Why won’t Amnesty accept Conservatives?

I have been a member of Amnesty International since I was eleven. In my school, it was the only real option for those looking to get into politics; supported by the Principal, we held frequent fundraisers, and my English teacher, whom I idolised, talked us through human rights abuses that occur throughout the world. I was impassioned and angry; I spent a lot of time reflecting on how lucky I was and how I could try to make things better. I took myself very seriously when I was in year seven, in the way that only pre-teens can. However, one thing always puzzled me. In modern conservatism, a respect for individual rights is paramount, and so it makes a lot of sense for a conservative to support human rights organisations such as Amnesty International. What makes less sense is why there are so few conservatives in these movements. Why do these charities, that campaign on global and local issues, not seek to widen their support base to include more conservatives, who are naturally inclined to embrace their values? Instead, in many cases they actively reject our support.

Despite being my favourite teacher, I was not my English teacher’s favourite student. There are many explanations for the tension between us, but the most significant one was the fact that she was an ardent Labour Party supporter, and I was a conservative before I knew what the Tory party was. Although the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of Amnesty International UK is a Tory and a Brexiteer, she remains one of the few right-wing members of such organisations whose membership and leadership are overwhelmingly left-wing. This to me is not very plausible: many conservatives believe strongly in individual rights, especially as a basis of meritocracy, and so for organisations that seek to protect these rights to ignore, and in cases, actively avoid, conservative support is insane.  The strength of these charities comes from the width and depth of their support. Surely they must want to increase their membership, and what better way to do so than to welcome new members who share their views but might previously have been politically alienated? Regardless of this, there is very little likelihood that this could ever be achieved, which is a monumental shame. Social movements are stronger the bigger they are, and Amnesty is limiting itself unnecessarily.

The problem, of course, lies both with me, and with my English teacher. As the person who introduced me to the human rights movement, she tainted my view of Amnesty. I will always see Amnesty as a (noble) left-wing institution, even as it claims to be non-biased, and I know that the core support of the party comes from members who share her views. She, of course, could never accept me as a true Amnesty supporter; somewhere in the back of her mind, she could not come around to the fact that a Tory might genuinely want to help people.

Maddy Ross (Committee Member) is a first year PPEist at Balliol College