Tim Montgomerie
Timothy Montgomerie | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 24, 1970 Barnstaple, England |
| Occupation(s) | Political activist, columnist, blogger |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Known for | Co-founding the Centre for Social Justice; founding ConservativeHome; comment editor at The Times; social justice adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson |
Timothy Montgomerie (born 24 July 1970) is a prominent British political activist, columnist, and blogger, widely recognized for co-founding the Centre for Social Justice and establishing the influential ConservativeHome website, which he led as editor from 2005 until 2013 before transitioning to The Times.
He held the position of comment editor at the newspaper until his departure in March 2014. On 17 February 2016, Montgomerie resigned from the Conservative Party in objection to its pro-European Union leadership approach. In 2019, he briefly served as an advisor on social justice matters to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Montgomerie has been acknowledged as "one of the most significant Conservative activists over the last two decades" and was named by The Observer in 2012 as one of the most influential Conservative figures outside government. In December 2024, he switched allegiance from the Conservatives to join Reform UK.
Early life
Born in Barnstaple in 1970 into a British Army family, Montgomerie reflected in a Guardian interview that although he embraced Thatcherism during his teenage years, this was moderated by his discovery of evangelical Christianity at age sixteen.
His education included attendance at the King's School in Gütersloh, Germany, which serves children of military personnel through Service Children's Education. He pursued higher education at the University of Exeter, studying Economics and Geography. During his time there, he led the Conservative Association alongside future Members of Parliament Robert Halfon, Sajid Javid, and David Burrowes.
Together with Burrowes, Montgomerie established the Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) in 1990, with backing from the Christian Coalition of America. Initially, the CCF promoted stronger links between the Conservative Party and religious groups on social issues such as homosexuality and Section 28; however, Montgomerie later revised his views on these topics. He directed the CCF from its inception until 2003.
Career
In the 1990s, Montgomerie worked briefly as a statistician at the Bank of England, concentrating on aspects of the Russian economy and analyzing systemic risk within financial systems.
Conservative Party Central Office
Between 1998 and 2003, Montgomerie served as a speechwriter for two Conservative Party leaders, namely William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith. He was also responsible for managing the party’s engagement with faith groups and voluntary organizations. In September 2003, he assumed the role of Chief of Staff to Duncan Smith; however, Duncan Smith was replaced by Michael Howard two months later. Montgomerie played a key role in shaping Duncan Smith’s emphasis on compassionate conservatism.
Centre for Social Justice
In 2004, Montgomerie co-established the Centre for Social Justice alongside Iain Duncan Smith and Philippa Stroud, promoting initiatives aligned with "compassionate conservatism." He introduced "Renewing One Nation," a social action program that helped Duncan Smith focus on poverty reduction efforts inspired by historical social reformers.
ConservativeHome
On 28 March 2005, Montgomerie launched ConservativeHome, a highly influential website ahead of that year’s general election. Together with Conservative MP John Hayes, he co-created conservativedemocracy.com to organize grassroots resistance against party leader Michael Howard’s attempt to eliminate the "one member, one vote" system during the 2005 Conservative leadership contest.
By September 2006, The Independent identified Montgomerie as a significant figure within Tory politics. He criticized the party’s A-List candidate selection and cautioned that leader David Cameron risked losing support among working-class Conservative voters. Montgomerie urged Cameron to make explicit tax reduction commitments and endorsed the legalization of same-sex marriage in England and Wales as a strategy to reinforce social institutions. Through ConservativeHome, he acted as a specialist consultant on digital campaigning for Conservative Central Office.
Internet television
Montgomerie served as a director for the internet TV channel 18 Doughty Street, which operated from October 2006 until November 2007. He presented the 'Campaign HQ' segment, where he developed online political advertisements enabling audience participation through voting on various proposals. Among the notable campaigns were critiques addressing taxation, public funding of political parties, and London Mayor Ken Livingstone. The 2007 advertisement titled "A World Without America," co-created with BritainAndAmerica, attracted 50,000 views within its initial day of release.
Since 2010
Following 2010, Montgomerie maintained his role as editor of ConservativeHome alongside co-editor Jonathan Isaby, assistant editor Joseph Willits, deputy editor Matthew Barrett, and former MP Paul Goodman. After the 2010 general election, he produced a critical analysis of David Cameron’s campaign entitled "Falling short."
Montgomerie has been an advocate of the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, penning an article in The Times in 2013 that argued cultural Marxism had flourished even as revolutionary Marxism declined.
Building on his ConservativeHome prominence, Montgomerie contributed regularly to The Guardian and The Times, with occasional pieces appearing in the Daily Mail, The Independent, and the Financial Times. In April 2011, he joined The Sunday Telegraph as a columnist but resigned in October amid internal disputes connected to his criticism of the paper’s editor. Subsequently, he took up a columnist position at The Times.
In February 2013, Montgomerie was named comment editor at The Times, while continuing to advise and blog for ConservativeHome.
He launched the digital magazine UnHerd in 2017, initially focusing on conservative viewpoints regarding capitalism and Brexit. Montgomerie departed from UnHerd in September 2018.
In September 2019, he accepted the role of social justice adviser to the Prime Minister at Number 10 Downing Street. This appointment lasted until the November 2019 election; following Boris Johnson’s electoral success, Montgomerie entered discussions about a renewed advisory role. By mid-2020, he emerged as a prominent critic of the government, particularly targeting Senior Adviser Dominic Cummings and Johnson himself.
During 2020, Montgomerie promoted establishing a post-Brexit "special relationship" between the UK and Hungary, highlighting Hungary’s influence on early debates concerning limits to liberalism. His endorsement of Viktor Orbán’s administration attracted criticism from the Labour Party due to allegations against that government involving antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric.
Amid the campaign for the 2024 general election, Montgomerie declared his intention to support Reform UK candidates such as Nigel Farage in Clacton and Richard Tice in Boston and Skegness. In December 2024, he officially left the Conservative Party to join Reform.
Personal life
Montgomerie identifies as a Christian.