The National Conservatism Conference (stylized as NatCon) is a conference dedicated to the ideology of national conservatism. It is run by the Edmund Burke Foundation, a think-tank led by Yoram Hazony.[1]
The conferences developed between May 2019 and February 2020 when they were held in London, Washington, and Rome. Subsequent conferences were held in Orlando (2021), Brussels (2022), Miami (2022), and London (2023).[2][3][4][5] Speakers billed to appear included Tucker Carlson,[6] Josh Hawley,[7] J. D. Vance,[8] Giorgia Meloni,[9] Marco Rubio,[10] Peter Thiel,[11] Kevin Roberts,[12] the British MP Daniel Kawczynski, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.[13]
In 2023, the National Conservatism Conference was held in the Emmanuel Centre in London, attracting widespread media attention.[1] Speakers included the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Conservative government ministers Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg and the historian David Starkey.[14][15]
In her speech, Braverman stated that uncontrolled immigration threatened the country's "national character", and that Britons should be trained to do the jobs where immigrants are currently employed. She also expressed opposition to what she referred to as "radical gender ideology".[14][15][16]
The MP Miriam Cates was criticised for her use of the term "cultural Marxism" in her speech.[17][18] The journalist Douglas Murray was criticised for saying that he could "see no reason why every other country in the world should be prevented from feeling pride in itself because the Germans mucked up twice in a century".[19]
During his speech at the conference, Jacob Rees-Mogg stated that the Elections Act 2022 was an attempt at gerrymandering that backfired.[20][21][22]