ConservativeHome to provide alternative coverage of Party Conference

This morning's Telegraph reveals a number of 'eye-catching initiatives' that CCHQ hopes will liven up this year's Party Conference.  They include a suggest-a-policy feature that will be vetted by a panel modelled on the successful Dragon's Den television programme.  The conference theme will be A New Direction - the same headline chosen by US Democrats for their campaign to end the Republicans' Congressional majority.

ConservativeHome is also preparing to make a big impact at the Bournemouth Conference.  Those who attend the annual conference often complain that the journalists don't appear to have been at the same conference given what they tend to write.  This year ConservativeHome is recruiting a team of activist Tories to produce alternative coverage of the Tory conference - more comprehensive than any national newspaper.

Our reporting team already includes:

• MPs Theresa May and Douglas Carswell.  Theresa will provide a daily view from the shadow cabinet and Douglas will report on the extent to which the Conference is following Direct Democracy's localisation agenda.
• Wat Tyler will be Conservative Home's Tax and Economy Correspondent, Simon Chapman our Foreign Affairs Correspondent and James Cleverly will be Home Affairs Correspondent.
• Other top reporters include Louise Bagshawe (Education), Nick Cuff (Local Government), Andrea Leadsom (Health), Ben Rogers (Environment) and Cameron Watt (Social Justice).
• There will be two nightlife reporters touring the hotel bars with a digital camera and notebook.
• We'll also have a team of armchair reporters who - back at home - will be watching the BBC's coverage of Conference and reporting on its strengths and biases.

This is a big exercise in 'citizen journalism' and all ideas on how we can best deliver this coverage would be warmly received.  ConservativeHome is also seeking a sponsor for this coverage.  If you are interested please email [email protected] and your organisation's name could be seen by the thousands of Tory activists, journalists and opinion-formers who read ConservativeHome everyday.

Comments

[Alexander Drake]

Good grief, it's almost 9am and there isn't a single poster frothing at the mouth yet at the very mention of Theresa May's name...it seems the usual suspects are slow off the mark today! Very surprising.

[Alexander Drake]

From memory that bar at the Highcliff can get a bit untidy around 3am too, so those roving nightime reporters may not be the most popular people in the world...

[Prodicus]

Who's on Monbiot-watch?

[Guido Fawkes]

NIGHTLIFE CORRESPONDENT!

I was born for that job!

[Andrew Woodman]

Are you coming to Bournemouth then Guido?

[Guido Fawkes]

Well the press office seems to be a bit wary despite Francis Maude inviting me to come.

It is possible that I'll be covering it for a TV company, it is also possible I'll be covering it from in front of the TV.

[Alexander Drake]

But Guido how will you be able to give us your Totty Reports if you're not there?

[Andrew Woodman]

Perhaps we need a totty correspondent. I'll volunteer for that!

[Donal Blaney]

I think this is an excellent initiative.

The mainstream media only focus on the issues that matter to them (or which are spun to them by a party's leadership) and it is important that events such as party conferences and other political gatherings are covered in a way that fosters debate, encourages thought and develops real policies.

I am not able to go to conference this year, I am tired of watching another turgid interview by Andrew Neil or AN Other where they throw easy questions at activists who are falling over themselves to ingratiate themselves with the leadership of the day or the anti-faction (and I say that as someone who has been interviewed as both a pro and anti in my time!).

Behind the scenes coverage and comments from real Party activists in this way will only be a good thing. Hopefully lots of ConservativeHomies will embrace this with enthusiasm.

[The UK Daily Pundit]

Apparently the panel modelled on the successful Dragon's Den television programme is to include Oliver Letwin and former Tory MP, Michael Brown.
It's more likely to resemble 'Mr & Mrs' than the Dragon's Den.

[Chris Palmer]

Will this involve video camera (ie, moving footage) or just still shots?

[Chad]

"Perhaps we need a totty correspondent."

"Will this involve video camera (ie, moving footage) or just still shots?"

Wow. This should be interesting.

[Oberon Houston]

I'll be there from Monday if you need any help Tim.

[Oberon Houston]

btw Tim, are you going to havea stand or anything?

[michael]

With all these new ideas, I think this is going to turn out to be the best party conference that we have had for along time, and a lot of the credit has to go to the bloggers like Tim, Iain and Guido, who have dedicated a lot of there time, setting up ways party members and supporters can interact and debate with each other. It seems that our party is really trying to engaging with people using new methods and technology that other parties have thus far failed to do, lets hope it continues. In other news, anyone seen what is thought to be our new logo, on Iain’s blog, I have to say it looks terrible lol!

[Alison Anne Smith]

"Perhaps we need a totty correspondent. I'll volunteer for that!"

Andrew,I hope this is male totty ?

Don't let Teresa May do an "Ascot" style fashion watch, not with those shoes.

[Andrew Woodman]

I was thinking of female totty Alison but I don't see why there shouldn't be a male totty correspondent as well. We don't want to be sexist.

[Oberon Houston]

Alisn...not with those shoes... or collars.

Blimey, sometimes she looks like she's just walked off the bridge of Starship Enterprise.

[malcolm]

Very sadly I can't go to the conference this year.I'm available as 'armchair reporter' if you want.

[MH]

A great move by CH. Sadly, the conference feels like a trendy Gepgraphy teacher desperately trying to be cool. As per usual, the rest of the UK population will continue to ignore the Conservative Party as previously.

[Oberon Houston]

What happened to the two x weekend conferences a year idea muted last year so the working folks and more younger members could attend? Has that idea been dropped?

I like seeing the oldies there - bless them - but its a bit embarrassing when the first ten rows on the 6-o-clock news have 1000 over 80s in them.

[Patsy Sergeant]

Oberon I am sure the 'oldies' produce a good number of votes. I wonder whether it is not about time that 'younger members' and oldies are not 'persuaded' to actually mix for a particular occasion. Everything always seems to be geared up to try to 'lure' youth to be involved (think of the BBC), half the time it doesn't work, except for p.....g off older people and making them feel unwanted. If the two groups had to mix for something that was unfamiliar to both and there was a good MC, BOTH sides might learn something about the other!

However I shall be going, for the first time ever, and Annabel will be too, but not for the first time, so if nothing else it will be interesting!!!

[tapestry]

The media will not be able to 'rig' the reporting so easily with CH watching their every move. If there had been a bloggersphere in 2003, maybe IDS would have survived, and reporting of him and Letwyn would not have been so brutally biassed.

The public might reengage if CH home-made reporting gets a big enough audience.

[Oberon Houston]

Good to hear your going Patsy, look forward to meeting you and the other CH regulars.

[John Moss]

The importance of "totty" should not be underestimated.

I am told by a very reliable source that the BBC political correspondents decided Labour were going to win in 1997 when, during the 1993 conference season the "totty count" at the Labour Conference was higher than that at the Conservative Conference. It will be interesting to see how this year works out.

What is not known, is whether that was male of female totty, but in the spirit of diversity and inclusivity, we realy need five "totty correspondents" covering, straight male, straight female, gay male and gay female and of course bi-sexual totty.

[Monday Clubber]

Good grief, it's almost 9am and there isn't a single poster frothing at the mouth yet at the very mention of Theresa May's name

Theresa who?

There is no substitute for party democracy (what there ever was of it). Motions selected by the members are what we need, not all this froth.

What next? Some nonsense inspired by "Big Brother"

BTW, what has happened to my old friend Eric Chalker and his grassroots democracy movement? Do they ever post here or have they folded their tents and silently stolen away.

Democracy seems to have few friends in today's contro-freak orientated party.