8/10 Rebooting Project Cameron: Embracing internet-based politics

By Tim Montgomerie
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The Conservative Party should be relaunched as the Conservative Alliance. Conservative HQ should see itself more like the Republican National Committee in the US, as the central facilitator of other groups rather than the thing itself. The Conservative Alliance would include networks of small business groups, campaigning local websites, and higher investment in relationship groups like Conservative Friends of International Development, and the Conservative Christian Fellowship. Peer-to-peer

Inside CCHQ there should be a Department for External Relations that would manage the Tory Party’s most important relations with third party groups. The, say, 1,000 most important faith leaders, charity groups, thought leaders, business tycoons and commentators would be gold ticketed by this Department and fully involved in the development and transmission of policy. Baroness Berridge wrote about this obsession of mine yesterday.

Within these reforms party members would be given a higher status in the party/ Alliance with significant rewards and benefits. This would include a less corporate party conference and less interference in constituency selection meetings.

I intend to develop this idea on MajorityConservatism.com in coming days.

> The ninth part of this series will appear at 6.30pm: Media strategy.