The Tory Reform Committee was not a think tank as such, but a group of young Conservative MPs who combined for political action. It was founded in February 1943 by Viscount Hinchingbrooke, MP for South Dorset, with the object of encouraging the Government to take constructive action along the lines of the Beveridge Report. The group claimed to represent one-seventh of Conservative MPs and between 1943 and 1947 coordinated its members' parliamentary activities to apply pressure on the Conservative leadership to adopt progressive reforms.

Side by side with its parliamentary activities, the Tory Reform Committee set up a small secretarial office to facilitate the dissemination of its views, and published a number of pamphlets and a Bulletin. The whole Committee met once a week, and a small executive committee also met once a week to review current business, with small sub-committees of 3-4 members appointed from time to time to conduct research in matters of special importance. Their reports were reviewed by the Committee as a whole, and if approved, were published.