Dominic Wightman is one of the three founders of Country Squire Magazine and has been its Editor since 2016. Recently the magazine expanded into India. There are many people who talk about being conservative but very few who put their words into actions. Dom is one of the few conservatives who fights for his beliefs and as a consequence of consistently ‘hovering over the target’ he suffers from retaliatory brickbats more than most. I know this personally from Dom’s agreeing with me to expose the lies and shenanigans going on behind the scenes in the campaign to ban trophy hunting – something few editors would have been brave enough to touch. Whether it was his involvement in the exposing of Hizb ut Tahrir in 2006, Corbyn in 2019 or his current legal actions against a well-known BBC Presenter, Dom sticks to his guns. His direct writing style and persuasive eloquence have won him many friends as well as a fair share of trolls and enemies. Dom’s pragmatic conservatism, which he has described as Banzai conservatism, is novel and certainly proving to be colourful in action. His catchphrase “stick it right up’em” is as memorable as his description of ideological opponents as “those tiresome Marxist orcs”. Dom is a full-time businessman, a part time writer and editor, and has somehow made the time to expand his living conservatism to chairing a heritage trust while actively assisting with the pursuit of democracy in Venezuela. Here John Nash interviews Dom for The New Conservative:
TNC: Dom, how are you holding up under the strain? I see the trolls are out in full force against you these days, now that your name has been linked publicly with the defamation litigation.
DW: I am fighting fit, thanks. Although distracting and pricey, I relish these kinds of battles as you know. I’m not going to talk about the case but I can talk about trolls if you like – although I pay as much attention to trolls as one should pay to nutters on the bus. One minute they complain that you’re a pervert the next that you can’t get a shag at all; they claim you’re broke then that you made millions via some cunning scam. They accuse you of being dim, then diss you for your higher education. I wish they’d make their minds up; bunch of loons and tank tops. One of these days I may go public with what I do, but for now let the saddos keep guessing – they look increasingly ridiculous while they do.
TNC: They don’t get to you?
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I have had a bunch of misfits smearing me on Twitter for many years, so I am quite used to it – that hardly compares to children starving on account of Socialism in Venezuelan barrios, or families having artillery shells land on their homes in Ukraine. Perspective is key. I measure life by victories not by trolls. Trolls are like cow pats on the field of battle.
TNC: But surely the attacks, say on your family, must upset you?
DW: Not really. One the other day posted something about my wife being really fat. I couldn’t resist but publish a picture of her with a thumbs up to clarify she still looked like a Miss Venezuela runner up! I have a selfless colleague who collects all the shite that is posted by trolls and he passes it to the lawyers who deal with it all. I stay away from most of the negativities. You have to understand that these trolls – particularly the sabs and the antis I’ve picked up because of the recent litigation, despite never hunting in my life – they all hate me and what I stand for just a little more than they hate themselves. Just because they choose to spend their days cooped up in their dusty attics spouting bile via their crusty keyboards doesn’t force me to stoop to their levels. Their smears that I have witnessed have been tedious and unimaginative, although there were some quite amusing gifs created I should give them credit for as they made me chuckle. They concoct nonsense online or Google someone else’s smears about me then publish that as fact. Their threats of violence get passed to the police but all the rest of it is, to quote that mighty red, Mark Lawrenson, ‘powderpuff’.
TNC: I read that you had a death threat recently?
DW: Yes. Hey ho. The police were made aware. It goes with the territory. I do not want to play the victim or mop up sympathy – I am braver than that. I am a tougher fellow than to make hay out of victimhood.
TNC: I saw you did respond to another troll. An actual witch from Wales?
DW: Yes, that was intriguing. Also it made for good copy! I got a call one Sunday saying that this black witch had been calling up randoms linked to the magazine and was dissing me. Not your everyday call to receive! When we researched this woman we found she was indeed a black witch, so I got a white witch involved to combat her black magic and she’s been surprisingly quiet since! You get loons after you in this space – it was the same with the Corbynites. I recall one lad who attended Momentum meetings defecated on a photo of me and sent me the result. One of the unhealthiest jobbies I have ever seen – no doubt he was a vegan. I wear such defecations as badges of honour! There has rarely been a simpler deduction – better to have your image defecated on than to promote an ideology which has killed many millions since Marx dreamt it up in his own dusty attic? No brainer. Some folks never learn. If you’re not being “taken down” on a daily basis you’re not working hard enough nor are you hovering over or hitting the right targets satisfactorily.
TNC: The farmers, gamekeepers and others are clearly right behind you. You must be delighted.
DW: I am trying my best. They are rock solid and I have loved learning from them. The British Countryside is awesome.
TNC: Some of your writing is philosophical and profound. Clearly conservative. Do you admire any particular modern day conservative writers and thinkers?
DW: I have two stand-out influences and one is long dead, the other is just about still alive. Irishman Edmund Burke is one and the other is the American, Thomas Sowell, who is now in his nineties. Burke talked of conservatives having an ability to perceive truth, argue for justice and combine a disposition to preserve with an ability to improve. Sowell’s quote on Socialism, that it ‘in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it’ best sums up our own times and the current crop of Tories should pay heed. There are too many so-called conservative influencers alive today who are all words and no trousers. Conservatives are the free-willed, proactive defenders of both conservable good and the liberty to positive progress; the rejecters of evil, mere change for change’s sake and other imprudent, unrealistic, over-optimistic alterations. We should be honoured by who we are. We are right on everything. We need to get out there a bit more. Stick it right up’em!
TNC: Your wife, as you mentioned, is Venezuelan and I know you have lost friends and family over there on account of the rise in violence under Chavez and Maduro. Do you see things improving over there?
DW: Once the Chavistas have gone then hope will come again. Regrettably, Maduro, who calls himself President but has not won a single, fair presidential election, perpetuates the chaos and hopelessness that emerged during Chavez’ last years, when the country started running out of cash. Yes, we’ve lost friends and family. These facts are not surprising. Socialism is a bloody business when the cash dries up. Yes it’s tragic that we have lost people the way we have but at least we can tell others about their horrible deaths and explain how an ideology killed them. I was proud of Britain in December 2019, rejecting the Far Left so unanimously. Venezuela is screwed for another generation in my opinion, but I dare not tell my wife that.
TNC: On a lighter note I know you Country Squires enjoy the finer things in life. What would be your perfect evening and where would you spend it?
DW: My perfect evening would be spent on the balcony of our Venezuelan ranch listening to crickets, drinking rum and smoking a Mombacho cigar. Watching my children play in the garden while taking pot-shots at passing Chavistas with my Brazilian pistol. No seriously, I am a simple fellow – I’d be just as cheerful watching the rugby or walking my dogs. If We Country squires come across as elitists then that is a fault of the marketing!
TNC: Finally what do you think of our new magazine?
DW: Frank is a wizard of a writer. He always has been. I am delighted when any conservative publication emerges. We conservatives do not criticise each other. We may not agree with each other. We may not like each other, but we never criticise each other. I have always liked Frank and I tend to agree with a lot he stands for. Best of luck to The New Conservative! Chapeau to Frank and his team for starting the magazine. I enjoy reading the magazine and it’s on my list of favourites. I wish the venture every success.
John Nash grew up in West Cornwall and was a £10 pom to Johannesburg in the early 1960’s. He started well in construction project management, mainly high rise buildings but it wasn’t really Africa, so he went bush, prospecting and trading around the murkier bits of the bottom half of the continent. Now retired back in Cornwall among all the other evil old pirates. His interests are still sustainable resources, wildlife management and the utilitarian needs of rural Africa.
An absolute gent and brilliant to boot. Very supportive of younger conservatives. A great interview. I always wonder why the trolls are always left wing? I love the description of them as ‘cow pats on the battlefield’. So very true!
Top Interview. Character.