Donal Blaney: Work as if it all depends on you – pray as if it all depends on God

Every week the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of the Young Britons' Foundation, Donal Blaney, has explained one of Morton Blackwell's Laws of the Public Policy Process. This is the last in that series, click here for the full archive.

It is said that every team is only as strong as its weakest member. This certainly worked to the advantage of the Conservative government during the 1980s as the Labour front bench was (until the arrival of Blair, Brown and their cohorts) a seriously unimpressive collection of people.

No matter what role you have in an organization, campaign or team, it is essential that you work as if the entire organization, campaign or team depends on you. There can be no thought of leaving it to someone else, assuming something will be done or not giving it your all.

One of the tragedies of the Conservative Party’s recent past is the way in which a generation of activists and politicians began to believe that the Party had a divine right to rule.

Worse it has taken far too long to adapt to the hard graft of opposition (let alone to understand why three elections were lost and how to ensure a fourth election defeat was avoided).

No team is able to carry a weak member. Eventually it will cause damage to the team. Just ask Carlton Palmer and his then England colleagues.

Hoping that your team’s strongest member will always perform at the top of his game is also not wise. It is the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand. As a Liverpool supporter, I know better than most that much of the team’s problems in recent months seems to have been an over-reliance on Steven Gerrard.

To defeat the Labour machine  - and as I have said before, it remains a formidable machine despite the current problems of the Blair government and its own financial crisis – all conservatives need to work flat out for victory.

Every day we must all ask ourselves whether there is more we could have done for the conservative cause – and if there is, to resolve anew to do more tomorrow.

Yet in working at full pelt to advance our shared agenda, we must be humble enough to recognise that not everything we do will necessarily work out the way we want it to, sometimes for no apparent reason.

In working as many hours as we can, as hard as we can, to further the noble cause of conservatism, it is important to recognize, honour and give thanks for the role of our Creator. Those who are Christians should do this automatically. Those who are not Christians might perhaps ask what place prayer has.

Rather than engaging in a philosophical or theological debate with those of you who are atheists or agnostics, I will close with the observation that you ultimately have nothing to lose by praying to God for assistance. Just make sure you give thanks when those prayers are answered! Happy Christmas!

Comments

[John Moss]

But, Donal, we have an organisational structure which mitigates against this.

The so-called "voluntary" party is populated by a few people who have given their all for the party for twenty years. Their ranks have not been refreshed because we pissed off a whole generation in the late 80s early 90s and the new members we are attracting now, with a few exceptions, seem to have the strange belief that there is a whole army of "other people" who do the work, presumably paid for by the party centrally.

Suggest to a new member that they might want to deliver a few leaflets and they look askance at you as if you are mad. Forget canvassing or standing as a candidate, even in a no-hope seat.

Many members do not see any link between membership and an obligation to actually "do" anything other than hand over £15, sorry £25, and keep your head down.

Those who do are so busy, not least because of the proliferation of elections and meetings that now plague the active political life, that they often have no time to do the recruiting, training and team building.

Senior politicians also don't help. They write and ask for money, but they seem to also assume that the army of volunteers is still there and that the envelopes will be magically stuffed and the leaflets magically delivered. The new intake of MPs is far better as they have seen the reality on the ground.

Areas of London and vast swathes of other cities have wards where hundreds of people vote Conservative, but there are few memebrs and no politcial activity. If, to paraphrase the comments about fighting Livingstone, you can't fight somebody with nobody, then you certainly can't fight anybody without somebody to do the fighting.

A key task, especially in London right now, is an enthusiastic campaign by senior MPs amongst Conservative supporters, to get them engaged and helping. Without this, we're toast because the support for target seats is just not going to be there and the current viscious cycle of decline in those Conservative deserts will just get worse.

[Big John]

Unless you bring religion into politics, you will never be a statesman. But beware: bringing politics into religion can seriously damage your faith.

[David Sergeant]

"One of the tragedies of the Conservative Party’s recent past is the way in which a generation of activists and politicians began to believe that the Party had a divine right to rule."

This attitude is still alive and well. National politicians seem to think all they need to do is put out a press release and then go off to the nearest sherry party. The idea that you stick around to bat back Labour's reply doesn't seem to occur - that you are not induging in an irritating little job devine rulers have to go through but providing reasons for workers to support you doesn't seem to occur either.

At local level it's even worse. Votes are expected because you are a Conservative candidate. That you have to provide reasons is seen as a bit beneath someone born to rule. Would anyone join this lot to stuff envelopes?

[greg]

The Prime Ministership of Tony Blair is hardly a shining example of either part of this "law". Inability to delegate, and too many initiatives/wars untaken on the basis that "good/God will out".