|
|
The History of
the London Swinton
Circle
|
|
The London Swinton
Circle was founded in 1961. Its original membership was composed solely of those
who had attended Conservative Party training schools at Swinton Castle in Yorkshire, and who wished to maintain contact with
each other through regular meetings in London.
Swinton Castle in Yorkshire, where the London Swinton
Circle had its roots
Since that time, however, the London
Swinton Circle has expanded its membership, and
now welcomes members from all backgrounds who support traditional Conservative
and Unionist principles (though membership by anyone associated with extremist
political organisations from either wing of the political spectrum is of course
prohibited), an expansion which came into effect in 1996 when a new
constitution was approved. It holds regular meetings in London (usually on a monthly basis) which mainly
take place either in the Houses of Parliament or at nearby Portcullis House.
When Parliament is sitting speakers invariably tend to be Conservative or
Unionist (DUP, or, in the past UUP) MPs or Peers. When Parliament is in recess,
however, a wider range of interesting guest speakers are welcomed, particularly
those connected to Eurosceptic organisations and
representatives from the Commonwealth realms and British Overseas Territories. Once a year (usually in late summer or
early autumn) the London Swinton Circle holds a special buffet evening, to which a
prominent Guest of Honour is always invited. In 1999 a most important
development occurred when an independent supportive publication, Tough Talking From The
Right, was launched, which has rapidly gained a very high reputation within
patriotic circles.
London Swinton
Circle stalwart Ian Newman (left)
pictured with Douglas Carswell MP (right), the
Conservative MP for Harwich, at the LSC’s 2006 Summer Buffet where Mr. Carswell
was Guest of Honour.
The London Swinton
Circle has also been involved in a number of single-issue campaigns, which
currently include :-
·
a campaign
to abolish the BBC Licence
Fee.
·
full support
for Western forces in the War against Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.
·
a campaign
to include a One Mile event (both men’s and women’s) in the 2012 London
Olympics.
·
a campaign
to initiate a regular Winter Commonwealth Games.
Increasingly the London Swinton Circle has been staging a number of joint
meetings with like-minded organisations, specifically with the Springbok Club/Empire Loyalist Club and
the London Loyalist Friends of Ulster.
In October 2005 a joint delegation of London Swinton Circle and Springbok Club members visited Gibraltar and Cape Trafalgar in Spain in order to
celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. A
wreath was laid on behalf of the London Swinton Circle at the grave of Lieut. William Forster
of H.M.S. Colossus, who fought at
Trafalgar and who subsequently died of his wounds in Gibraltar, who is one of
only two combatants from this battle to be buried in a marked grave at the
Trafalgar Cemetery on the Rock (the other being Capt. Thomas Norman of the
Royal Marines corps on board H.M.S. Mars,
at whose grave a wreath was laid on behalf of the Springbok Club.) All the events commemorating this important battle
undertaken by the London Swinton Circle and Springbok
Club were co-ordinated by the Gibraltar
Heritage Trust, and fuller accounts of all such events both in Gibraltar and at Cape Trafalgar are detailed on
the Latest Empire
News web-site.
Return to Home Page