Conservative Research Department
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The Conservative Research Department ('CRD') is an integral part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside the other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 25 Victoria Street, London SW1.
CRD was established by Neville Chamberlain in 1929 to undertake detailed policy work for the leader of the Party (then Stanley Baldwin) and his principal colleagues. It was the first real think-tank of the right in British politics. For 50 years it occupied its own premises in Old Queen Street overlooking St James's Park, but after the 1979 election Margaret Thatcher united it physically with the rest of the Party's Central Office.
Until 1940 CRD was in practice virtually the private political property of Neville Chamberlain, furnishing him with policy papers and contributions to his speeches. A tightly knit group of six (who for a time included Frank Pakenham, the future Lord Longford) developed a detailed policy programme for him with a heavy accent on progressive social measures, including family allowances and better pensions for all.
CRD's work was suspended during the war, but the Department was re-established on a wider basis, with a much larger staff, by Rab Butler, its Chairman for 20 years (1945-65). Its extended post-war role included the provision of extensive briefing material on major legislation before Parliament and all the main issues of political controversy as they arose, as well as working with Butler to create the post-war Conservatism embodied in the famous series of charters of the late-1940s.
CRD was therefore the instrument through which the course of Conservative policy was determined during what is known as the 'post-war consensus' until it broke down in the 1970s. The series of Campaign Guides which CRD began to produce in 1950 recorded in detail the progress of Conservative Governments in this period--and more recent volumes in the series have continued to provide a full, official account of Conservative policy and its implementation.
When Margaret Thatcher became party leader in 1975, CRD organised the full policy review co-ordinated by Sir Keith Joseph which preceded her election as Prime Minister. In office she valued CRD primarily for the thorough and effective way in which it communicated to the Party at large the reasons why radical political change was needed and explained how Britain was being transformed as a result of them. CRD was a vital link between a reforming administration and the Party on whose support it depended. It was entrusted with the production of her general election manifestos and worked closely with her during election campaigns.
The tradition of close working with the Party leader and other senior figures has continued. During the 2005 election CRD was as usual once again the leader's policy secretariat, assisting Michael Howard's close advisers with the formulation of the Conservative position on all key subjects and the development of the strategy for the campaign. Under David Cameron CRD is again at the centre of a new era of policy-making (just as it was after 1945 and 1975), working to ensure the success of the six major policy groups he has established and, through its substantial briefing operation, keeping the new leader, his shadow cabinet, MPs and candidates equipped with the information they need to deal with the challenges facing Britain today. Its work is managed by its Director, John Glen.
The importance of CRD as a training ground for leading Conservative politicians has been widely acknowledged. After 1945 Enoch Powell, Iain Macleod, Reginald Maudling and Chris Patten all passed through it. As a sign of the department's renewed importance, the Chairman of the Department (currently CRD alumnus Oliver Letwin) has a seat in the Shadow Cabinet. Other former CRD advisers in the Shadow Cabinet include the Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne and the Leader of the Party, David Cameron himself.
In a recent reorganisation, the CRD was radically altered.
A central policy secretariat remains at CCHQ whilst the remainder of the Advisers work in the private offices of their respective Shadow Cabinet Members.
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