Craig Cox's progress report
Good progress has been made in my NME role of specialised branch creation.
I am co-ordinating in four target constituencies throughout the country,
being Solihull, Pendle, Portsmouth (North and South), and Wirral West.
Pendle
Mark Clarke, Claire Palmer and I attended a dinner organised by Pendle
Association in Manchester, and used the opportunity to discuss the branch
creation strategy. We have now made a decision on a date, time
and venue for an event to revitalise their CF branch. It is scheduled
for the 18th December at 8pm, at the Sparrow Hawk pub in Fence. Full
address and details here.
Wirral West
Following a good discussion with local CFers in Wirral West, we
have similarly organised an event for the under 30s in Wirral West.
It has been confirmed to take place at Venue TBC on the 6th February at 8pm. The constituency association and PPC have been fundamental in
the organisation of this event, so please do support it.
Portsmouth
In a meeting held in my apologised absence, the Chairman and Deputy
Chairman of CF held a meeting with Penny Mordaunt, the PPC for this
constituency. Since then, I have taken information gathered from this
discussion, and planned an event for them, in consultation with the
existing members, for the 8th January at 8pm being held at Venue TBC
Solihull
Having made contact with the existing members of the branch, and spoken
with the local association, we are re-launching their CF branch on the
9th January at Venue TBC at 8pm. I do hope you will be able to support
us in making this event a success.
The events will be an informal gathering of CFers across not only the
constituencies themselves, but from across the nation. Organising these
events has not been easy, when booking the venues and such, and so I
am very grateful to those people within the branches already
for their help. If you have any queries about these events, please contact
me. We would be delighted to meet you at the events, and very much hope
that you will support this worthwhile initiative.
In other developments, I am also now the Vice-President of Nottingham
University Conservative Association, and as such have been given responsibility
to organise functions for the Spring Forum when it is in Nottingham
in the new year. I have incorporated this into my national role and
will keep you all informed of the developments made. I can tell you
that preliminary events are hoping to include something held at both
Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University, with various
bar and nightclub socials planned in between. This is a lengthy procedure,
but I am hopeful that a favourable solution for CF will be achieved
shortly.
With regards to central NME business, I regret not being able to make
some of the meetings. Being outside of London for once has made this
considerably more difficult, and my first year at Nottingham University
has also hindered my ability to travel freely. However, I have been
fully briefed by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of CF about the agenda
and conclusions of the meetings, and have had my opinions voiced in
my absence by my colleagues on the NME.
My work on the NME hasn't been
of the publicity kind, but more behind-the-scenes, and so I can understand
some grievances on my record of correspondence between myself and the
membership. In reality however, I cannot write a report until I know
that everything has been finalised, thus slowing down my ability to
relay information. The NME is kept completely informed of my activities
when doing my work, and so I am under the guidance and will of my colleagues.
This first period of our administration has been an immensely successful
one, and all of us on the NME have developed good working relationships,
regardless of our contact. I hope that we can finish our term on the
same productive, ambitious, and united front on which we started, and
currently enjoy.
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