Cameron Watt: Five for the future

After a rollercoaster of a political year, Conservatives end 2007 in good cheer. Cameron continues to grow in stature and has established a healthy lead in the polls. By contrast, Brown’s bottling and balls-ups may have inflicted irreparable damage to the Prime Minister’s reputation and, ultimately, his prospects of winning a General Election.

With such a disillusioned and volatile electorate, even the most encouraging polling numbers leave no room for complacency among Conservatives. Looking ahead, what gives me greatest confidence for British democracy in general, and Conservative fortunes in particular, is the quality of people committed to serving in politics.

Of course there are many exceptional individuals serving already on the Conservative green benches. Their ranks will surely be swelled significantly after the next election from the impressive cohort of parliamentary candidates already selected. In my final column of the year, I hope you’ll indulge me in briefly highlighting (in alphabetical order) five exceptional people I hope and expect to make a major contribution to our party’s future. They are engaging personalities and high achievers who are excellent ambassadors for a modern, authentic and compassionate Conservative Party.

Graeme Archer

I first met fellow-Scot Graeme at CH’s blog awards. Since then, I have increasingly admired his intelligent, witty and humane writing here and on Platform 10, even if the illustrations from formal logic and science are sometimes beyond my grasp.

All activists need motivation and commitment wherever they are involved. That much more is needed in areas where the party struggles. Graeme has worked hard to take ground for the Conservatives in Hackney, as has Andrew Boff, whose Mayoral campaign Graeme threw himself into.

I am particularly grateful for Graeme’s wholehearted supported for Iain Duncan Smith and the CSJ. We agree that a renewed Conservative focus on vulnerable people and communities is not just right in itself; it is also an important part of a positive, uniting agenda for the whole party.

James Bethell

Well-known for his role in Ministry of Sound’s phenomenal success in the 1990s, James Bethell is now heading up Portland PR with Tim Allan, formerly Alastair Campbell’s No.2 in the Downing Street press office. Among their fast-growing client list is the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, a hugely important and much-needed initiative to reward good governance in Africa.

Whilst I was working at Central Office during Michael Howard’s leadership, I did some (largely exploratory) work with James on the potential of building alliances with a broad range of third-party organisations such as council tax protesters. The potential of systematic relationship and coalition building with civil society groups remains largely unfulfilled in British politics.

James fought an impressive campaign in Tooting in the 2005 election. One of the most approachable people in the party, his expert knowledge of modern media and communications would make him a huge asset to the parliamentary party.   

Fiona Bruce

For too long, Conservatives in the North have been on the back foot. Thanks to the likes of Warrington solicitor Fiona Bruce, that is beginning to change. After building-up a successful legal practice and raising her family, Fiona got actively involved in politics after the 2001 election, and was selected to fight the Warrington South constituency.

In the run-up to the 2005 election, Fiona was active on behalf of Margaret Dixon, the pensioner whose repeatedly cancelled shoulder operation left her in agony. After Fiona’s efforts to resolve the situation at a local level were unsuccessful, Michael Howard raised the matter at PMQs, forcing Labour to defend its failure to produce significant improvements to the NHS after vast increases in spending. Fiona’s high-profile campaign halved the incumbent Labour MP’s majority.

During her parliamentary candidacy, Fiona ousted a Labour councillor in the Penketh ward, for which she was re-elected in 2006. Vigorous grassroots campaigning, including a popular regular community newsletter hand-delivered by a large team of local volunteers, certainly matches the Lib Dems efforts in their strong areas. Fiona is now a cabinet member in a new Lib Dem – Conservative administration on Warrington Borough Council, helping guarantee council tax-payers value for money after many years of inept and wasteful Labour control.   

Orlando Fraser

In criticizing Labour’s failed top-down attempts to combat poverty, Conservatives often advocate a greater role for the voluntary sector. However what that might look like in practice and how it could be achieved is not always clear.

Through his recent chairmanship of the Social Justice Policy Group’s Third Sector Working Group, Orlando Fraser has persuasively set out how a future Conservative government could set free the armies of compassion to defeat Britain’s most acute social problems. In its funding of the sector, Labour favours increasingly large, aggregated contracts given to a few major players that tend to do the government’s work in the government’s way. Orlando’s group (of which I was part) advocates a better course. Proposals including ‘Trustmarking’ and Community Growth Trusts would give the best small and medium-sized poverty-fighting groups much more opportunity to grow and thrive as they were able to compete for public funds on a more level playing field.

Orlando, a civil fraud barrister, is also a Patron of the Longford Trust which works to rehabilitate prisoners throughout the UK. He has previously served on the board of Westside Housing which helps homeless people in west London, and chaired the Bosnia Winter Appeal.

Few in the Conservative Party can match Orlando’s understanding of – and commitment to – the voluntary sector. Combined with his forensic analytical skills and public-speaking abilities of a top lawyer, Orlando would be a great asset to any Cameron Government in ensuring the effective implementation of the party’s social justice agenda.

John Glen

For someone in his early thirties, John Glen has demonstrated impressive abilities to engage with and lead a broad range of people to get results.

In his first stint at Conservative Central Office before the 2001 election, John led the Political Section which briefed William Hague for his excellent performances at PMQs. John resumed his career in management consultancy after standing in Plymouth Devonport in 2001, before being persuaded to return to CCHQ in the run-up to the 2005 election, where he directed the Conservative Research Department before and after the poll.

Having grown up immersed in the small family horticultural business in Wiltshire, John understands the needs of small enterprises for fair taxation and proportionate regulation. His own business career has now led him to Accenture's think tank, and he attends the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

John is active in his Anglican church and serves as a magistrate in his home borough of Westminster. In this role he undertakes the tough task of attempting to sentence in a way that balances society’s need for proper punishment of criminal behaviour with an effort to rehabilitate what are generally highly dysfunctional defendants. 

John is one of six finalists for the North-East Cambridgeshire constituency. Whatever the outcome of that selection next month, I expect John’s warmth and decency will help him get selected for a winnable seat before too long.

Comments

[Tony Makara]

What the persons above show is a real drive by the Conservative party to be proactive on social issues. For decades Labour has presented itself as the champoin of the poor yet the poorest areas of our country are all Labour heartlands. Labour have failed the poor and have increased poverty in deprived areas.

The modern and socially conscious Conservative party is ready to offer a real alternative to Labour's long litany of broken promises. I hope this new social dimension to politics will continue to grow within the Conservative party and that even more talented individuals like those listed above can join the fight to lift people out of the misery of poverty.

[Griswold]

We need a number of Mrs Bruce clones in 'The North' to create a Con phalanx to regain political territory lost since the days of McMillan.

I hope you will provide an annual review of Watts' Five for the Future.

[Sally Roberts]

Particularly pleased to see both Graeme Archer and James Bethell on the list. I look forward every Sunday morning to reading Graeme's articles which are well-written, often witty and occasionally very moving! He works his socks off in Hackney and richly deserves the credit he is being given for this!
I don't know James well (I have met him once I believe) but do know his brother Will well as he is one of our hard-working Hammersmith & Fulham Councillors. James has clearly made a real success of his business and clearly fought a good campaign in Tooting. I wish him all the best in the future!

[Voice from the South West]

LOL at the Orlando Fraser suggestion. I hope he has learnt to control his mouth since 2005; we in Devon have long memories...

[Dick Wishart]

Never heard of them.

[Anthony Broderick]

I'm also pleased to see Fiona Bruce there amongst all the southerners!

I profoundly disagreed with the A list but I was so pleased that she was amongst the first on it. A more hard-working and compassionate candidate you won't meet.

We need her in the UK or EU Parliament asap!

[orlando]

a lovely present to find on Boxing Day - needless to say, having worked closely with him for nearly two years on Iain's report, Cameron W himself should be the real star of the party and the country's future - selfless, hard-working and passionately committed to the social justice agenda, he is a genuine unsung hero - all power to his elbow

as for VoSW, I don't know whether my mouth is any better controlled, but living in Devon has certainly taught it to be kinder and nicer - perhaps I can induce you to come to North Molton for a jar and find out for yourself