ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

"Is there any policy that would most help you in your fight to win your seat that hasn't yet been introduced?"

We asked the above question to 225 Conservative adopted candidates.  124 have replied to the survey in total and about fifty answered this particular question with direct answers.  We publish their verbatim answers below - categorised by us.  Other results of our survey are being gradually published here.  The graphic on the right puts the answers below in context.  123 candidates (one skipped the question) identified crime, cost of living and the national tax burden as the most important three issues that will decide their bids to become an MP.

Taxation and cost of living
> Tax system to support families with young children, married OR NOT.
> I would like to see us commit to prioritising raising the personal tax allowance when the budget allows for tax cuts - I think this could be our equivalent of council tax sales as it would be of most benefit to the C1/C2 classes who I believe determine elections - our aspiration should be that noone should pay income tax until they earn a living wage.
> Any easy to understand policies which could alleviate the burden of ever rising costs of living.   
> Scrapping tax credits and substantially lifting the basic allowance.
> Big increase in personal allowances.
> Raising the tax threshold year on year to get poorer people out of income tax.
> Clear commitment to reducing the tax burden.
> Bigger personal alllowances that will help the poor, cut fuel duty, cut business taxes.
> Council tax discounts for specified roles in a community that help to build a responsible society.
> Scrap car licences and TV licences.
> A clear commitment to reduce the burden of taxation.
> Taxation of cars to be more responsive to registration address postcodes. A blunt environmental tax on fuel or 4x4s will be deeply unpopular in my rural constituency where appropriate vehicles are needed to avoid crippling isolation. Must be some way of not depressing rural dwellers more. Most of us are not rich county set, ok!
> Something on council tax/local taxation. 
> A promise to cut taxes.
> Clear commitment to lower taxes when the public finances allow.

Law and order

> Build more prisons and keep criminals in them.
> Anything which helps with the problem of yob culture amongst our young people, and gives us more police, with more power. Also any policy which reverses the ridiculous rules on political correctness which seem to dominate all areas of life in Britain today.
> Getting more police hours on the street - sort of announced, but some kind of figure about hours on the street (30% more hours on the street by 3 years for instance). Tougher prison sentences for serious and violent crimes, no early release with more prisons.
> A firm policy on how to tackle the ever increasing drug problem.
> Introduce 6 month boot camps for youngsters who commit a second ASB offence; widely available and utilised abstinence based drug rehabilitation.
> Discretion returned to officers involved in community policing. In rural towns, it is still just about possible for police to have a relationship with the community they serve. Tick box procedures are wrecking that.
> Mandatory jail sentences for carrying knives/guns/drugs.
> Revoking the Human rights charter that was introduced by New Labour.

Should Sajjad Karim be fast-tracked to the top of the North West list?

This was the message that Timothy Kirkhope, Leader of our MEPs, emailed to all of his colleagues earlier today concerning the defection of Sajjad Karim:

"I am delighted to inform you all that SAJJAD KARIM, until now one of the Lib/Dem MEPs for the North West of England, has decided to join the Conservative Party and has accepted my offer to join our Delegation. The Chief Whip, with my authority, has informed him that he is in receipt of the Conservative Whip as of today.

This decision by Sajjad is a very important and courageous one and underlines the fact that under David Cameron's leadership we are now, as a Party, with our "Broad Church" much more attractive to former Lib/Dem members.  David Cameron himself has given his full approval and support to this decision by Sajjad.

The discussions themselves which I have carried on with Sajjad have, by necessity, been confidential and obviously sensitive but I am certain that the outcome will be of great mutual benefit to both him and us.

I will notify you in a separate message of an early opportunity for you all to meet with our new Conservative member although I appreciate some of you already know him - but obviously not in the new role which he is taking on.

This is a timely event falling as it does during the increasingly fractious Lib/Dem leadership election.  Perhaps others may decide to leave that Party and join us.  I do hope so."

Do the words (emboldened) in paragraph three mean what I think they mean?  Has he been promised a top spot on the North West list - pour encourager les autres - thus denying a long-standing Conservative the chance to become an MEP?  While I welcome any defection from the LibDems I'd like to be persuaded that his views are consistent with what we'd want from a Conservative representative.  There has to be some suspicion that they are not (see here and here).

'Lord Ashcroft merely levels the playing field'

ConservativeHome has long believed that political parties should not be dependent upon the state or a few big donors for their income.  We support David Cameron's belief in something like a £50,000 cap on donations.  We'd like to see the Conservative Party fund itself from lots of small donations - ideally backed up with some sort of tax relief.  The Canadian Conservatives have been forced to pursue a retail fundraising strategy and it has helped to make them a party that is much more in tune with real voters' concerns.  Ideally, the money being pumped into the Conservative Party by Lord Ashcroft would be part of a strategy to diversify the party's funding base.

Putting all of this on one side for the moment, however, it's clear that Michael Ashcroft's generosity is an essential weapon for Conservative candidates in marginal seats who face very well-funded incumbents.

Robert Halfon, our candidate in Harlow, makes the point very well in a letter he sent to The Guardian:

"Dear Sir

Complaints about Lord Ashcroft funding of marginal seats is really just a Labour red herring.

As a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate fighting to overturn a Labour majority of just 97, I am faced with a huge inbuilt disadvantage.

Not only does the MP have £18,000 of taxpayer funds annually to 'communicate' with the electorate (not forgetting the £10,000 bonus recently added), he also has £7,000 postal expenses and a fully staffed office also paid for by the taxpayer. My MP regularly writes unsolicited letters to members of the public. Indeed, he has the third highest postage bill in the country.

So, with a £28,000 annual communications allowance, a huge postage allowance and Trade Union funds, Labour MPs have an automatic head start over any challenger. Support from Lord Ashcroft and others to Conservative Parliamentary Candidates merely levels the playing field.

Yours sincerely

Robert Halfon
Harlow Conservative Prospective MP"

The Guardian have not (yet) published the letter.

PS Today's World at One discusses Lord Ashcroft's target seats funding.  Click here and listen from 23 minutes in.

Thoughts on next steps for modernisation...

Later this afternoon I'll post on 'next steps for the core vote issues' but here are a few thoughts on what, not particularly accurately, could be described as 'moderniser or change issues'.

Although I'm very glad to see the party 'rebalancing' it is important that the party does not retreat into the core vote territory that was insufficient at recent General Elections.  I have no doubt that David Cameron will remain committed to his change agenda but it's important that the change agenda is also fully consistent with conservative principles...

Continuing to emphasise the public services. Our polices on schools and hospitals are a bit timid but they're much superior to the command and control policies of Gordon Brown.

The environment.  Earlier this month I promoted the idea of 'achievable environmentalism'.  I mentioned planting trees, recycling, cutting waste, investing in renewables, protecting natural habitats.  John Redwood has written today about "practical environmentalism" and highlighted more fuel efficient vehicles, better energy conservation and more intelligent traffic management.  Conservatives should be a party of conservation but not a party of higher green taxes or heavy restrictions on development (eg airport expansion).

Social justice.  At Tuesday's Carlton Club dinner David Cameron noted that there were 600,000 more people living in extreme poverty.  The very poorest have got poorer under Labour.  Britain needs a Conservative approach to poverty.  Stronger families.  A freer, more dynamic voluntary sector.  Zero tolerance of crime and drugs.  School choice.  I have no doubt that the leadership is 100% committed to these core themes of a 'progressive conservatism'.

International development.  It was overshadowed by the fuss over the Rwanda trip, but Peter Lilley produced an excellent report on fighting global poverty.  I hope Andrew Mitchell, Alan Duncan and George Osborne will be able to embrace many of Peter's recommendations this week.  I'd also like the party to take more action against the trade of arms to despotic regimes.  I also wish we'd spoken out against the cancellation of the BAe-Saudi bribery investigation.

Respect for gay people.  Many people oppose David Cameron's belief that gay couples should be recognised in a similar way to married couples.  I don't.  I support the freedom of religious adoption agencies to be able to refuse to place children with gay couples but it's right that a modern Conservative Party is a defender of the rights of adult gay people.

Candidate diversity.  I never supported the A-list but there are many advantages in having more diverse candidates.  More people with roots in the north and in the public and voluntary sectors, for example.  Candidate diversity shouldn't just be about more women and more ethnic minorities.  We should be actively recruiting candidates with real knowledge of poverty-fighting and environmental protection.

Changes of tone.  Another change for the party to maintain is the change of tone.  Sometimes our party's rhetoric has been too harsh.  In the last campaign our posters accusing Tony Blair of being a liar reflected more on us than on him.  Our campaigning can still be negative but it shouldn't be personal.

Andrew Pelling arrested

The Daily Mail is reporting that Andrew Pelling was held by police yesterday on suspicion of "assaulting his wife". He's been released on bail.

Andrew was elected as the Conservative MP for Croydon Central in 2005 with a majority of just 75 votes, and retains his position as an active London Assembly Member and Councillor in the area.

If this is proven to be true and his wife presses charges, he will face a difficult parliamentary election.

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Deputy Editor

'Playing the English card'

Mark Field MP has answered your questions on today's interviews blog.  In his answer to a question from 'Harlequin.dane' he writes:

"Since the expulsion of most of the hereditary peers, I have, in principle, favoured the option of a fully or largely-elected House of Lords. However, I recognise that such an outcome is unlikely to be within the realms of practical politics, not least as the House of Lords as currently constituted is likely to be hostile and there would be little agreement as to the timing or form of elections. I would prefer to see the creation of a completely new federal parliament. Four, full, national parliaments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with most of the existing powers of the House of Commons and over them a federal United Kingdom parliament, which would debate defence and foreign affairs, make treaties and administer a cohesion fund for the poorer parts of the UK. It would be funded by a per GDP levy on the national parliaments. There would be no need for extra politicians, as the national parliaments would send representatives to the UK parliament and meet together for its debates, which could be held in the old House of Lords chamber.  I appreciate it is a bold, indeed a radical, suggestion but I believe that the only way to restore the balance of the British constitution, which had served us so well for so long, is to offer the British people this fairer alternative in a referendum once we have won the next election."

Brown's Scottishness does not yet appear to have undermined him in any serious way with English voters but there are a number of CCHQ tacticians - and key figures at The Daily Telegraph - who think 'the English card' is the best way of putting David Cameron into Downing Street.  David Cameron raised the West Lothian question in his first parliamentary encounter with Brown and backbench Tory MPs have pummeled Mr Brown on the issue at PMQs.

In the Q&A Mark also critiques the A-list:

"Whilst I strongly agree that the Conservative Party should reach out to embrace a broader range of candidates, my biggest objection to the ‘A List’ (and any other Party list system such as applies for European elections) is that it encourages many Conservative candidates and future MPs to regard their role first and foremost as a mouthpiece for the Party leadership or CCHQ. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the constitutional role of a backbencher, which is to hold the Executive to account (a role every bit as important for government MPs as it is for Opposition backbenchers as this country has learnt to its detriment over the past decade)."

Cameron is beginning to reassert his authority

Candidates should always enjoy a certain freedom of expression.  I am glad, for example, that Eurosceptic candidates are free to support the Better Off Out campaign, despite the frontbench's commitment to EU membership.  Many candidates take strong positions against the Iraq war that disappoint me but I respect their convictions.  There has to be certain discipline, however, in candidate-party relations.  Ali Miraj's pattern of ill discipline justified CCHQ's decision to suspend him from the candidates' list.

Yesterday's attack on the party leadership was not the first time Ali has pushed his luck.  Last year he appeared to suggest that his own difficulties in finding a seat could be related to his ethnicity.  He wondered aloud if Witham and other Tory Associations were guilty of prejudice in candidate selection.  Witham's decision to adopt Priti Patel as their candidate was the grassroots' best possible response to the slur.

On Monday night Ali Miraj launched a direct attack on David Cameron's leadership.  His attack (read it in full here) contained criticisms that many ConservativeHome readers would have sympathy with but he didn't stop there.  On yesterday's World at One he launched a machine gun attack on Team Cameron.  On top of his criticism of David Cameron as a PR obsessive he questioned the Tory leader's integrity and then brought up communication chief Andy Coulson's record at the News of the World.  As his attack grew wider his political grave got deeper.  Recent events are regrettable as Ali has made a number of thoughtful contributions to the party's policy development.  The row over his alleged request for a peerage is a sad way for his Conservative career to end.

Although David Cameron has suffered a trying few months we should not exaggerate his difficulties.  Most of his critics are not 'Top Tories' as the media likes to describe them.  Although dissatisfaction with his strategy is considerable there is rightly little desire to replace him as party leader.  He still retains enormous goodwill and he should use that goodwill to enforce more discipline.  The suspension of Ali Miraj was an encouraging sign in this regard.  The next step should be to encourage a fuller-time shadow cabinet.  The extent of outside interests is little short of disgraceful.  He should also demand to know why his media team are not in daily and personal contact with the country's top journalists.

The Conservative leader (visiting Afghanistan today) is right to say that the fundamental failures of Labour will eventually kill the Brown bounce but there must be worries that Brown will still be bouncing high if he chooses an early election.  As recommended last week we need a guerilla war against Brown over the summer to prevent an autumn election.  Every month we can now buy will give the party an opportunity to bring Brown's ratings back to earth.

The last few days' noise from Brady, Kalms, Miraj and Saatchi hid some solid announcements over the last week.  I think of Peter Lilley's excellent report on international development; William Hague's openness to a private referendum on the EU Treaty; a commitment to special needs schools; and yesterday's strong statement on school discipline.  Not only were each of the announcements good in themselves they were a balance of core and modernising themes - 'the politics of and' in action.  They give us hope that the strategy is evolving in the right direction.

Bombshell for Brown as five Ealing Southall councillors defect from Labour to the Conservatives

David Cameron is in Ealing Southall as I post this blog welcoming FIVE Labour councillors into the Tory fold.  This is not only a massive boost to Tony Lit's by-election campaign it is also a serious blow to Gordon Brown.

This is the statement from the five defecting councillors:

"It has become increasingly obvious as this by-election campaign has progressed, that the Conservative candidate Tony Lit is the best person to represent Ealing Southall as our next MP.  He's energetic, dynamic and displays the kind of qualities that would make him ideally suited to represent the people of Ealing Southall. We wanted to provide him with our backing and joining the Conservative Party sends the clearest possible message.

"Locally since Conservatives took control of Ealing Council in May 2006 we have noticed that they have been making great strides towards trying to improve the quality of life for all our residents. We've finally reached the stage where it has become blatantly obvious that we would be doing own voters a great disservice if we continue to dogmatically stick with a disorganised and divided Labour Party. Our goal is to see genuine improvements for our residents. We believe that the Conservative Party now provides our community with greater opportunities and is genuinely interested in improving services for all.

"At a national level we are extremely impressed by David Cameron's modern Conservatives and, with the changes that he has now made, we feel that the Conservative Party now best represents our views. In a sense we believe the Conservatives have become our natural home and we are very excited about the opportunity to play a full part in a Party which we believe is destined to form the next government."

The five new Tory councillors are: Gurcharan Singh, Manjit Singh, Maninder Kaur Keith, Jarnail Singh Jandu and Jagdish Gupta. Also, local Sikh Dr Gulbash Singh was going to stand as an independent but has now backed Tony Lit.

Cameron addresses the Eton factor

Throughout the grammar schools debate there has been an underlying suspicion from many that the Eton-educated Tory leader is denying others the kind of elite education that grammar schools traditionally provided poorer parents.  A leader in today's Sunday Telegraph argues that that the idea of a privileged Tory leadership has been reinforced by the last two weeks.  David Cameron, who was questioned by John Humphrys on his Etonian background during Tuesday's Today programme interview, addresses the issue directly in an article for today's Mail on Sunday:

"As a leader, I may be a white, fortysomething old Etonian, but that doesn't constrain what I do.  No previous leader of the Conservatives has done as much, for example, to bust open the selection of Parliamentary candidates to include more women (now over a third) and more black and minority ethnic candidates.  After the next Election, the Conservative parliamentary party will have a far wider and more diverse pool of talent - and quite right too.

As an individual with three children aged five or under, I worry more about finding good state schools than almost anything else.  I want a special school for my son that will meet his particular needs.  I want state schools for the other two where they will be not just happy and safe, but challenged and inspired.

My loathing of experimental teaching methods that failed generations of children, my fear of disruptive children wrecking the education of those who want to get on and learn, my contempt for the 'all must win prizes' mentality - whether in sporting or academic endeavour - is not just political, it's personal."

Mr Cameron also uses his article to list some of the practical policies that the Conservatives will adopt to help raise educational standards.

The Conservative leader is right to say that he has invested a lot of political capital to bring more women and minority candidates into the party (and he is succeeding in doing so) but ConservativeHome remains disappointed that little has been done to address the financial exclusion issues involved in candidate selection.  The average cost of becoming a Tory MP has been calculated by this website at over £40,000 and ConservativeHome has yet to hear of any coordinated proposals to support lower income people in their parliamentary ambitions.  A ConservativeHome page dedicated to this issue can be accessed here.

Coming soon: The Conservative Party's first all women shortlist

ConservativeHome has learnt that there is another hugely controversial dimension to the proposed changes to European candidate selection.  In order to address the fact that there is currently only one woman MEP - Caroline Jackson - the National European Forum has proposed a mechanism that will effectively mean that every MEP that is standing down will be replaced by a woman candidate.  This way of filling vacant slots will be the first example of an all-women shortlist in the history of the Conservative Party.

In summary what is being proposed is:

(1) Ordinary members lose their decisive say on MEP candidate selection;
(2) Incumbent MEPs - many of them unsupportive of David Cameron's pledge to leave the EPP - will be kept at the top of regional lists if a committee of party appointees and Association Chairmen agree;
(3) All retiring MEPs can only be replaced by women;
(4) Lower slots on the regional lists will be decided by all members.

Editor's comment: "The Party Board votes on these proposals on Monday.  My prediction is that they will reject the all-women shortlist but keep the dilution of democracy.  This will be presented as a compromise and a sign of a "listening Board."  In truth it will be another sign that the Board is a servant of the leadership, rather than a reliable protector of the grassroots' freedoms."

Tories urged to accelerate selections

An article in this morning's Daily Telegraph - using data from this website's Seats and candidates blog - notes that 32 of the 116 seats that the Conservatives need to win in order to enjoy a parliamentary majority are yet to adopt candidates.  The Telegraph highlights seats such as Westmorland and Lonsdale, Gillingham and Rainham, and Rochester and Strood.  It seems increasingly unlikely that Gordon Brown will call a quick General Election on becoming Prime Minister - which despite continuing talk of a Miliband challenge - looks the most likely outcome of any Labour leadership race.  There is absolutely no reason for panic, therefore.  What The Telegraph piece does remind us, however, is that early selection is important for candidate success.  The case for choosing early was set out in a paper by David Burrowes MP last May.  In 'Pick 'em local and Pick 'em early' the Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate concluded that early selection gave candidates the opportunity to command local recognition and understandings that were key determinants of victory.

Year2(4): Abolish the A-list

Recommendation 4: I hear the A-list has been topped-up again and, of course, a few A-listers might soon be culled but isn't it time for it to be scrapped?  It has succeeded in increasing the number of female candidates but only at the expense of creating a large number of disaffected activists and of dividing Associations like Tynemouth.  My guess is that its tutorial effect will continue after it has been abolished.  Associations understand the leadership's desire for a more representative party but they also know that the A-list only offers a face-deep diversity.  It includes very few people with public sector backgrounds and is heavily skewed to the south east of England.  Given the A-list's recent successes it would be an apposite time for it to be abolished without too much negative PR and then relations between the centre and local associations could start to heal.

Now, can we please stop stereotyping the Tory grassroots?

I guess there must be shock all around the Commons' tea-room this morning.  Witham Tories did what, reportedly, a number of Conservative MPs thought very unlikely... they didn't choose a middle-aged, white male but a young, Asian female - Priti Patel.  Ali Miraj did himself no favours by recently adding to the tired media slur on the Tory grassroots.  It is, of course, true that there is unacceptable prejudice within some Conservative Associations but that is increasingly exceptional.

Again and again Tory members defy the pigeon-holing by all too many MPs and journalists.  Three of the safer Tory seats in the country have all chosen ethnic minority candidates in recent years.   Windsor chose Adam Afriyie, Cambridgeshire NW chose Shailesh Vara and now Witham has chosen the highly able (and decidely Eurosceptic) Priti Patel.   Before the last election the heartland seat of Arundel and South Downs chose the openly gay Nick Herbert.  In the current selection process we have seen the openly gay David Golds adopted.  Alan Duncan has not been ostracised for 'coming out'... his constituency has been very supportive and he is, of course, now in the shadow cabinet.

Criticism of the Tory membership is understandable when it comes from the media but is unacceptable when it comes from Conservative candidates and MPs.  The dismissive attitude reached its peak (trough?) when Michael Howard led an attempt to disenfranchise grassroots members in the choice of party leader.  Fortunately that attempt was defeated and members voted for the apparently modernising, rather than the more traditionalist candidate.

Unfortunately the we-know-better attitude lives on in CCHQ.  The attempts to restrict the freedoms of local association to choose Westminster and European candidates goes on.  We can only hope that the party leadership that champions localism for the rest of the country will soon champion it for its own members, too.

Related link: Tory members deserve a little more respect from Tory MPs

"Target seat funding will follow the degree to which Associations follow the Party’s strategy, for example with regard to grouping and selecting the right candidate."

Iain Dale has a report from today’s Take Your Seat conference put on by Michael Ashcroft at the Millbrook Centre near Milton Keynes. Iain is very positive about the professionalism of the event. ConservativeHome understands that the best part of 1,000 people attended. A listers, MPs, constituency chairman and agents from target seats were among the audience. They heard presentations from David Cameron, Francis Maude, Michael Ashcroft himself, his Chief of Staff Stephen Gilbert who gave a detailed (warts-and-all) summary of the Party’s private polling, Gavin Barwell, Don Porter, Patrick McLoughlin. It seems that constituency associations were told to shape up or ship out. If they didn’t fall into line with the Centre’s plans for groupings, or they failed to support their candidates, they could not expect to receive any support from the centre – financial or otherwise.

The quote in the title of this post is from Gavin Barwell, part of Lord Ashcroft's team.

Francis Maude launches final plans for the London mayoral selection

"Avid Conservativehome participants will know that we’re planning to open up the selection process for our candidate to run for Mayor of London in 2008. Everyone on the electoral register in London will be able to have a say over who will be the Conservative candidate to challenge Ken Livingstone for the capital’s top job.  And every Londoner who supports the Conservative Party has the chance to be our candidate.

We already have the loyal support of our membership, which is essential for any political party, and was absolutely key to our recent local election success. But now we need to reach out to the wider electorate and get new people involved in politics.

This is the very first time in British politics that such an important post has been chosen like this.  By doing things differently, Conservatives will get people talking about politics again and encourage them to get involved. We need to tackle the disillusionment and mistrust that the public has in politics, and doing something truly innovative like this is the best way of getting people engaged again.

The Mayor’s decisions have a huge impact on the lives of everyone who lives in the city, so it makes sense to give everybody the opportunity to have a say in choosing who they think is best suited to the task.  

The process will be complete by early December, giving our candidate eighteen months to campaign for the job.  And having been chosen by Londoners at large, that candidate will start with a huge advantage.

We’ve thought very carefully about the details of the process.  We’re inviting applications over the rest of the summer, with a panel – not just Conservatives - interviewing to draw up a shortlist by Party Conference time.  The shortlisted candidates will then campaign through London over the next two months, with a number of hustings meetings spread around the metropolis and suburbs.

If you think you have the skills for London's top job, please do consider applying.  You can find the details here."

Cornerstone fires localist versus A-list debate

Today sees the latest publication from the Cornerstone Group of socially conservative Tory MPs (the membership of which now equals about forty).  Previous publication topics have included higher education and exiting the EPP.

David Burrowes is the author of 'Pick 'em local and Pick 'em early' - a timely contribution to the debate on candidate selection currently raging within the Conservative Party and something of a challenge to the approach enshrined in the party's A-list.

At the last election David defeated Stephen Twigg with a swing of 8.7%.  The Enfield Southgate seat was low down on the list of Tory targets (number 114) but David took the seat - once held by Michael Portillo - with the biggest swing of any victorious Conservative candidate.  David is in a good position to recommend how to achieve a good election result. 

'Pick 'em local and Pick 'em early' reflects David's own experiences and an analysis of the common factors in the performance of Tory MPs who "achieved at least double the national average swing".   Those common factors are summarised in the blue graphic on the right.

Local candidates and strong commitment to the locality are the big themes in David Burrowes' analysis.  He makes a strong case for radical localisation of power as a principal way in which to address the sense of powerlessness that is driving voter apathy.  He uses the example of local phone masts to illustrate how the people of his own constituency have come to feel disempowered:

"Many constituents are frustrated that the first wave of masts was built with comparatively little public consultation or consideration for their local health or environmental concerns. Their protests have grown louder with the third generation phone upgrade which has ushered in another wave of mast building more densely spread than the first. Phone masts appearing on constituents’ doorsteps has vividly brought home their lack of control over their local area."

David Burrowes believes that compassionate, values-based local activism is a big part of the response to the reduction in voter turnout from 77% in 1992 to just 62% last year.  He also thinks that it is the way to elect more Conservative MPs.

David Burrowes believes he was able to repeat the same success that saw Andrew Rosindell achieve 2001's standout Tory result (in Romford):

"In 2001 one of our best results was in Romford where Andrew Rosindell bucked the national trend and regained the seat from Labour. Andrew’s success was no doubt formed from a proven track record over a number of years as a local champion. I recognised this point and similarly was able to lean on my position as a local councillor of 11 years in Enfield Southgate. I was well placed to voice constituents’ concerns about their locality and act as a focal point for campaigns on highly localised issues."

Association Chairmen give green light to A-list

More4 News has surveyed fifty chairmen of Conservative Associations for tonight's 8pm programme.  The fifty chairmen represent Tory activists in over half of the party's top eighty target seats and these were their responses to three questions posed by More4 News:

(1) Do you agree with the policy of selecting PPCs from an A list in key marginals and conservative held seats?

Yes: 32
No: 9
Undecided: 9

(2) Do you approve of David Cameron having a quota of 50% women and 10% black and ethnic minorities on the A-list?

Yes: 26
No: 16
Undecided: 18

(3) Do you think that David Cameron's policy will damage the credibility of the Conservative party?

Yes: 4
No: 38
Undecided: 8

On the face of it these numbers from chairmen look reasonably good for David Cameron and they contrast with ConservativeHome's January finding that 60% of Tory members disapprove of the 50/50 nature of the A-list.  It might be that the passage of time has softened opposition to the A-list.  It might be that Association Chairmen are disproportionately loyal to CCHQ's wishes.

The danger for Mr Cameron is that the opposition to the policy of nine Association Chairmen - is typical of some other Association officers and will develop into a fuller resistance to the A-list.  This seems less likely if CCHQ continues to adopt the softly-softly approach that we have seen in the last two days:

• The fact that at least two local candidates have been permitted to apply for the A-list seat of South Northamptonshire suggests that CCHQ is willing to allow some flexibility in how seats use the A-list.
• And yesterday's special by-election arrangements for Bromley & Chislehurst.

Is David Cameron happy with the A-list?

A story in today's Sunday Telegraph hints at dissatisfaction with the A-list from none other than the Tory leader himself.  Mr Cameron is reported as having been surprised about the list.  The article by Melissa Kite and Jonathan Wynne-Jones concludes: "The Tory leader had wanted to boost the number of women, rather than minor celebrities, and had expected more candidates from outside the South East."

The speculation comes at the end of an article which suggests that the A-list may fall at its first hurdle: the battle for Bromley and Chislehurst.  The Sunday Telegraph reports a mood "of brooding rebellion": "A string of local candidates is emerging, including Nicholas Bennett, the former MP for Reading West; Bob Neill, a London Assembly member; and Colin Bloom, a Tory councillor."

The danger of local unhappiness at the A-list was entirely predictable from the start of this process.  A ConservativeHome survey last year found that 71% of Tory members wanted more local candidates in the most marginal seats - twice as many as supported the party's idea of an A-list (also see these verbatims from the survey).  Here are some of the other things that have gone wrong with the list:

• Far fewer women than men applied for the list than CCHQ had hoped;
• Details of how CCHQ hoped to micromanage the selection process in the first 35 seats were leaked to ConservativeHome;
• Attempts by CCHQ to keep the A-list secret were thwarted by this website and publication shone a light on an apparent failure to recruit sufficient candidates from northern England;
• Some A-listers told ConservativeHome that they were disappointed by the first tranche of 35 seats they are obligated to apply for. The first 35 seats largely fell short of the plum seats the A-listers had expected to be rewarded with;
• Columnists as diverse as William Rees-Mogg and Nick Cohen have attacked the Blairite nature of the list;
• Some of the A-listers have already embarrassed the party - Sayeeda Warsi made inaccurate statistical claims about the detention of terror suspects, Elizabeth Truss had an affair with Mark Field MP, and today Adam Rickitt finds his 'the rich should use private healthcare' message at odds with David Cameron's 'NHS for all' emphasis; and
• The A-list's first big test - Bromley and Chislehurst - may assert its legal right to ignore the list and choose a local candidate.

Editor's note: "The A-list project may still work.  The clear majority of its members are good quality candidates but the forthcoming list top-ups must address some of the most egregious omissions.  The second need is for more acceptance of local candidates.  By giving encouragement to local people to stand in selection meetings, CCHQ would be respecting the clear wishes of Conservative members for candidates who are rooted in their constituency communities."

What next for the Priority List?

Later this morning Malcolm Dunn will be providing a review of last night's first 'Built To Last' roadshow event.  The event was fairly subdued but it came to life when a young Asian woman raised objections to the whole concept of the Priority List.  I have asked her to develop her contribution by writing a piece for YourPlatform.  Her basic argument was that she had not felt discriminated against in the Tory party before David Cameron became its leader.  With the advent of the Priority List she now fears that any future advances she makes could be devalued in the eyes of others.  She fears that people will interpret any progress as reflecting her gender or skin colour rather than her inherent abilities.

Unpopularity is not the only problem facing the A-list, however.  Tuesday's Telegraph underlined the fact that CCHQ cannot force Associations to pick from the list.  Last night's BtL meeting revealed strong support for local associations being able to pick local candidates.  As the clipping (right) from yesterday's London Evening Standard reveals, one candidate has already decided to apply directly to one or more of the seats that ConservativeHome revealed are in the first tranche of selecting.   ConservativeHome believes that the first tranche of 35 seats have been specifically chosen to help meet CCHQ's target of 20 women being selected.  They include a disproportionate number of seats who have selected women in the past and they are being subjected to a major charm offensive.

Because of Conservative activists' strong support for local rather than A-list candidates - and the potency of locally-rooted candidates, particularly in northern constituencies - future months will probably produce non A-list selections. 

David Cameron, Francis Maude and George Osborne are in Manchester again today as part of continuing efforts to rebuild the party's northern appeal.  ToryDiary discussed the north-south challenge on Monday and this recent article by Barry White in the Yorkshire Post argues for "a permanent Northern Conservative Headquarters", properly staffed to recruit, organise, motivate, lobby, explain and disseminate.

All MEPs can compete with the A-listers

ConservativeHome has learnt that all Tory MEPs have been given regional passports to parliamentary seats.  At least three MEPs - Martin Callanan, Chris Heaton-Harris and Syed Kamall - are on the full A-list and can apply for any seat but all sitting MEPs can apply for seats within the Euro-regions they represent.

Conservative Associations may be reluctant to appoint MEPs from outside of their regions as such MEPs will then have divided loyalties but MEPs from the same region could offer powerful advantages.  Already employed to represent the locality (and armed with handsome Brussels allowances) they could be effective champions of local concerns in the media as well as in the European Parliament.

The frontpage contains newslinks to profiles of A-listers Louise Bagshawe and Adam Rickitt plus Iain Dale's reflections on not being on the list.

The first 35 seats that will be choosing from the A-List

ConservativeHome has received a copy of the first 35 target seats which Priority List candidates will be able to apply for:

1. Broxtowe
2. Daventry
3. Mid Derbyshire      
4. South Northamptonshire      
5. Colchester
6. Luton North 
7. Stevenage 
8. Watford
9. Ealing Central and Acton
10. Eltham
11. Finchley and Golders Green
12. Richmond Park
13. Stockton South 
14. Bury South
15. Pendle      
16. Sefton Central 
17. Folkestone and Hythe 
18. Hove
19. Lewes 
20. Oxford West and Abingdon
21. Reading West
22. Central Devon      
23. Chippenham      
24. Filton and Bradley Stoke      
25. North East Somerset 
26. South Dorset      
27. Truro and Falmouth      
28. Coventry South
29. Stafford
30. Staffordshire Moorlands
31. Telford 
32. West Worcestershire
33. Worcester
34. Selby and Ainsty
35. York Outer (Vale of York)

Applications for these constituencies must be received by 19 May.

ConservativeHome is seeking party members from these constituencies who are willing to report on the selection processes and candidates.  Please email tim@conservativehome.com if you might be able to help in due course...

Why ConservativeHome is publishing the A-List

On the GoldList blog this morning, ConservativeHome publishes the names of some of the men and women who have been accepted on to the party's priority list of parliamentary candidates.  The Conservative Party wants to keep the list secret.  ConservativeHome believes that the party membership deserves to see who its flagship candidates are.  These candidates, and the A-list top-ups to follow, are the people who will form a third to a half of the Conservative parliamentary party if we are successful in winning power after the next General Election.  Conservative members - kept in the dark about so many aspects of how their party is run, funded and staffed - have a right to inspect this list and assess its quality and true diversity.  Does it, for example, include the kind of northern Britons who can help us win in Lancashire and Yorkshire?  The same people who tried to disenfranchise rank-and-file members in last year's leadership election are still showing insufficient respect for members.

So what should we make of the list as it currently stands?

I don't know many of the names that appear on the list but some I know to be of exceptional quality.  Karen Bradley, Fiona Bruce, Margot James, Julia Manning, Hannah Parker and Philippa Stroud, for example, are women who are as conservative as they are compassionate - as media-friendly as they are serious and principled.

I am personally delighted to see Howard Flight on the list.  He was treated very harshly by Michael Howard last year and should still be the Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs today (although Nick Herbert couldn't have been a better replacement).

I would also highlight Nicholas Boles, George Freeman and Mel Stride.  These are the kind of serious thinkers that a future Tory government will need to flourish.

But if the A-list has strengths the process that has led to its formation has had significant downsides.  Many candidates have testified to the uneven nature and rigour of the interview process they faced.  Some candidates learnt if they were on the list - or excluded from it - from a face-to-face meeting with Francis Maude or a telephone call from Theresa May.  Others were tipped off by their MPs.  Others had to wait for the letters to arrive yesterday.  There has not been equal treatment.

Some of the decisions have baffled me and readers of Iain Dale's blog were clearly disappointed at his 'you may get on in the next round' letter.   I received a steady stream of phone calls yesterday about different friends and contacts being 'on' or 'off'.  The news that surprised me most was CCHQ's decision not to put Dominic Schofield on the list.  Not yet anyway - all candidates have been told that they might be promoted to the A-list later in the year.  Dominic achieved a 6.7% swing from Labour to the Tories in Battersea, at the last General Election.  He reduced the Labour majority to just 163.  I campaigned a little there myself with Dominic and he was an exceptional vote-winner.  The 2005 campaign and its heavy core vote message was not designed for the average Battersea voter and Dominic's result was all the more impressive in that light.

People with no track record of working for the party may deserve to be on the A-list if they are exceptional prospects for the future.  I can understand that although their loyalty should probably have been tested over a couple of years.  What I cannot understand, however, is why proven vote-winners, who have stuck with the party over the last difficult decade, are dropped in favour of people who have not achieved at the ballot box.  A little more transparency from CCHQ on the criteria they have used would be helpful.

Sam Coates, Deputy Editor, and I will be looking at this comments thread very carefully and deleting comments that are gratuitously offensive to individual personalities and we will ban the IP addresses of their authors.

A-List D-Day

In line with existing policy on the candidates' list, the Conservative Party has decided that it will not publish the names of the individuals who are on the new A-list.  ConservativeHome will attempt - from tomorrow - to publish a rolling list of those people who are told today that they are on the list of priority candidates (background here).

If you know of people who are on the list please email tim@conservativehome.com.

Wednesday is A-list day

Many would-be Tory MPs will be anxiously waiting for their post to arrive over the next couple of days.  ConservativeHome understands that applicants for the party's Priority List should receive their letters from CCHQ on Wednesday.

At least 100 names will be on the list - and as ConservativeHome has already reported, over half will be women and a tenth will be from ethnic minorities.

There will be no formal publication of the list (in line with the current list of approved candidates) and those candidates who are successful in getting on to the list will be asked not to talk to the media (except through CCHQ) to alert CCHQ to any media contact (strikethru and red text amendment made at 6.05pm on sound advice).  A number of target parliamentary seats will start selecting immediately although these will not be publicly identified.

The Priority List will be topped up in July and in December.  The hope of being part of these top-ups will, CCHQ must hope, mollify candidates who are unsuccessful this week.

If you are a candidate and would like to report something to ConservativeHome please email tim@conservativehome.com.  Your email will be treated in strictest confidence and your identity revealed to noone.

'Staff is policy' is one of the truest of dictums and David Cameron's greatest legacy to the party might be the candidates he promotes and local associations then choose.  If Mr Cameron becomes Britain's next Prime Minister (and the Tories are now favourites to win the next election) he will bring 130 and more new Tory MPs into Parliament.  Over five to ten years of leadership he will be responsible for 50% or more of the make-up of the parliamentary party.  Unlike George W Bush who has used his de facto leadership of the American Republicans to encourage the adoption of socially conservative, tax-cutting and hawkish candidates in congressional and gubernatorial races, Mr Cameron is not pursuing an obviously ideological approach to selection.  His objective is the simple one of increasing the number of women and ethnic Tory MPs.

Will this have implications for the ideological and political balance of the party?

Mary Ann Sieghart thinks 'yes'.  Reacting last year to Theresa May's early advocacy of 50/50 lists The Times' columnist noted how the Labour Party’s increased number of women MPs agitated “for the party to pay more attention to the issues that female voters really cared about: public services, childcare, work-life balance”.  There may or may not be ideological implications of more female Tory MPs but there must be a strong likelihood of more interest in the issues identified by Ms Sieghart.

Cameron's office plans for 20 of 35 safest seats to choose women

This morning's Telegraph reported a leaked memo revealing a "secret plan" to favour women in the party's safest seats.  ConservativeHome has been able to verify The Telegraph story.  Pasted below is a leaked copy of a confidential email from Edward Llewellyn - David Cameron's chief of staff - to key advisers.  The email agreed that the party should aim to ensure that women are selected in "at least 20 of the 35 seats in play" before the Party Conference.  The constituency officers of the 35 plus seats will be invited to meetings with Bernard Jenkin in David Cameron's office.  "DC would drop in on these meetings whenever possible," point five of the memo states.  Click on the image to enlarge the leaked email.

At a lunchtime meeting with lobby journalists today, David Cameron said that more than 50% of the candidates on the Priority List are women and 10% are from ethnic minorities.  Applicants for the List will receive their letters after May 4th's local elections.

Related link: Bernard Jenkin answers questions posed by ConservativeHome readers.