CANZUK summer newsletter ‘25
Good afternoon,
After much international excitement at the beginning of the year, we are clearly in a new era for CANZUK: the major parties in all countries are discussing it, Canada’s entire political class has endorsed it, and national newspapers such as The Times are coming out in support.
I have been pleased to see our work begin to bear fruit: submitting a proposal to the Conservative Party’s policy review, holding our first lecture, and gaining high-profile endorsements for CANZUK within the Conservative Party.
Regarding the policy review, we will send another email out in the next few weeks with a survey on your views on what ‘CANZUK’ should entail. This will both inform our package for the policy portion (the next stage) of the Conservative Party’s policy review and generally inform our work as an organisation going forward.
As you know, CANZUK requires a cross-party consensus, and I have been delighted to see CANZUK supporters in the other major parties connect with CF of CANZUK and drum up support within their spheres.
In this summer edition, we provide a summary of our activities over Trinity and the first part of the summer recess. Much of our recent work has been in the background, but it has all been very productive.
In terms of events, we are hosting an afternoon tea for our parliamentary patrons in September. We are also planning a reception at this year’s Conservative Party Conference. We aim to provide more information about this within the next few weeks. We are also planning more events for our supporter network.
As always, a great ‘thank you’ to our patrons, donors and supporters, for boosting this positive and future-focussed mission.
On behalf of everyone on the Conservative Friends of CANZUK committee, may I thank you for your continued support and hope that you are having a restful summer.
Yours sincerely,
Elliott Malik
Director of the Conservative Friends of CANZUK
Our work
We submitted our 'first principles’ paper to the Conservative Party’s policy review.
Our director, Elliott Malik, contributed to a GB News article to explain why CANZUK is the obvious foreign policy platform for the Conservatives and all UK political parties more broadly.
Our patron, Lord Roberts of Belgravia, delivered a lecture on the need for CANZUK and the great ties between our realms in June.
Alongside the Conservative Commonwealth Group, we held two online events: one for the Canadian Federal Election with special guest Tony Clement P.C. and one for the Australian Federal Election with Prof. George Brandis K.C.
We gained new parliamentary patrons: Robert Jenrick MP (Shadow SoS for Justice), Joy Morrissey MP, Katie Lam MP, and Tom Tugendhat MP.
CANZUK stalwart Paul Bristow was elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, becoming the first regional mayor in our Local Government Network.
Our membership and supporter networks continue to grow, and we now have members and supporters from across the four realms.
Our patron Tom Tugendhat MP wrote an article for Canada’s Globe and Mail on the need for CANZUK and for the UK and Canada to work more closely on energy matters.
Elliott Malik was interviewed by GB News about the pressing need for CANZUK and its importance to the Conservative Party.
Our directors David Moore and Elliott Malik were interviewed by Japan’s Sankei Shinbun about CANZUK and its potential to assist the East Asian democracies.
Elliott Malik wrote a piece for Conservative Home on how the King’s tour of Canada demonstrated the depth of our cultural ties.
David Moore, visited Newfoundland and was pleased to see our shared cultural heritage being celebrated across the province.
CF of CANZUK have worked with CANZUK supporters in Australia and Canada to promote parliamentary petitions calling for action on CANZUK now.
Deepening ties between the realms
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, met the King of New Zealand and the UK Prime Minister. The two PMs discussed stepping up bilateral military partnerships through a bolstered defence and security agenda. The leaders also agreed to work to further reduce trade barriers and increase partnership in the agricultural sector.
The King became the first Canadian monarch to open their Parliament in almost 70 years.
The UK sent HMS Prince of Wales and its carrier strike group to Australia to join their largest war exercise: Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Canada agreed to ratify the UK’s accession to the CPTPP.
The UK and Australia signed the Geelong Treaty, a new 50-year bilateral treaty to deliver their respective elements of the AUKUS Treaty.
The Critical Minerals for Resilience and Sustainability (MINERS) initiative was formed between the UK and Canada. This will allow world-leading researchers to collaborate on one of the most pressing geopolitical threat (or opportunity) of our time.
The professional regulator for architects in the UK and Canada signed a mutual recognition agreement for those qualifying in either country.
Canada and New Zealand settled a long-running dairy dispute, securing a deal worth more than $157 million.
P.S.
We would like to congratulate Kevin Hollinrake MP on becoming Chairman of the Conservative Party.
We would like to congratulate Julia Lopez MP on becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
We would like to congratulate Matt Vickers MP on becoming Shadow Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire.
We would like to congratulate our Director, Jamie Bartch, on his promotion within CCHQ.
We would like to congratulate our Director, Elliott Malik, on his engagement and new role with the Conservative Environment Network.
We would like to wish our Director, David Moore, well as he sets up a new consultancy.
We would like to wish our Events Officer, Danielle Terry, on her new role with Tousi TV.