Ex-Tory MP says political return off the desk as he says ‘folks hate my guts’

Former minister Steve Baker has dismissed the idea of returning to frontline politics, except under “extraordinary circumstances”.

After a challenging 14-year stint as a Conservative MP, he’s now making his way back into the private sector. Mr Baker, who previously served as Northern Ireland minister and was a staunch Brexiteer, stated that it would take a significant role to lure him back into government.

He described his tenure as MP for Wycombe as being “shocking from one end to the other”. After losing his seat to Labour in the general election, Mr Baker stepped away from politics and is now venturing back into the commercial sector.

His goal is to utilise his experience of “living in the teeth of ferocious disagreements” within the corporate world. In collaboration with London School of Economics professor and author Paul Dolan, he’s launching a new consultancy aimed at helping companies overcome the challenges of groupthink and “beliefism” – intolerance towards differing people or perspectives.

Mr Baker commented: “Hundreds of thousands of people hate my guts over one issue or another and I am accustomed to it. But when organisations face groupthink and beliefism, trouble can follow, innovation and productivity fall and competitiveness suffers.”

Mr Baker recently broached the topic of beliefism at the Conservative party conference, noting that when he mentioned it, “the room stopped and wrote it down”. His presence at the conference sparked speculation about a potential return to politics, a notion Mr Baker vehemently denies.

“For me to return to elected office would require the most extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “Even if a Prime Minister, or rather a leader of the opposition, said to me: ‘We think we’re gonna win this one, Steve, we want you in the cabinet’, after everything I’ve done, quite honestly, I’d be asking: ‘Which job?’”

“Because I wouldn’t go back to all the trouble of being elected for one of the smaller cabinet jobs, as honouring as that would be.” For the moment, his focus is on applying his wealth of experience to assist businesses.

With their fresh enterprise dubbed The Provocation People, he and Mr Dolan aim to enable companies to accept differing viewpoints and even hosility. He said: “I’ve spent 14 years living in the teeth of ferocious disagreements and I’ve always tried to disagree in a civil fashion. It’s been naturally in my character to kind of try and get on with people even where I disagree with them. I don’t want animosity.”

His strong advocacy for Brexit and vocal criticism of Government-imposed Covid lockdowns have drawn both attention and anger over the years. He said that beliefism was “very evident” at that time. Reflecting on the backlash, he recalled: “Before you know it, they’re calling me a denier and I’m the embodiment of evil.”

The former minister also opened up about the mental toll of his time in the political arena, an issue on which he’s been notably frank. “Almost every aspect of being a politician shocked me,” he said. “Everything from the sheer volume of work that goes through Parliament to the way that people talk to their representatives. It was just shocking from one end to the other. I am an introvert who doesn’t much like conflict,” and “I prefer to get along with everyone.”

He plans to use his experience and Mr Nolan’s expertise on behavioural science to bring harmony to firms facing hostility. “That will be a prize for me personally worth winning after a very bruising 14 years in which I’ve talked about the depths of mental health issues, which I suffered as a result. “I would like to make the world a better place and I think I’m better off doing that with Paul (Dolan) than I am going back into politics.”

They hope that through their advice, firms can tackle groupthink to drive innovation and productivity and ultimately boost profits. Mr Dolan said: “There isn’t a single company that isn’t subject to the vagaries of groupthink, and if we’re going to get ourselves out of the productivity puzzle… then we need to be truly celebratory of different perspectives.”