John Penrose Chairs the Conservative Party’s in-house think tank, the Conservative Policy Forum, and is a prominent policy thinker on the centre-right of UK politics. He is a former MP, Prime Ministerial anti-corruption Tsar and serial Government Minister.
Policy Proposals
John campaigns for small-state, supply-side reforms so Britain’s economy and society work for the many, not the few. His proposals range from making housing cheaper to own or rent by allowing urban owners and developers to Build Up Not Out; making Britain’s economy more generationally-and-socially just by creating a UK Sovereign Wealth Fund and a legally-binding Fiscal Rule; and reforming formerly-nationalised utilities such as energy, telecoms, water and railways to put customers in charge, rather than politicians, bureaucrats or regulators instead.
The details are outlined in a series of policy papers which include:
- As Founder and Chair of the cross-party Carbon Competitiveness Commission, John produced Fixing The Carbon Leak which proposes the cheapest and most efficient way for the UK to reach Net Zero, while making our exporters more internationally competitive and cutting domestic energy or fuel bills too.
- In Poverty Trapped John outlines social reforms to equip more people to live proudly independent lives, by smashing the glass ceilings and narrow gates which currently ensure that - while talent is equally distributed across all parts of the country - life-chances and the skills which equip people to grasp them successfully are not.
- In Power To The People, a Government-commissioned report into Competition and Consumer Policy, John proposed modernised and upgraded laws to make UK businesses and exporters more internationally competitive and cut consumer rip-offs too. As he later outlined in Unfinished Revolution, about half of his original recommendations (including his central proposal for the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumer Act 2024) have been introduced so far.
- In Time To Think Big John argues the UK needs a Sovereign Wealth Fund to fix long-term structural problems with low savings rates and over-dependence on foreign investors, and to recapitalise our welfare state to cope with the demographic time bomb of an ageing population too.
- In his submission on Government integrity to the Committee On Standards In Public Life and his letter to the Foreign Secretary supporting an International Anti-Corruption Court John argues for reforms to deliver cleaner Government in both the UK and internationally in future too.
Chair of Conservative Policy Forum (CPF)
The Conservative Policy Forum is the Conservative Party’s in-house think-tank. It is open to Conservative Party members and sympathisers, and its reports go directly to the Conservative Party’s leadership. It also organises discussion events and Policy Pitch competitions (a kind of political ‘X Factor’). CPF has been growing fast since John became its Chair in 2020.
Anti-Corruption Tsar
John is the longest-serving Prime Ministerial Anti-Corruption Champion (2017-2022), the only one to serve two different Prime Ministers (Theresa May and Boris Johnson) and the only one to resign from the role on principle too.
The Champion role was originally created by Tony Blair in 2004 and is unpaid and voluntary. Anti-Corruption Champions have never had investigatory powers or resources which are, rightly, held by politically-independent law enforcement agencies like the National Crime Agency and Serious Fraud Office, to prevent politically-motivated prosecutions. The role involves arguing for stronger anti-corruption policies in the UK and abroad, and driving implementation of the Government’s Anti-Corruption Strategy.
Former MP & Serial Minister
John was a latecomer to politics, only joining the Conservative Party in London’s East End when his friends pointed out he was starting to yell at the telly, and after John Major said he wanted Britain to become a classless society.
He served as MP for Weston-super-Mare from 2005 to 2024. He was Tourism & Heritage Minister at the time of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. He wrote and implemented the Government’s Tourism Strategy, and began the process of turning English Heritage’s properties (Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel and others) into a second National Trust; abolished red tape on live entertainment; sold the Tote bookmaker; and protected the Lloyds of London building with a ‘Grade 1’ listing. He was described as ‘a GREAT tourism minister’ by VisitBritain, ‘an excellent minister’ by Business In Sport and Leisure [link], ‘a great supporter of the tourism industry’ – British Hospitality Association [link], ‘very effective’ – Tourism Alliance [link] and as a champion for heritage’ – The Council for British Archaeology [link]
John was brought back into Government as a Government Whip, a move described by The Telegraph as a ‘deserved return’ for a ‘stand-out talent’. He then served as Constitution Minister for David Cameron and later as Northern Ireland Minister for Teresa May too.
Beyond Politics
The son of two teachers, John ran Cambridge University’s Charity Appeal (raising what was then a record amount of money) and later became a successful businessman working for blue chip firms including JPMorgan, McKinsey, Thompson publishing and Pearson PLC, as well as leading two entrepreneurial startups in educational software and credit data publishing., He is married and has two daughters. His hobbies are beekeeping, fishing and gardening..