THE Tory Party has hired a new director of strategy to “build a Conservative army … to save our country from socialism”.
Rachel Maclean, a former MP and UK government minister, announced that she would be taking the position in Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s team on Tuesday.
In a post on social media, Maclean said: “I am excited to announce that today I am starting a new position as director of strategy for the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch.
“I will be leading on the work to honour the promises Kemi made to renew our party.
“We need to build a Conservative army, capable of uniting the right, to save our great country from socialism.
“If you want to help us with this mission – there is a lot to do!”
Who is Rachel Maclean?
She had been an MP for the Tories for Redditch between 2017 and 2024.
Maclean won her seat in the 2019 General Election with 63% of the ballots, winning 16,000 more votes than second-place Labour. However, this was overturned in 2024 when she lost to Labour’s Chris Bloore by just 800 votes.
During her time in parliament she held various government roles – such as minister for housing and minister for victims – under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. She also served as vice-chair of the Conservative Party.
Maclean was born in India before studying experimental psychology at Oxford University.
Why has Rachel Maclean been controversial in the past?
In 2023, the former Tory MP sparked a police complaint after she shared a social media post describing the Green Party candidate standing against her in the General Election – trans woman Melissa Poulton – as a “man who wears a wig and calls himself a 'proud lesbian'”.
Poulton said it was without doubt “transphobic,” adding that Maclean was engaging in “dog whistling of the finest”.
West Mercia Police logged the comment as a "non-crime hate incident," but this was later retracted as the force said it did not meet the definition of an “incident”.
Elsewhere, Maclean was accused of insulting families after she told Sky News that people struggling to make ends meet during the cost-of-living crisis should work extra hours or move to a better-paid job.
And she also sparked anger after telling a Conservative Party Conference fringe event in 2023 that private rental accommodation was not completely full of “weed-smoking bad people in gangs and crack dens and everything else and smashing up the neighbourhood”.
Maclean was accused of showing the “utter contempt” the Tory government had for renters.
