ConservativeHome's CF Diary

Welsh House Farm

The relatively recent phenomenon of party conference social action projects have so far been limited to the dates of the conference. This year there will be a much bigger lead up for the Birmingham conference, with  party activists already working hard in the Welsh House Farm area of the city.

Last week there was a huge swing in a by-election held in the area of last year's social action project in Blackpool, so the benefits to both the ocmmunity and the party are clear.

Anastasia Beaumont-Bott is co-ordinating CF's role in "WHF":

"The task is simple: to transform the area using a bottom up approach through working with the local community, local charities and local entrepeuners. But what singles this project out from all our other past projects is that this make over we are doing, is more than just the physical; painting fences and planting flowers etc! It's social changes as well and will go under the skin to find the roots of the problems and potentially find solutions. For example: one of the charities we are working with is "Positive Parenting." Over the last couple of weeks I have grown increasingly more excited about "I LOVE WHF" - it really is the definition of what I want the CF Social Action Network to be, and I am thrilled to have CF working so closely with the party on this."

She needs several CF volunteers to help with a community sports day event on the 13th of July. There's also a big event planned on the 6th and 7th of September, and various ongoing projects. Contact ABB if you're interested in getting involved.

Tory Bear's survey

CF aficionados will enjoy the recently-launched Tory Bear blog, it looks to be the new go-to place for CF gossip (I particularly enjoyed the explanation of Patrick Sullivan's mysterious hat!).

The irreverent, insidery blog seems to be pitched as a Guido Fawkes of the CF world. Holding CCHQ/the exec to account is obviously something CF Diary would support as long as it doesn't make things too personal and foment divisions.

Anyway, it's holding a survey on CF which you can take here.

CF campaigning in Henley

Fresh from a successful effort in Crewe, Conservative Future is gearing up for campaigning in the Henley by-election. The Exec will be using new software to update members with the progress in the by-election:

Twitter - Using Twitter (a microblogging site) we will be able to provide constant updates of how things are going - from now until polling day. You can see the Twitter feed at the top of the right sidebar on the Exec blog (CFHenley08). We have been 'twittering' from London so far; with info and things we hear, but from tomorrow it will be from the heart of the action - the full feed can be seen here.

Flickr - Through Flickr (online photos) we will be able to upload photos directly for members to see what we are up to - these will be online minutes after they are taken. There is also a Flickr photo feed just below the Twitter feed in the right sidebar.

Details of an upcoming campaign day in Henley, and a coach being taken up by ConservativeHome...

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CF National Day - Sat 21st June @ 11:00am

If you have any general questions about travel etc then get in touch with the CF National Campaigns Director, Patrick Sullivan - patricksullivan21@hotmail.com

Location: Henley train station

More info: Facebook group / Exec blog

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Conservative Home bus to Henley - Sun 22nd June @ 10:00am

Like with Crewe a number of CF members will be catching a ConservativeHome-organised coach up for a day of campaigning. We'll leave from central London at 10am and spend six hours in Henley including a lunch break.  The voluntary cost will be £12 per person (we say voluntary because we'd rather have poverty-stricken students' time than their money).  If you'd like to join us please email us.

The Henley campaign may not be as exciting as Crewe.  Holding a seat is not as exciting as winning a seat but we can't afford to be apathetic.  We need to maintain the momentum that has been built up over recent months by keeping the LibDems in a weak second place.  If you can't join our coach trip but would like to help in other ways please email campaign.support@conservatives.com.

CF launches a Social Action Network

I wrote in January about concerns that social action hadn't been developed in CF as much as it could have so I'm pleased to note the creation of the Conservative Future Social Action Network, which will bring together branch-level social action officers from right across the country.

Not every branch has a Social Action Officer but I understand the role was incorporated into the CF constitution towards the end of the last term by Mark Clarke so hopefully this network will catalyse its use. Unlike last year it doesn't look like someone with experience of social action will be co-opted onto the exec to focus on that aspect but it's clearly still a priority in CF as it is in the Party at large.

Exec member Anastasia Beaumont-Bott said:

"By bringing all the social action officers together, we hope to be able to find the communities in need of Social Action and work with the party to help promote Conservative Future as a caring and compassionate organization.

The Conservative Future Social Action Network will also aim to coordinate our efforts with the main party as a whole and help to spread awareness of the many social action events the Conservative Party are involved in right up and down the country."

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Shadow Minister for Social Action said:

“Social Action is about becoming embedded in our local communities and doing our bit to improve the wellbeing of local residents, I am very excited about the launch of the Conservative Future Social Action Network and look forward to working closely with them to get more social action projects up and running across the country.”

Your help is needed in compiling a list of all the social action bods (email AAB) and coming up with ideas for projects locally and nationally.

Next IYDU Freedom Forum to be in Paris

25th - 28th June.
See our Events page for more details.

These annual gatherings can take place anywhere in the world so you might as well take the opportunity of going whilst it's in Paris.

Student wing of CF launched

Conservative Future has this week announced the launch of Student Life – the student wing of Conservative Future that will coordinate the work of Student Conservative Future groups across the country.

The committee will be jointly chaired by National Executive Member, Patrick Sullivan and Sam Rozati, the only Conservative on the Executive of the National Union of Students'. Patrick will champion Student Life within the National Management Executive and sit on the Student Life Committee to ensure consistency with Conservative Future's wider activities.

Rozati will chair Student Life on a day-to-day basis to provide support to student groups in colleges and Universities across the country. The membership of the Student Life Committee will be announced by shortly.

If you are a student and would like to be considered for a position within the Committee please contact Patrick by 5pm on Thursday.

GOTV!

As well as tomorrow's CF Action Day you can help get Boris elected by making crucial Get Out The Vote calls:

For every 5 calls we make, we ensure an extra voter turns out and votes for Boris, so your calls can really make the difference. Therefore if we make 30,000 calls over the next two weeks we can help turn out an extra 6,000 votes – in a narrow contest that could determine who wins! So if you have a spare hour after work tonight please book in or if you could make calls from home let us know and we can get you canvass cards to make calls.   It can and will make the difference!

Over the next week there will be some special prizes for the most completed calls:

1. Tea with Boris
2. Tea with George Osborne
3. Tea with Party Chairman, Caroline Spelman
4. Bottle of House of Commons Whisky
5. Bottle of House of Commons Whisky
6. Bottle of House of Commons Whisky

Book in for a session by emailing gotv@backboris.com to win these Fantastic Prizes Today!

The Call Centre is based at 34 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JH and is open 5pm to 9pm Monday to Friday,10am to 6pm Saturday, and 11am to 6pm Sunday.

New CF exec blog launched

The Conservative Future exec have now got a blog just for their use - check it out.

It's a temporary measure before the new CF website is launched but it has the potential to be a great way for keeping members in the loop. Christian May told me that:

"This is the fist step that the new NME have taken towards to increasing communication and involvement. When the main website is developed you can expect many more ways for the members to get in touch and get involved."

Day for Darfur

Conservative Future is to officially support a protest outside the Sudanese embassy on Sunday April 13th. Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow International Development Secretary, will also be there. New CF Chairman Michael Rock said:

"Becoming an organisation that appeals to a broader range of political activists, and becoming more accessible is the first step towards rebuilding Conservative Future so that we can expand in a whole new direction. To that end, we are pleased to announce that we are official supporters of “Day for Darfur 5”, a protest against the crisis in Darfur with particular focus on the affect that the situation is having on the children of Darfur.

When David Cameron visited the region last year, he did so because the humanitarian crisis is affecting millions of individuals and we should be doing more to alleviate the suffering. It is unacceptable to stand aside whilst government back militia attack innocent civilians."

If you live in London I strongly recommend going to this. That CF is engaging with this serious issue like, for example, the young LibDems (and later the IYDU) did with Belarus, is very welcome indeed.

For more information click on the flyer above, join the Facebook group, or contact Anastasia Beaumont-Bott on 07719797344

Hertfordshire CF submits Brown to the Guinness Book of World Records

Some good press work here by Hertfordshire CF. They want to get Gordon Brown in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "worst rogue trader in history".

They based this on figures obtained by local MP Peter Lilley in this Parliamentary answer, showing that between 1999 and 2002 Brown sold 395 tons of British gold at a twenty year low, making just £2.3bn. The current market value of the gold is around £5.8 billion.

As the Telegraph's Spy column noted last week, the discrepancy beats Jérôme Kerviel's mere £3.5bn and the famous Nick Leeson by some way.

A Hertfordshire CF spokesman said:

"The money that Gordon Brown recklessly gambled away would have paid for tens of thousands of teachers, police, doctors and nurses. We would like to thank Peter Lilley, MP for the tremendous work he has done in exposing this scandal and forcing the government to admit the size of the financial losses taken."

On Thursday Lilley also asked for details of what advice Chancellor Brown was given at the time but the Treasury aren't budging on that one for some reason...

CF Election Results 2008

Just got back from the count, which was handled very efficiently by the ERS. The results are as follows:

Chairman

Michael Rock   -   291
Daryl Williams   -   249
Matt Richardson   -   228

National Management Executive

Christian May   -   413
Adele Douglas   -   400
Owen Meredith   -   380
Steve Ricketts   -   378
Anastasia Beaumont-Bott   -   358
Patrick Sullivan   -   347
Matt Lewis   -   339
Karen Allen   -   323
Charlie Groome   -   320
Craig Cox   -   299
Anne-Marie Bray   -   273

Devon & Cornwall Area Chairman

James Morton   -   36
Sean Mayer   -   20

Just under 4000 ballots were sent out last time, just under 9000 were sent out this time. At a glance it looks like the number of votes is virtually the same, however - Michael Rock has in fact been elected Chairman with exactly the same number of votes as Mark Clarke was!

This halving of turnout despite there being a massively long election campaign might suggest that the additional votes sent out went largely to people who aren't active members but are merely members of CF age.

Congratulations to Michael Rock and the successful NME candidates on their election. It was a long and hard-fought campaign, so commiserations to those that didn't make it in the end. I look forward to CF moving out of campaign mode and onwards and upwards into a successful year ahead.

Latest developments in CF elections

1. The results will be delayed by a day because the ERS, the organisation contracted to manage the elections, has requested more time. The count will now be on Tuesday afternoon instead of Monday evening. At least one candidate is out-of-pocket with their pre-booked train tickets but there's presumably not much that could have done about the unforeseen delay. An evening count on Tuesday would suit the "young professional" candidates that the Party is so keen to attract, however.

2. In case you missed it, click here for the Mail on Sunday piece on the Michael Lunn fiasco. The Political Editor of the paper contacted me after reading the story and commissioned Brendan Carlin, a well-respected journalist recently moved from the Telegraph, to investigate it. He found it to be true. These are the key bits:

"Leaked emails show 24-year-old Ms Hilley, who wants to become a Tory MP, was secretly urged to stand for election – and was given a signal that the Tory leader approved. Last night Ms Hilley told The Mail on Sunday she was approached about standing for the post – while the Tories claimed she approached them."

"In the wake of the row, Tory chiefs received a formal complaint over officials' meddling. The party's ruling board carried out a probe and gave Mr Lunn a "mild rebuke". Mr Lunn did not return calls from this newspaper."

So if anyone was in any doubt about the story, Clare Hilley's corroboration and CCHQ's rebuke of Michael Lunn should assuage it. It should be noted that Hilley believes it has been blown out of proportion and has absolutely no reason to lie about it. It therefore doesn't reflect well on Michael Lunn and the CCHQ spokesman that they have been saying that she was the one who did the approaching, indeed it is just one more reason for rational people who haven't access to the story's sources to smell a rat. It's such a shame it came to this.

3. Just to be clear, this issue is about trust as much as fairness. It's this absence of trust between the membership and the administrative element of CF that has led Chairman candidate Matthew Richardson to ask the Returning Officer if Mark Clarke may be present at key stages of the ballot verification process. As Chairman there are no data protection issues with this and he could potentially spot any glaring inconsistencies in the electoral roll that was submitted to the ERS. The Returning Officer has however denied Clarke access to those stages. There may well be no evidence of foul play but why stop Clarke, the elected Chairman of the organisation, seeking to verify that?

Ballot duplications

The stories keep rolling in about the distribution of ballot papers. A number of people are still waiting for ballot papers to arrive, apparently including the whole of Nottingham CF, and a number of people have had two of them.

Michael Lunn, who was responsible for the electoral roll, revealed the scale of the problems last night:

"We have removed some 3500 duplications where by there is a similar name, but I have learnt today that where a name has an incomplete address or postcode then an extra ballot may have been issued by ERS. This is extremely disappointing. The main thing is that ERS picks up on any additional duplications when they are returned."

Lunn also said yesterday that there had been a 24hr delay in sending out the ballots. They were supposed to be sent out on Monday 11th and voters have two weeks until the deadline for sending them back, March 3rd.

If you are having problems ring the helpline on 0208 889 9203.

What will the Party Board make of this?

Now that a blog has run with part of the story I think that CF members unaware of the full story deserve to be told it. CF Diary can reveal that the Party's "Youth Development Manager" has approached long-standing activist and Castaway star Clare Hilley offering Party resources for a campaign to get her elected Chairman of CF instead of the other, long-standing candidates.

I've been following this since before Christmas in the hope that the Manager would backtrack, apologise, or be disciplined internally. Instead, there has been continued deception on his part, and in the last week a Party Board investigation into the matter quietly concluded by telling him off for "the suggestion" that he had acted wrongly. In writing this report I've spent longer analysing the complexities of CF internal politics than I would usually care to, but it's important that it is made clear that this behaviour is absolutely unacceptable.

In November, being completely new to the CF scene and having only been appointed around the time of Party Conference, the Manager asked a young CCHQ employee if they knew of any female activists who may be willing to run against Williams, Richardson and Rock. As a result the Manager met with Clare Hilley twice, talked regularly to her on the phone and on a few occasions exchanged emails with her (see below). He claimed to her that Justine Greening MP (who has some responsibility for CF), Caroline Spelman MP (Chairman of the Party), the Shadow Cabinet and even David Cameron weren't keen on the current candidates but were keen on getting a woman in the role.

Hilley said she didn't think she had the time or money to organise a campaign, never mind having the time to be an effective Chairman. The Manager said that he could take care of the campaign and that unlike previous chairmen she could be more of a media spokesman than a director. He started to work on a website and other promotional materials, and even intended to use the CF Christmas Party to launch the campaign, even though candidates had (strangely) been told not to overtly campaign at it themselves.  He also told her about the strength of different CF branches around the country and the details of meetings he had had with Mark Clarke and Justine Greening.

After all this, the Manager told the democratically-elected Chairman of CF, Mark Clarke, that he didn't know who Clare Hilley was.

Hilley initially thought about the idea before becoming concerned about the implications it would have for the relationship between CCHQ and the voluntary party, and realising that the Manager was clearly looking for somebody he could make decisions for. There is no question about Hilley's integrity here at all and she deserves to be re-elected Area Chairman of London South.

I spoke to the Manager this morning to give him a heads-up on my intention to go public with this and to see if he happened to have any solid rebuttals. The only one he offered, other than it all being "rubbish", was that he only met Clare Hilley as a matter of course because she was standing for Area Chairman. This was back in November - four months before the election - and at a point when she wasn't intending to stand for AC.

Now, read these email chains between the Manager and Hilley. The Party Board investigation was aware of these emails. A Party spokesman told me he was only encouraging her to stand and that anything more than that would of course be unacceptable, but these emails alone point to there being something more than encouragement:

1. What was the "paper trail" he was so keen to avoid in November?
2. What was the "leak" that he informed Hilley about in January?

Voter anonymity at risk

Not only, by all accounts, have ballot papers been sent at least a week late but voters are required to sign their names on the ballot paper. It also seems that accompanying instructions on how to vote are actually from last year and therefore don't help people with the new setup.

Secret ballots are a standard feature in Western democratic elections. Anyone with experience in youth politics, and politics in general for that matter, knows how much chaos would be caused by somebody finding out who voted for whom.

I'll be seeking assurances from the ERS that the ballot papers don't go anywhere near CCHQ...

10.45am update: An urgent meeting in CCHQ today was assured that the part of the ballot papers that have the voters' names on will be guillotined off before going to the count.

Why Craig Cox is standing for NME

Craig Cox, candidate for NME, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

When I was elected last September to serve on the NME I had a plan of action which I wanted to carry out. I had grand ideas, glorious plans and a romantic vision for change. I was an individual fighting my corner, trying to get my ideas onto the agenda. It wasn't to be. I now understand, with hindsight, that my ideas were a bit too extravagant, a bit too hopeful, a bit too unachievable. What is needed a group of people that have a consistent set of ideas that will work, rather than the NME being fractured along lines of aloof principles and far away concepts of grandeur. Forward Together is this team that will, given the chance, be the best team for the job.

As an incumbent, I am open to criticism. I did my best to help create branches in marignal seats, such as Pendle, Crawley, Solihull, Portsmouth and the Wirral; I intiated them, and they have since taken the reigns of power over themselves and I so pleased to see this happen. I organised the Nottingham Spring Forum CF presence, and many people said that it was an enjoyable experience. Others said it was bloody awful, but that's just life. I have done my best in the last year, and done my best to help CF members across the country have a branch close to them, and to enjoy the times they have amongst their CF friends. If you agree, then thank you. If you don't, then I apologise.

Why Karen Allen is standing for NME

Karen Allen, candidate for NME, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

Having grown up in the Labour heartlands of the North East of England, in the only constituency in the country, which has never been Conservative, many people asked me why am I a conservative and what my motivations are? Then, working in the City and living in East London people have continued to ask me why I am a Conservative, but also querying why am I bothered to be involved with politics at all. The answer I would give is that when you passionately believe in something, in my case being enterprise, choice and democracy, you want to engage with likeminded people and you want to do anything possible to make sure you live in a country run by those principles. We do not live in that country now, the nationalisation of Northern Rock being yet another example of incompetence and control, but it has further increased my motivation to working with the Conservative Party to ensure we return to power at next Government.

I have been involved with CF for the last four years. I am an incumbent NME member who holds the Working Life portfolio. Over the year I have served I have tried to organise a variety of events to attract new members and to keep the existing membership engaged. I have acted as a focal point for Working Life enquiries nationally and put together a manual on “Setting Up a Working Life Branch.” Things are really going from strength to strength and we are in the process of setting up a sub committee comprised of individuals from across the country to organise events and to ensure new branches we set up nationally.

Why Charlie Groome is standing for NME

Charlie Groome, candidate for NME, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

The last decade has seen little innovation in domestic politics and a gradual erosion of civil liberties. With the triumph of market economics over state socialism the Labour Party's greatest assets have been voter antipathy towards Tories and a charming, youthful leader. Now they have neither. The ball is in our court and I want to guarantee that come the next general election the Conservative Party has a large, adept and proactive youth membership ready to spring into action across the country. We are not a policy organisation – but the networking of speakers, ideas, information regarding think-tank opportunities and Conservative civil society groups fosters the kind of dynamic atmosphere that can propel a movement. This is the kind of CF I want to innovate.

Acting on initiative in 2006 I set up National Conservative Future facebook groups, which now has over 1300 members and act as portals for distributing campaign bulletins, public lecture information and internship opportunities for CF members across the country. It has helped transform canvassing – increasing numbers and substantially reducing the average age of canvassers. I think back to when I first started out campaigning in London in 2004 at a time when many constituencies relied upon the generous support of pensioners and the odd eager local or dedicated party member. Together with the modernization of CF and the broadening of the Conservative movement this has been thoroughly transformed, though much opportunity remains unexploited.

Why Christian May is standing for NME

Christian May, candidate for NME, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

I've had to endure a Labour government for my entire teenage life, and I'm damned if I'm going to endure them as a young adult as well.

When I first started working with CF on arrival at Exeter University, it was a social thing. The social scene got me involved in a few campaign days, and after a few more of those I began to realise just how much I despised our wretched government - and what was more, I could now do something about it. Jump forward two years and I'd Chaired two different committees of Exeter CF, tripled membership to nearly 300, campaigned across the region and set up Devon and Cornwall CF - an organisation which has now helped to open 4 CF branches where none have previously existed. None of this would have been possible were it not for the hard work and passion of a great team. It's a lesson I learned quite early on; you're not going to get far if you think you can get there on your own. In recognition of this team's hard work, I was honoured to receive one of the Party's National Excellence Awards last week. I sincerely hope that the next NME will echo the fantastic teamwork that I've seen down here in the Southwest.

The Creation of a CF Training College

Daryl Williams, candidate for CF Chairman, explains his policy for a CF Training College (download pdf).

I believe National Conservative Future needs to recognise its primary aim is to act as a service provider, supporting members locally.  The grass roots are the heart of our organisation, without our dedicated activists, our organisation would cease to function.  This is why I will ensure we are supporting members through the creation of a new college.    The college will adopt four principles.  There will be induction events and resources for new members joining our Party.  It will support our grass roots activists through training days, seminars and online resources. 

We need to distinguish between the different roles in CF and provide training specifically to the requirements we ask of our activists.  Also, the college will encourage and support young people running for local government. Many activists I have spoken to have made clear their priority is for Conservative Future to concentrate on getting the basics right.  The college is about providing practical support, helping you get on in the Party and perform your functions better.

Why Anastasia Beaumont-Bott is standing for NME

Anastasia Beaumont-Bott, candidate for NME, explains her motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

I’m excited about Conservative Future. I can see how good this organisation can be. That it can cater for the all-weather campaigner, the guy who is more interested in the social scene and the member who is convinced she will be Prime Minister before her 35th birthday!

I’m optimistic about the future and I realise that to be all that CF can be, we need to get the basics right. I’ve been a CF activist who has wanted to push on and achieve more for my branch but I have had to face the same problems with communication and teamwork that many of you do too; my emails regularly go unanswered and my concerns often go unaddressed. It is time for action, it is time for practical changes, and it is time somebody was honest about the problems we are facing and constructive in finding the solutions.

Some of our branch and area Chairmen face a daunting task. Too often data has gone untracked and lines of communication have broken down. I’m facing a similar challenge in my own branch, but I’m now working to turn it around and I promise to help you to overcome these same challenges in your own branches.

Why Daryl Williams is standing for National Chairman

Daryl Williams, candidate for CF Chairman, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

CF is a great organisation and the reason for this is simple – our members.  The strength of CF, our potential and our ability to deliver lies with the activists who work tirelessly hard around the country. 

Change is needed, but I am proud of CF, proud of its activists and what we have delivered.  This is an organisation that wants to achieve more, but for this to happen we must recognise the hard work and efforts of those who campaign, organise events and run our branches.  They need to know they have the confidence and support of those who want to lead them into the future.    

I have a decade of experience and joined the Party when many people were leaving us and we had lost power. I have been involved with CF since its creation and have first hand experience of the day to day challenges our members face.  From being a CF Branch, Area Chairman and Member of the CF National Executive I have myself tackled the role of recruiting members, organising campaigns and social events at the grass roots level.    

National CF needs to recognise its role as that of service provider, supporting members locally.  I know that serving in office is a difficult experience and this job will involve making tough decisions, resolving differences and careful managing of our resources.   

There will be many occasions when difficult decisions will need to be made.  Some decisions may not be popular but a leader that can be trusted will do what is necessary with thought and concern for the people they lead.

Why Matthew Richardson is standing for National Chairman

Matthew Richardson, candidate for CF Chairman, explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

We have to be honest: Conservative Future is a fantastic organisation.  It’s packed with passionately committed young conservatives who form the backbone of the Conservative Party.  As an organisation we have achieved a great deal, supporting candidates in marginal seats across the country and helping to bring David Cameron closer to Downing Street.  We are an asset to our party and, by default, our country.

But it’s not just campaigning that makes CF a great organisation.  Thanks to CF I have made friends I know will last a lifetime.  And I know this is something I share with members up and down the country.   

Other candidates have been quick to attack our organisation, but I think when you take a step back and look at things it’s difficult to deny CF is something we can all be proud of.  I know I am.   

Of course just because we’re proud of CF doesn’t mean we can’t strive to be better.  And in determining where improvements could be made there is one thing that should be foremost in our minds: the next general election is at most two years away.   

Accordingly the next NME will be in charge of getting CF into fighting shape.

Why Matthew Lewis is standing

NME candidate Matthew Lewis explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

I did not grow up as a Tory, I wasn’t led into it – I chose to join the Party after a lot of thought, and even after voting for another party (no, it wasn’t the Lib Dems!). For me, being a Conservative is not a social affectation, it is a commitment. I am tired of the state of our nation, and of the apathetic attitude of its people. What motivates me is the hope of a change of government, and whilst it is probably too much to promise to say I will deliver that should you elect me to the NME, well, every little helps!

I have been a Party member for just over three years, and they have been busy. I do not join something to become a bystander; I join to give my full commitment to improving the organisation for all its members. That is why I will make an able member of the NME; I may not be the most experienced of the eleven candidates, or have been a Party member for as long as some of my colleagues, but my time in CF has been marked by passion, commitment and sheer hard work. At this stage I think character over a packed political CV is the most important attribute for selecting an NME member. I will not spend my twelve months in office feathering my own nest or proclaiming past accomplishments – I will work hard to help my Chairman make this the finest year for CF in memory. Those who put great store in experience however, are more than welcome to head to my website and peruse the ‘about’ page, where my achievements are clearly laid out.

Why Michael Rock is standing for National Chairman

Chairman candidate Michael Rock explains his motivations as part of this year's Why am I standing series.

We have to be honest: Conservative Future is an under-performing, dysfunctional organisation. We don't have enough members, we don't communicate effectively, internally or externally, and we are not even remotely influential in mainstream politics. We are letting down the current membership, letting down our Party and, by default, our Country. This is not hyperbole: we can and should be making a positive impact and contribution to national politics.

I am lucky enough to remember some of the Thatcher years from personal memory, unlucky to remember much of the early 90's politics, and bitterly disappointed at having spent all but six months of my adult life with the Conservatives in opposition. Having voted in and the lost the last three general elections, I'm sick and tired of merely arguing how much better life would be under the Conservatives: I want to be an active participant in returning the Conservatives to Government.

I wasn't born into the Conservative Party, I chose it. I've always been proud of the improvements that our Party delivered for the country in the 80's, always been proud to promote the idea that we can be a Government which is for the people and of the people. There is no better way of promoting these achievements and aims than re-establishing the youth movement of the Conservative Party as a significant force in modern politics.

Area Chairmen 08

Check out the Area Chairman candidates list in the sidebar for the final list of those who have applied to be ACs this year...

At least, er, over 50% of the Areas will have (uncontested) Chairmen this year- few less than even at the last election (Sept 06) although the list was topped up in October 07 after further applications were sought by the Exec.

Only Devon & Cornwall is contested.

It's quite worrying that there are twenty-odd counties in which not a single young Conservative can even be bothered getting this for their CV (which unfortunately is all these roles are amounting to, with a few notable exceptions).

Why Owen Meredith is standing for NME

This is the first in this year's Why am I standing? series.

For the past five years I have been part of CF; having been a treasurer, chairman and area chairman. I’ve experiences successes and set backs, but overall as my time in those roles has come to an end I believe I have given everything I could to them and helped improve CF in those branches I have had the privilege of working with.

I am standing for the NME this year because I want to continue making a contributing to Conservative Future and I believe that I can carry my experience from those roles forward to the national exec. I want to use my track record of experience and achievement to focus on building a truly national network for CF, which engages its members and supports its branches.

I joined the Conservative Party in 2002 and have been actively involved since then. Growing up in Caerphilly in South Wales and then moving to North Staffordshire to study at Keele University, I have always lived in Labour constituencies and I’m fed of up loosing! Conservative Future is going to be the key at the next general election in making the difference between another 5 years of Labour’s failings, or the real change that the country needs with the Conservatives and David Cameron in Downing Street. Our campaigning needs to play a big role in what CF is, but we need to make it more efficient and effective by having national campaign days to give us the momentum, but localising them to make them effective.

CF recognised in Party's campaigning excellence awards

Following nominations from Mark Clarke, a CF branch and CF nationally have been recognised by the Party for their campaigning efforts.

Firstly, Exeter CF were nominated in the category of membership and actually won the National Award in the membership category, beating associations across the country. David Cameron presented the award to Christian May.

Download Exeter nomination statement

Secondly, National CF were nominated in the category of campaigning. It reached the final of the national competition but was beaten by South Ribble – an association aided by a 70 strong CF campaign day.

Download national nomination statement

Midlands CF hustings

What: Midlands CF Hustings
When: Saturday 16th February for a 2:30 start
Where: Conservative Office, King Edward Court, King Edward Street, Nottingham
Who: All candidates for Chairman and NME will be invited - all CF members are welcome
Why: To give Midlands CF members a chance to hear from the candidates!

RSVP: Edward Keene (ekeene1286@hotmail.com) & Lydia Smith (lydia-rutlandandmelton@hotmail.co.uk)
Campaigning before & afterwards - TBC

Update Feb 11th:

Change of time: 5pm for 5:30 start Monday 18th February, 7.30pm for an 8pm start
Speaker: Anna Soubry, PPC for Broxtowe
Contact number for event: 07804 506 984
Parking Available on site & more nearby
See the Facebook event page

Christian May: CF's role is to campaign

When you’re inside an organisation it’s very easy to get bogged down in the internal politics and forget what the organisation is there to do (as any CF member will know).  But with the election round the corner it’s important to keep in mind what CF’s role is, where it fits into the battle to return the Conservative Party to power, and what needs to be done to ensure CF succeeds in fulfilling that role.   

At the very latest the next general election will take place in June 2010.  But as we learnt in autumn of last year, an election could take place at any time between now and then.  From our point of view as CF members that means one very simple thing; we have to get into fighting shape, and we don’t have very long to do it.   

As we all know there are a lot of things that could be better about CF.  But in assessing areas of potential improvement there is one simple question which must be asked; will improving X or Y better equip CF to fight for a Conservative victory in the next general election?  If the answer is no, then now is not the time to commit to that improvement.   

There’s a lot the next CF NME could do.  But now is the time to focus on what it needs to do.  The Conservative Party needs CF now more than ever, and CF needs to do what it needs to do; and that’s campaigning.   

Anything else just takes us a step further away from Downing Street.