Brian Jenner: Time for a new political organisation

Brian Jenner, a speechwriter, journalist and Conservative activist, sets out the case for a new conservative social organisation based on creativity, friendship and fun.

Browsing through Facebook this week, I had a sense that a dramatic change is on its way. Looking through the friends of some prominent Conservatives, I was struck by something. They have a large group of attractive friends – there is hope at last.

A few years ago, an American academic, Robert Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone. He described how the pressures of modern life were breaking up our institutions. The politicians acknowledge this, but they see it as an irreversible social trend, which means that they deserve to be funded by the public purse.

But what if it’s the other way round.

Brian Jenner: Ten Tips for the Local Elections

Brian Jenner is the Conservative prospective councillor for Kinson North in Bournemouth. He shares some of his insights after several weeks of hard work.

1) Canvassing must be fun

If you want to retain keen volunteers, there has to be a payoff. You’d be amazed at how enthusiastic the 20-30 year olds are. Get lots of people out so it’s light work and a social event. Be sure to balance pain (90 minutes campaigning) with pleasure (an hour in the café/pub having a debrief).

2) Beware armchair generals

Use email to confirm arrangements, but don’t fire off emails indiscriminately telling people what they should be doing – it annoys and upsets them. In politics you have to talk to people on the phone or face-to-face and work out what they’re feeling. You’re in the persuading business.

3) Timings

Decide when a meeting will end at the beginning of the meeting. Never go over time.

4) Meet in smart places

‘Old’ Conservatives love meeting in cold church halls, seedy Conservative Clubs or dingy offices. It’s their brand values. This puts off women and smart people from joining. We are the beautiful people now. We meet in pleasant cafés and modern conference facilities. As far as possible, get the oldies into these environments. Good luck.

5) Say Hi to the Lib Dems

The Lib Dems are rattled by the ‘new’ Tories. Don’t spoil it by being ungracious towards them. They’ve peaked and they know it. Demoralise them by working harder and wave to them as they sink in the polls.

6) Do something different

The amazing thing about the “Old” Tories is how they find brilliant reasons for keeping things exactly the same.

Try some subversive techniques. For example, get into the office in the middle of the night and put up a picture on David Cameron on the wall. Commission a rogue sign-writer to paint the new logo on the front of the office on a Sunday, or change the terribly unhelpful Association answering machine message, when the Agent is out at lunch.

7) Dealing with doubters

When people ask, what party are you from? I say a new party. I explain that history shows that every 30 years political parties have to go back to the drawing board. We’ve been smug and arrogant in the past, but now there’s a new generation in charge. Would you be interested in joining?

8) Answering on the doorstep

When people tell me they’re voting Lib Dem, I say, “I respect you for that. They’ve taught us some lessons about pavement politics. They’re decent people. Trouble is they’re not the types to run their own businesses. They don’t tend to know much about finances. The kind of people we’re recruiting to our Party are bright and effective people. Take another look.”

9) Respect people’s other commitments

People have families and they have jobs. Negotiate what time they are able to devote to the campaign and ask them when they like to be contacted. Taking calls at work can be terribly disruptive.

10) Be gentle

There is only one mode of dealing with your colleagues in a voluntary association: appreciation. You can’t tell people off. You can’t tell them their faults. You can’t force them to do anything.  The only way to put a stop to dysfunctional behaviour is not to tolerate it. If someone abuses you, put down your leaflets and go home. It’s a powerful way to send the message that things must change.

Brian Jenner: Finding a 'New' Tory Idealism

Brian runs a blog on the subject of speechwriting.

I was reading a book by Alan Ayckbourn the other day and he said he was interested in the question, ‘Why do some people in society conclude they are fit to govern? Some are born with the conviction they are natural leaders. While others it never enters their head.’

Why do Conservatives feel it’s up to them? Jeffrey Archer used to talk about ‘public service’, and Boris Johnson blusters stuff about ‘serving your country’. What both characters have in common is a keen sense of ‘number one’. Not the kind of attitude that inspires confidence in the Tories.

Jeremy Paxman’s book, The Political Animal, gives a very bleak analysis of the politician’s lot. You finish it thinking, why go through all the toadying, the stupidity and the lies? One of the tasks of the Cameroons must be to provide a post-Thatcherite motivation for going into politics. What is the ‘higher purpose’? The noble goal?

In the 80s the Conservative Party had the powerful idea of nation. It was a spiritual notion conjured up by the monarchy and the military, Evelyn Waugh fantasies of England, the benevolent freedoms of capitalism and the opportunity to own your own home. It was quite simple to define these ideas in contrast to some real monsters: Leonid Brezhnev, General Galtieri and Arthur Scargill. There was a motivation.

But globalisation, Sunday trading, the car culture, the expansion of the universities, the disintegration of towns and villages as distinct entities: these phenomena mean that most of us now adopt a rootless, urban style of living. The public is more ambivalent about the virtues of the monarchy and the military. The Evelyn Waugh fantasy was ridiculous. The big villains have left the stage. A new 21st Century generation may never own their home outright because of the unexpected consequences of Thatcherite freedoms. Problems change. The rituals, structures and values which made the Conservative Party powerful have ebbed away. But some of us think differently from the Labour Party and feel moved to oppose it.

The Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks sums it up rather well:

There was a time when people lived in close, ongoing contact with neighbours, creating networks of shared meaning and reciprocal duty. Nowadays we live anonymously among strangers whose religious, cultural and moral codes are different from ours. By what duty or right do we share their fate?

Rabbi Sacks says we live in a fractured society. But the religious imperative is to take the initiative. Don’t wait. Do something. You’re going to make mistakes. He quotes Rabbi Tarfon: ‘It is not for you to complete the work, but nor are you free to desist from it.’

Human affairs are a mess, but individuals have to rise up and make them better. The facts about public life are pretty grim.
If you are involved at a local level, you will have little status or reward. If you rise, you will be burdened by having to deal with vain and difficult people. Much of it will seem pointless. Reach the very top, and stay there, and you will go mad, making decisions which may have grave consequences for future generations.

But the message of Rabbi Tarfon and Sir Jonathan Sacks is, that doesn’t matter. If you feel you can do something for your community, do it. In fact you have no choice.

Politics is like parenthood. It requires a huge commitment of time and energy. The pressures mean your weaknesses and failings are exposed for all to see. You will almost certainly make bad mistakes. Your term of office is soon over. The judgement of many children is that their parents failed. Some children find it hard to ever forgive them. For Sacks, we all have to do our messy best regardless, and ‘God’ straightens it all out.

The alternative is to settle for the quiet life, which is rather contemptible. You refuse to stand up and be counted. You risk letting the losers, nutcases, bigots and extremists run the show.

Should we be worried about our own tendencies towards megalomania, greed or stupidity? It seems not. The message is: whatever your personality disorders, unconventional business ethics or unusual sexual proclivities, your community and, more especially, political parties, need you. Do something. Rebuild our fragmented society.

One day you will probably be exposed. Your political career will end in failure and maybe even disgrace. But it’s always been like that, hasn’t it? It’s the things you achieve along the way that matter. So don’t hesitate, send in your forms to join the Conservative Party today…

Conservatives on the Couch: Ten Reasons Not to Go into Politics

Brian Jenner runs a blog on the subject of speechwriting.

Nietzsche said, "Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." As usual he was on to something. Why, in recent British history, have political parties lost the plot to such a degree after electoral defeat that it takes them nearly a decade to marshal collective wisdom and get the show back on the road?

Maybe parties need some collective psychotherapy. Lefties love their counselling, Tories don’t think they need it. Examining your own personal weaknesses and vulnerabilities is very un-Conservative. Isn’t it about time that changed? Do you want to pursue a career in politics? Examine your motivations. Here are some reasons why it might not be a good idea.

1) Because My Relationship Isn’t Working Out

C Northcote Parkinson said, "Men enter local politics solely as a result of being unhappily married." He could have added women, gays and people with no relationship at all do it for similar reasons. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just be aware of it as a phenomenon.

2) As A Source Of Income

If you have an income and you want to diversify your activities, that’s fine. But if politics is likely to be your only source of income, what’s to stop you becoming a complete sycophant? Holding political office is likely to diminish your employability, not enhance it.

Brian Jenner: Ten ways to liven up your Conservative Association

This is Brian's fifth Platform piece for ConservativeHome.  Brian runs a blog on the subject of speechwriting.

I have a pet theory. I’ve noticed that the effectiveness of a political organisation is directly proportional to the sexual energy generated at its meetings.

It’s rare to find many women between the ages of 25 and 40 at an average Tory local association event. Why can’t a Conservative Party social occasion just be a chance to have a good time and meet personable people who don’t talk politics? As the Party moves to the centre ground, young women will start coming back, but it’s important to organise events where they feel comfortable.

David Cameron says, we must be the change. Well, political parties bemoan the fact that close-knit communities are a thing of the past. What do you do? Change your community. Do things that will bring people together.

Cancel the jumble sales and cheese and wine evenings, ditch the black tie and the strawberry teas. Organise events that will attract people beyond the usual suspects. The object is to interact with the local community. I’m a fan of the psychologist Dorothy Rowe who says, ‘It is only by talking together, by participating together in some undertaking, that we can start to glimpse how the other person sees certain things in ways very different from us.’ Here are ten suggestions to rebuild a political movement.

1) SERVE GOOD FOOD

People want to try something new. Keep an eye on your High Street. If an exotic restaurant opens, put your head round the door and introduce yourself. ‘I’m involved with the local Conservative Association, could we do a deal to have a buffet in your fantastic new place? We’ll supply 20 people and give you some local promotion on our website and in our newsletter. You give us one free drink, a free buffet and a short talk about your cuisine.’ You charge your members, you learn something and you’re guaranteed to be in a cutting edge venue.

2) GO UPMARKET

People love going to somewhere a little bit more expensive than they would usually go. Think, how can we make something special, affordable to our members?

3) GET PRIVILEGED ACCESS

Is there somewhere in your local area which you would really like to visit, but it’s not open to the public? A nuclear power station, a stately home, a corporate headquarters? Give the head honcho a call and ask if you can have a tour.

Brian Jenner: How about some jokes, Dave?

Brian runs a blog on the subject of speechwriting.

Read David Cameron’s speech to Demos and sing hallelujah – here is a convincing analysis of where it all went wrong. Understand the problem and you can begin to solve it. Oliver Letwin‘s words at Policy Exchange weren’t too bad either.

But where’s the sense of humour? Where’s the character? These Etonian smoothie-chops sound like corporate HR directors. Tories applying for their Investors in People badge.

David Cameron and George Bush have similar blue-blooded backgrounds. But George is brilliant at empathy. David Frum, his former speechwriter, makes a telling point about the President.

‘People are often baffled: how can somebody who's born to a wealthy and influential family, as George Bush was, have the kind of accord with ordinary Americans that he seems to have? Isn't that odd? And the answer is this great crisis he went through, that whatever the advantages of his early life, George Bush was someone who needed a second chance. And this is a country in which that's a very familiar experience.’

Cameron’s image makers have got to give him some depth. Quoting Nelson Mandela won’t do. Especially since he hasn’t had anything comparable to a Robben Island experience. We hear that Dave has a sense of humour. So let’s see him work on that like Ronald Reagan did. Here are a selection of one-liners, anecdotes and jokes which the modernisers could use to spice up their speeches...

Brian Jenner: Lamenting the rise of the ‘urban regeneration practitioner’

Brian Jenner edits the community website for Paddington & Bayswater, www.newspad.co.uk

If you can’t beat them, why not make a fortune at their expense? Maybe this was Michael Heseltine’s thinking five years ago, when Haymarket, his publishing company, launched a magazine called, ‘Regeneration & Renewal’. It’s the in-house magazine of the urban regeneration industry, 50% glossy advertising for community project officers and social enterprise managers.

Under the Labour Government improving communities has become a massive industry. The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit spends millions of pounds in pursuit of vague objectives. I had the privilege of living in a neighbourhood which was being regenerated - at least until I had to move out because my rent became too expensive.

The renewal of Paddington started with the construction of the Heathrow Express train link, which led to a building spree. Any hotel worth its salt realised that they would get a better class of individual passing through. They went to the bank manager and moved up a star.

Two agencies emerged soon after. A consortium called the Paddington Regeneration Partnership and the Paddington Development Trust, a body that hands out money to local projects. Both were funded by a mix of European funds, Westminster Council and the property developers. They were created to facilitate the renewal of the wasteland by the Grand Union Canal which was to be filled with shops, offices and new flats.

Five years ago, BAA, together with the other members of the partnership organised a junket to inform local people they were going to transform Praed Street into Marylebone High Street.  Wealthy people would check-in in Paddington and spend quality time there before boarding the Heathrow Express. September 11 and BAA’s poor marketing meant they closed all the check-in and turned Paddington Station into shopping mall.

That’s fine, but it scuppered any chance of commuters venturing out into Praed Street. Most of the Praed Street family businesses that watched those slick presentations have disappeared. Thus making the place even more soulless. Now coffee shops, fast food outlets and newsagents are the only things that work. When the going gets tough, the family businesses have to fend for themselves.

What do urban regeneration agencies do? They were involved in the fantastic new plans for St Mary’s Hospital. It was going to be a super-campus including the Brompton and Harefield. The whole thing wasted eight years of effort and almost £14m in project costs before being cancelled without a brick being laid.

Most of the work of regeneration agencies is creating an ‘image’. They create a catchy slogan like: ‘New Life for Paddington’, they get a branding agency to design a corporate identity, a photographer to take pictures of happy ethnically-integrated schoolchildren for a slick brochure, they pay an expensive PR agency to puff up some articles in the property supplements, make some models, organise a big buffet and invite a Government minister in to talk about the benefits for the ‘community’. Job done.

What does it actually change? Are you trying to keep small businesses in business? Or do you want branded chains to come in instead? Do you applaud the construction of large numbers of one-bedroom luxury flats? Or should regeneration agencies be saying, these will be the slums of the future? Under ‘New’ Labour property developers are good, the community is good and regeneration is good. There should be no need for anyone to fight.

The people who work for these agencies do not appreciate criticism but ‘new life’ requires conflict and debate. Pretending that massive ill-thought out investment means benefits for everyone is just wrong. The quality of postal deliveries in W2 is awful, but it’s no surprise considering no postman could afford to live there.

Regeneration agencies want to improve the fabric of the public realm. They give grants to businesses to improve their shop fronts. This is very well-meaning but there are ethical problems. The way government regeneration money was distributed was a factor in the riots which hit Oldham, Bradford and Burnley in 2001. How can you give money to one section of the community, and not give it to others? Who decides who is worthy of support?

The Mayor’s London Development Agency has financed a Paddington ‘Pride of Place’ initiative, an ‘exciting programme of work at Paddington Waterside, which aims to create a sense of place in a new location.’ How do you create a sense of place? Like dropping bombs on enemy airfields, many regeneration initiatives are very expensive and have no impact at all.

How exactly do you become an urban regeneration practitioner? Start off working for the council. Move into regeneration. Double your salary. Nobody has a clue what you should be doing and as long as house prices sail upwards and there is a queue of property developers, nobody is going to ask. The regeneration press is full of self-flagellating articles which could be paraphrased, ‘Why are regeneration professionals such an uninspiring bunch?’ Hence the need to recruit ‘high calibre individuals’ into the sector. That means spending a fortune advertising in the local press, the regeneration press and the Guardian.

If there is one thing regeneration practitioners can’t stand it’s local residents. They are well-informed, articulate, difficult, appreciative of complexity and sceptical about what can be achieved. Many are mad enough to work for their community for nothing, while the regeneration industry pumps vast amount of money into the pockets of expert consultants – an expert being a man from out of town carrying a briefcase.

Neighbourhoods in towns and cities function because residents report things: dumped rubbish, anti-social behaviour, graffiti and planning infringements. If a neighbourhood doesn’t have enough concerned individuals it will go into decline. The trouble with regeneration is that if people are being paid £20,000 - £100,000 to sit in comfortable offices, it makes volunteers extremely sore when they have to deal with splenetic residents, object to planning applications, put together newsletters, go to meetings and write minutes, for nothing. The regeneration industry actually corrupts the incentives for people to do things in their local community.

Brian Jenner: A Reading List For New Age Tories

David Cameron has said we need it and he’s right. It’s time for an intellectual revival. That means reading some books.

Those books have got to be fun and make being moderately right-wing exciting and socially acceptable. Books that can help members communicate what being a ‘New’ Tory means to friends and neighbours.

The way Conservatives use language and understand the universe has got to shift. Once you get the hang of it, I guarantee your dress sense will improve, you will be more attractive to your desired or existing sexual partner and members of the general public will start saying to you unprompted, ‘We need people like you to turf out that Labour lot.’

Why not pool all the books on this blog which members think are relevant to the culture of ‘Modern’ Conservatism? Stuff which is accessible and stimulates reflection about contemporary society.

I have listed eleven books and one DVD set. Add your own. Purchase them through Conservative Home link for your Christmas stocking which will give Mr Montgomerie some remuneration for his efforts on this site.

The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck, Arrow, £6.99

Self-help books are incredibly popular, the Conservative ethos is essentially about self-help, ergo, the Conservative Party should understand the genre and the language, and use it. This book challenges some core beliefs and suggests that the purpose of life is not just material self-enrichment but spiritual growth.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Time Warner Books, £7.99

This is popular capitalism. It may be flawed but Tories advocate the ‘Rich Dad’ mentality.

The Rise and Fall of Marks & Spencer by Judi Bevan, Profile Books Ltd, £8.99

This is about the death of paternalistic capitalism. The old hierarchies have collapsed. Globalisation has changed British business and politics.

The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, Basic Books, £15.95

A theory about how American society is changing: the kind of jobs people do and what their aspirations are. The Memphis Manifesto is popular ‘Localism’. If you want to have a debate about the inner cities it helps to be familiar with the ideas of Robert Putnam and Jane Jacobs. These characters are discussed in the book.

The High Flyer by Susan Howatch, Time Warner Paperbacks, £6.99

Susan Howatch writes about a woman called Carter Graham who unhappy working in a City law firm. The Anglican church has wrestled with the modern world. The Conservative Party has not. Get an insight into how it created a synthesis.

Reggie by Lewis Baston, Sutton, £25

This biography of former Chancellor Reggie Maudling is a cautionary tale for anyone wishing to embark on a career in politics. This book shows there was robust intellectual life in the Tory Party before 1979.

On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman Dixon, by Pimlico, £12.99

Tories have a great respect for the military tradition. We love history. Read this book to get some insight into how the Party became dysfunctional and how it might get better.

Chosen People: The Big Idea That Shaped England and America by Clifford Longley, Hodder & Stoughton, £7.99

When old Tories talk about the nation state, I don’t know what they mean. Sorry. Longley explains the origins of the English spiritual mythology, so beloved of Eurosceptics. It’s not pretty.

Authenticity by David Boyle, Perennial, £8.99

Boyle is a Lib Dem (yikes!). Few thinkers are appreciated in their own party. We should read all his books and steal a lot of his ideas.

Eat the Rich by P.J. O'Rourke, published by Picador, £6.99

A right-winger with panache and a sense of humour.

The Untamed Tongue: A Dissenting Dictionary by Thomas Szasz, Open Court Publishing Company, £25.50

Thomas Szasz is a psychiatrist. Find out what he means by the ‘Therapeutic State’. He is very invigorating. Do a Google on him if you can’t afford the book.

Six Feet Under, Warner Home Video, (Five Series), From £27.99

This American series rubs people’s noses in the modern world. It’s complex and difficult. We’ve got to learn to love a series which ends with the sensitive and intelligent Republican (who aspires to public office) getting the girl.

Brian Jenner: It’s time to put the ‘Party’ back into the ‘Conservative Party’

Brian Jenner is a member of Bournemouth West Conservative Association  and has been involved in urban regeneration for the last six years.

As a member of the Anglican church I am familiar with the prayer for ‘all that builds up our common life.’  What is our common life? And what’s so good about it? Only now it’s starting to disappear does its value become clear. We’re living longer, we’re getting married later, some of us separate from spouses and it has a consequence. There is a growing number of single households in every street of our villages, towns and cities. Involvement in churches, political parties, amenity groups, and unions of all kinds has declined. We are a society of individuals.

The Conservative Party has suffered badly from this trend. Its independent local constituency structure was once a cornerstone of the local community. When elections came around they had an army of volunteers. They attracted clever and fashionable young men and women. No more.

Look at the Conservative Party website and it says, join us, deliver leaflets, and be part of the team that returns the Conservatives to power. Why would anyone want to do that? The modern consciousness is not conditioned to promote causes out of duty instead it asks, ‘What’s in it for me?’ – and of course, unless you want to be a councillor or an MP, there is nothing.

The Conservative Party has made an effort to change its policies but no effort to change its culture. Its attitude to its volunteers is extremely patronising. The Party is obsessed with fundraising: tickets for events, money for raffles not to mention regular begging letters.

Common life may be in decline, but people are unhappy about it. How has the church dealt with declining membership? The wing of the church that is in rudest health is the evangelical wing. Holy Trinity Brompton and its off-shoots the pews are packed. The secret of their success? Worship with a social network. They are constantly organising things and involving people.

The Conservative Party has to develop a strategy that involves people without preaching to them. Why not identify the decline of our ‘common life’ as a political evil it is determined to deal with? By discovering its roots as a well-organised organisation which brings smart people together it can succeed. Party officials need to focus on creative engagement with the communities they seek to govern. No return to the days of cheese and wine parties where the volunteers tug their forelocks to the MP. There are many more imaginative ways to raise funds and engage a new audience.

If a new restaurant opens in the town why can’t the agent contact them and ask them to lay on a buffet for the local Conservative Association? The restaurateur promotes his business, the agent organizes a lively event. Young professionals will pay £20 to attend a speed-dating event. Wouldn’t they prefer to go to decent political soirée with none of the stigma of a singles night?

The future of political parties is as training organizations. In London I chose to join a group called Toastmasters’ International instead of the Conservative Party. It’s a kind of public speakers’ anonymous. I spent five years practising public speaking, evaluating colleagues, organising meetings and recruiting new members. This is the kind of thing a political party should run for the benefit of its members. The slogan would be – join the Conservative Party and we will teach you how to speak in public and how to manage people.

Instead of initiating all new members into the art of leaflet delivery, identify the skills their members have and use them in a pro bono capacity. If you want to be successful in politics you have to be alert to technological change. If the Association hasn’t got someone with the skills to produce a decent newsletter or a website, contact the local university to find out if a young person will help them out in return for work experience.

The Conservative Party somehow thinks it can win again without reforming the local branches. One of my colleagues joined the Conservative Party two years ago. He worked extremely hard as a volunteer expressed the sentiment: ‘The more I get involved with the Conservative Party, the less inclined I am to vote for them.’  Electoral fortunes will not improve until this problem is addressed.