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.