Conservative Middle East Council

We do this by organising roundtable discussions, publishing original analysis, working closely with the Council of Arab Ambassadors, whose friendship and support we value greatly, and, crucially, sending delegations to the region.” CMEC has had a long association with the Conservative Party dating back more than 40 years.

It was former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who first suggested to Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington the idea of an organisation like CMEC to foster greater understanding of the Middle East and North Africa among Conservative parliamentarians.

[8] In 1967, following the Six Day War, Sir Dennis had visited the region with his Conservative colleague and close political ally, Ian Gilmour, to argue for the return of Palestinian refugees.

The establishment of CMEC by Sir Dennis followed the Venice Declaration of June 1980, when the then nine members of the European Economic Community registered their concern over the continued building of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Knighted in 1988, Sir Dennis was an outspoken critic of certain aspects of the government's foreign policy in the Middle East, not least its decision to lend its support the US bombing of Libya, which was carried out in April 1986 in retaliation for Tripoli-sponsored acts of terrorism.

These include ex-Chairman Crispin Blunt, MP for Reigate, who served as chairman for many years, Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE[9] and the former Foreign Office Minister the Rt Hon.

In January 2019, Charlotte Leslie wrote to then Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis, to inform him that the council was formalising its legal status by becoming a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.