The Tory Reform Group (TRG) was formally established in June 1975 from the merger of four like-minded groups: PEST (Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism), two separate London dining clubs named the Macleod Group and Social Tory Action Group, and a group in Manchester who had already been going by the name the TRG.
The TRG was conceived as a national forum for ordinary Conservative Party members and MPs alike who saw the need for the application of traditional Tory values in the modern world. Firmly entrenched in Tory principles, the philosophies of Benjamin Disraeli's "One Nation" and Harold Macmillan's "Middle Way", the TRG aimed to achieve economic efficiency with the exercise of compassion. It believed in a fair society, achieved through contemporary welfare reforms and mainstream policies. With an interventionist attitude towards unjust social conditions, the TRG was set in the image of historical figures such as Iain Macleod, Winston Churchill and R.A. Butler.
The key figure in the formation of TRG was Peter Walker MP, a former Minister in Heath's Government from 1970-1974. Once out of government, he was urged by MPs to form a parliamentary group that represented the liberal Conservative view of the Tory Party.
Walker was reluctant to form such a group at first, not least because he was sensitive to the damaging effects the Tribune Group had wrought on Labour and did not like the idea of similarly factionalising the Conservative Party. As time passed, however, other groups emerged, including right-wing Conservative groups, and justification for a counteracting group increased. At his home in Westminster, Walker met with chairmen of four organizations he had previously had contact with, and they agreed to come together to form the TRG. From the start, the TRG was an activist group with membership, as opposed to being a think tank. The TRG hoped to spread its moderate view through publication of pamphlets, discussion with MPs, use of media, and by widening its membership. Weekly lunches were inherited from PEST. London PEST had organized a Tuesday Luncheon Club in local pubs, such as Magpie and Stump in Old Bailey. These lunches provided a programme of speakers as well as opportunities for members to become involved in constituency activities.
In January 1976, TRG released its first publication, entitled Home Run by Nicholas Scott MP, the President of TRG. It was a very important publication in the campaign to make the sale of council houses to their tenants a key part of the Conservative policy platform. TRG patron Michael Heseltine was to implement this policy in Government after 1979.
The 1980s saw TRG pitched headlong into some passionate debates within the Conservative Party, notably over the direction of economic policy and apartheid regime in South Africa. The TRG refused to compromise on its opposition to apartheid and from time to time clashed with Lady Thatcher's Government as a result. The annual Budget submissions of the Group reflected concern in the wider party that Government economic policy was sometimes too focused on ends and took insufficient account of the consequences of some of the means.
Over the years TRG has changed its approach; the confrontational battles of the early years have given way to a more thoughtful approach based on debate and the active promotion of ideas in the One Nation tradition.
From a rocky start TRG has become an established part of the Conservative political scene. It is now recognised as the authentic voice of moderate, One Nation Conservatism throughout the Party.
