Political Views
Duncan is a libertarian. The Guardian has variously described him as 'economically libertarian' and 'socially libertarian'. He has been described as the 'liberal, urbane face of the Conservative Party'. He is a moderniser within the Conservative Party.
One of the chapters in his book Saturn's Children is devoted to an explanation of his support for the legalisation of all drugs. However this chapter was removed when the paperback edition was published to prevent embarrassment to the Party leadership. The omitted chapter was available on Duncan's personal website; however, as of 2011 it no longer appears. He believes in minimising the size of government, and in Saturn’s Children advocated limiting government responsibility to essential services such as defence, policing and health. He has been described as a "staunch" Eurosceptic.
He is on the council of the Conservative Way Forward (CWF) group. He is one of the leading British members of Le Cercle, a secretive foreign policy discussion forum. In contrast with most members of both CWF and Le Cercle, who hold pro-Republican Atlanticist views, he actively supported John Kerry in the US 2004 presidential election. Duncan is friends with Kerry, having met him whilst at Harvard.
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