Conservatives at Work

In the mid-1970s, the CTU president was Norman Tebbit (a former official of the British Airline Pilots' Association). He drafted Thatcher's speech to the CTU Conference in 1975, shortly after she was elected Conservative leader. Under Margaret Thatcher's leadership, there was a drive for recruitment. In 1975, seven new full-time workers were appointed under a new head, John Bowis. The 1977, CTU annual conference was attended by over 1,200 delegates. By 1978, there were 250 groups whose membership varied from 20 to 200 members. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, the CTU played an important part in guiding the party toward the Trade Union reforms introduced by James Prior, who was appointed Secretary of State for Employment after Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979. Peter Bottomley (a member of the Transport and General Workers' Union) was CTU president from 1978 to 1980. Sir Brian Mawhinney was president from 1987 to 1990. In the 1990s, with the decline in union influence, CTU membership waned. After the Conservative defeat in the 1997 General Election the organisation was renamed Conservatives at Work. ==See also==