The Conservative Woman

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The Conservative Woman has found a gap for a Marmite strand of thinking, which is to say one that is either loved or hated.
—Laura Perrins[1]

The Conservative Woman aka TCW Defending Freedom is an untrustworthy[note 1] far-right[note 2] political webshite[2] launched in London, UK, in 2014[3] which claims to have 1.5 million monthly views.[4] It was founded by former TV-amWikipedia producer Kathy Gyngell[5] and former barrister Laura PerrinsWikipedia[6] as a "counter-cultural offensive against the forces of Leftism, feminism and modernism."[7] The founders, who describe their values as “unashamedly those of faith, married family and nation-state,” have supported Brexit, denied climate change and COVID-19, and promoted a smorgasbord of right-wing conspiracy theories. The website derives its revenue through donations and sponsored content and is published by The Conservative Woman Limited.

TCW Ltd is majority owned by Gyngell, with Perrins having ceased to be co-editor and a minority stake holder in 2021.[8] According to its latest filing (as of September 2024)[9] the company holds assets worth just over £4,000 (down from just over £19,000 in 2022), capital reserves just over £40,000 (up from just over £24,000 in 2022) and has no employees (down from 2 in 2022).

The British Board of Film ClassificationWikipedia has, following a 2022 review,[10] classified the website, under the BBFC Mobile Classification Framework, as being suitable only for adults and required it to be placed behind adult filters due to comments left unchallenged by the blog's administrators representing unbridled racism, sexism, and Islamophobia as well as advocating for white supremacy.

Content warnings[edit]

Climate change denialism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Climate change

TCW's opposition to climate quackery sees it regularly publishing work by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, of which TCW editor Kathy Gyngell is a Trustee and Director, and it's leading lights Ruth Lea,Wikipedia Harry Wilkinson and John Constable.[7]

COVID-19 denialism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: COVID-19 denialism

TCW promoted the use of the unproven treatment of COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine and pushed the disredited ideas of Peter A. McCullough,Wikipedia thereby earning itself an impressive seven-failed fact checks for a single article.[2][11]

Key people[edit]

Kathy Gyngell[edit]

Kathryn Julia Gyngell née Rowan (1950–)[5] is the co-founder and editor of The Conservative Woman as well as a director of The Conservative Woman Ltd.[7][12]

Gyngell holds a Bachelor’s in social anthropology from Cambridge and a Master’s in sociology from Oxford and was a Research Fellow under Jay BlumlerWikipedia at the Centre for Television Research at Leeds University. She worked in the Features and Current Affairs Department at LWTWikipedia and was a Features Editor at TV-amWikipedia before leaving her career to become a stay-at-home mother to the children she had with her then boss and now late husband Bruce Gyngell.Wikipedia[note 3][7][12]

In 1999 she and fellow TV-am alumni David Keighley founded the anti-BBC watchdog Minotaur Media Tracking, which was the precursor to News-watch.[7][12]

In 2006, Gyngell was appointed as a research fellow working on drugs and early-years policies at the influential free-market think tank Centre for Policy StudiesWikipedia co-founded by her and her late husband's close personal friend Margaret Thatcher.[7][12]

Since 2019, Gyngell has been a Trustee and Director of the climate-change denialist Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), founded by Nigel Lawson.[7][12]

Laura Perrins[edit]

Laura Jean Mary Perrins née McGowan (1981–)[6] is the co-founder and former co-editor of The Conservative Woman as well as a director of The Conservative Woman Ltd.[7]

Perrins qualified as a barrister before leaving her career to become a stay-at-home mother. A 2013 LBC radio interview in which she confronted then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for discriminating against single mothers brought her to public prominence.[7]

Editorial board[edit]

Notable contributors[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. TCW, according to Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC),[2] engages in poor source citation and the promotion of conspiracy theories.
  2. TCW's story selection and opinion pieces are, according to Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC),[2] consistently biased in favor of the far-right.
  3. Bruce Gyngell was Margaret Thatcher's favourite broadcaster and received a personal letter from her when government legislation inadvertently killed off TV-am.

References[edit]