Each year for the last twelve years, in the runup to Conservative conferences I have convened panels to compile a list of the most influential Conservatives in the country.
To be included you have to self identify as a Conservative. So anyone associated with UKIP, the Brexit Party for the alt-Right is no longer eligible for inclusion. I've also decided to include journalists and commentators who are clearly Conservative supporters, but I've not included broadcasters and journalists like Nick Ferrari, Julia Hartley-Brewer or Peter Hitchens as, although they're undoubtedly on the right, they don't self identify as Conservative Party supporters.
The most difficult thing when deciding who to include an exclude, is to define what ‘influence’ actually means. In the end it means being influential in a combination of national politics, the media, the general public and on the Conservative Party and its leader.
In all, there are 38 new entries in the whole list, eight more than in 2018, five more than 2016 record of 33. This is not surprising given there's a new party leader. Out go Gavin Barwell and Robbie Gibb (last year's 3 and 4), Liam Fox, James Brokenshire, Greg Clark, Chris Grayling, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston Nick Boles, Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd, among others.
Dominic Cummings is the highest new entry at 2, with Sir Eddie Lister, Carrie Symonds and Priti Patel all entering the list in the top ten.
Disappointingly, the number of the women in this year’s list has decreased from 30 to 15. However, on the bright side 5 make the top 20, up from 3 last year. There are 7 members of an ethnic minority in the list, up one from 2018.
The highest climber is Liz Truss who climbs 63 places, while Penny Mordaunt has experienced the biggest fall - 70 places
Last year, I wrote that "this is very much a steady as she goes list, with few dramatic rises or falls. We suspect that next year's list may be altogether different..." That turned out to be a very accurate prediction.
When compiling a list like this, it's done in the full knowledge that most people will disagree with every single ranking. Some will say that Dominic Cummings should top the list, and others will say he shouldn't even be in it at all. Some will think Sajid Javid, as Chancellor, should be a lot higher, or that as a leadership contender Matt Hancock should be in the top ten. We couldn't include all the 'Gaukeward squad', so Amber Rudd misses out being in the list at all, whereas Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve feature in the top 40 - and yes, they are still Conservatives. You could argue that Rory Stewart should be higher, given his showing in the leadership contest, but does being every Guardianista's favourite Tory mean he is a Conservative Influencer?
Brandon Lewis falls a little in this list and some will argue that fall should be more dramatic, but he survived the reshuffle cull in a way that many of his contemporaries didn't and is increasingly trusted by Number Ten as a safe pair of hands.
And where to put Jeremy Hunt? We decided he deserved to stay in the top 20, given that if the Prime Minister was to fall on his sword, he would again be a leading contender.
Some names, like Jonathan Hill, will be surprise inclusions to some, but they are invariably included because we know they carry influence with Boris Johnson and he regularly consults them. David Lidington is a further example.
We've included a few new influencers in the commentariat like Tom Harwood and Darren Grimes, who are both articulate exponents of the case for Brexit in a way that most of their political counterparts fail to match.
And yes, there will be loads of people that we could and maybe should have included, but didn't. Still, at least we've given you something to talk about!
1. (+14) Boris Johnson MP
Prime Minister
2. (NEW) Dominic Cummings
Director of Strategy, No 10 Downing Street
3. (+4) Michael Gove MP
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
4. (+12) Dominic Raab MP
Foreign Secretary
5. (RE-ENTRY) Sir Eddie Lister
Chief of Staff, No 10 Downing Street
6. (NEW) David Frost
Prime Minister’s chief Brexit adviser
7. (+3) Sajid Javid MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
8. (+39) Priti Patel MP
Home Secretary
9. (NEW) Carrie Symonds
Prime Minister’s partner
10. (NEW) Ben Elliot
Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party
11. (-) Jacob Rees-Mogg MP
Leader of the House of Commons
12. (NEW) Danny Kruger
Political Secretary, No 10 Downing Street
13. (NEW) Munira Mirza
Director, Number 10 Policy Unit
14. (+30) Andrea Leadsom MP
Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
15. (-6) Jeremy Hunt MP
Former Foreign Secretary
16. (+63) Liz Truss MP
Secretary of State for International Trade
17. (-8) Ruth Davidson MSP
Outgoing Leader, Scottish Conservatives
18. (NEW) Ben Wallace MP
Secretary of State for Defence
19. (-7) Brandon Lewis MP
Security Minister
20. (RE-ENTRY) Oliver Letwin MP
Former temporary Prime Minister
21. (-1) Gavin Williamson MP
Secretary of State for Education
22. (+28) James Cleverly MP
Co-chairman of the Conservative Party
23. (-5) Matthew Hancock MP
Secretary of State for Health
24. (+37) Nicky Morgan MP
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
25. (NEW) Andrew Griffith
Director of Business Relations, No 10 Downing Street
26. (+8) Fraser Nelson
Editor, The Spectator
27. (NEW) Geoffrey Cox MP
Attorney General
28. (NEW) Lee Cain
Director of Communications, No 10 Downing Street
29. (-7) Michael Ashcroft
Businessman & Philanthropist
30. (NEW) Robert Buckland MP
Secretary of State for Justice & Lord Chancellor
31. (-) Paul Goodman
Editor, ConservativeHome.com
32. (+15) Paul Staines
Editor, Guido Fawkes
33. (NEW) Nikki Da Costa
Director of Parliamentary Affairs, No 10 Downing Street
34. (-17) David Davis MP
Former Brexit Secretary
35. (RE-ENTRY) Kenneth Clarke MP
Father of the House
36. (+3) Natalie Evans
Leader of the House of Lords
37. (+49) Camilla Tominey
Associate Editor, Daily Telegraph
38. (-2) Shanker Singham
Director, International Trade & Competition Unit, IEA
39. (RE-ENTRY) Dominic Grieve MP
Former Attorney General
40. (-5) George Osborne
Editor, London Evening Standard
41. (-3) Mark Littlewood
Director, IEA
42. (-) Tom Tugendhat MP
Chairman, Foreign Affairs Select Committee
43. (+16) James Forsyth
Political Editor, The Spectator
44. (-1) Daniel Finkelstein
Conservative Peer & Times columnist
45. (-18) Steve Baker MP
Conservative MP for Wycombe & Chairman of the ERG
46. (NEW) Rory Stewart MP
Former International Development Secretary
47. (NEW) Mark Spencer MP
Chief Whip
48. (NEW) Rishi Sunak MP
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
49. (+13) Sheridan Westlake
Special Advisor, 10 Downing Street
50. (+5) Douglas Murray
Author & Associate Editor, The Spectator
51. (-) Esther McVey MP
Housing Minister
52. (-8) Daniel Hannan MEP
Conservative MEP for South East England
53. (-7) Christian May
Editor, City AM
54. (+13) Dean Godson
Director, Policy Exchange
55. (-53) David Lidington MP
Former Cabinet Office Minister
56. (-50) Sir Graham Brady MP
Chairman, 1922 Committee
57. (+6) Iain Duncan Smith MP
Former Conservative Party leader
58. (+15) Mark Wallace
Deputy Editor, ConservativeHome.com
59. (+9) Isabel Hardman
Associate Editor, The Spectator
60. (-6) Matthew Parris
Times columnist
61. (-1) Charles Moore
Columnist, Daily Telegraph & The Spectator
62. (NEW) Jake Berry MP
Minister for the Northern Powerhouse
63. (-38) David Gauke MP
Former Secretary of State for Justice
64. (-23) Robert Halfon MP
Chairman, Education Select Committee
65. (NEW) Steve Barclay MP
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
66. (+6) Peter Oborne
Columnist, Daily Mail
67. (+2) Simon Heffer
Historian & Daily Telegraph columnist
68. (+3) Sir John Major
Former Prime Minister
69. (+7) David Cameron
Former Prime Minister
70. (-69) Theresa May
Former Prime Minister
71. (NEW) Katy Balls
Political Correspondent, The Spectator
72. (NEW) Oliver Dowden
Minister for the Cabinet Office
73. (NEW) Henry Newman
Special Adviser to Michael Gove
74. (+1) Andy Street
Mayor of the West Midlands
75. (+7) Tim Montgomerie
Special Adviser on social justice, Number 10
76. (NEW) Sir Roger Scruton
Conservative philosopher
77. (-58) Julian Smith
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
78. (+2) James Delingpole
Presenter, The Delingpod
79. (-14) Nick Timothy
Columnist, Daily Telegraph
80. (+1) Jonathan Isaby
Editor, Brexitcentral.com
81. (+7) Kate Andrews
Associate Director, IEA
82. (NEW) Rob Oxley
Press Secretary, No 10 Downing Street
83. (-70) Penny Mordaunt
Former Defence Secretary
84. (+5) Andrew Sharpe
Chairman, National Conservative Convention
85. (RE-ENTRY) Nadhim Zahawi
Minister, Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
86. (RE-ENTRY) Theresa Villiers
Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
87. (+5) Robert Colvile
Director, Centre for Policy Studies
88. (NEW) Alok Sharma
Secretary of State for International Development
89. (-2) Iain Martin
Times columnist and editor, Reaction
90. (-37) William Hague
Former leader of the Conservative Party
91. (NEW) Conor Burns
Minister of State, Department of International Trade
92. (NEW) Jonathan Hill
Former European Commissioner and Conservative Peer
93. (NEW) Robert Jenrick
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government
94. (NEW) Therese Coffey
Secretary of State of Work & Pensions
95. (NEW) Darren Grimes
Digital manager, IEA
96. (NEW) Tom Harwood
Reporter, Guido Fawkes
97. (NEW) Nigel Adams
Minister of State, DDCMS
98. (RE-ENTRY) Zac Goldsmith
Minister of State, DEFRA
99. (NEW) Kwasi Kwarteng
Minister of State, BEIS
100. (NEW) Ben Houchen
Mayor of the Tees Valley
