither recognisable nor influential. Mrs Constable is a very obvious example.

Tony Blair is also on the list. Words fail me. I suppose the Labour left all think he's a Tory.

The whole thing is ridiculous. I suppose the Telegraph paid good money for this so-called research.

[steve]

IRJMilne - I don't accept that the Right accepts the views of Paisley, therefore I can't accept that he is influencial. I'd suggest the Right has a notion of liberty and enlighenment, and this is contary to what Paisley has promoted over he last 40 years. Who has he influenced? What policy of the Right is down to him? Let's be honest, until a few months ago everyone on the right thought he was a comedy character who said very un PC things, and therefore got some kudos. People are lining up to "respect" him because he's old and pretends that he hasn't "given an inch" for the last four decades. His political party have traditional (in NI) been seen on the centre Left, usually demanding more public expenditure, free travel etc. etc. Running around with a union flag doesn't make you a proponent of the Right.

[Richard Carey]

Chad: So let's pretend the people with politics we loathe don't exist instead and perhaps by magic they'll disappear! It worked me thinking of you.... ;-)

Thanks, Chad! I've been going for quiet effectiveness rather than personal popularity anyway!

[IRJMilne]

re: Rev. Paisley - fairly argued. But, although I have a limited knowledge of Northern Irish-specific affairs, I am led to believe that he has influenced social conservatism in Northern Ireland.

You write that "the Right has a notion of liberty and enlighenment" and say that this is "contary to what Paisley has promoted over he last 40 years". Could I have specific examples please? Out of curiosity. I'm not sure that he hasn't just promoted presently unfashionable (and possibly wrong) policies, which are nevertheless traditionally associated with the right.

It is worth asking whether "influential" means, capable of influencing right wing people or capable of influencing anyone significant on the right. Rev Paisley, and also Farage of UKIP, do better on the former than the latter.

[calypso]

Can't see why george eustice would be on this list.

Befoe AC's arrival it was generally accepted that the Tory press operation was a shambles as Iain acknowledges in his profile of AC Pol eds complain that they weren' contacted for days.

Virtually every single Editor was hostile. The turnaround recently has been immense and that dosn't reflect well on what went before!