ConHome admin

Tim Montgomerie writes:

Contractural obligations mean that Jonathan Isaby probably won't be joining ConHome until after the Tory Party Conference but his contributions will be well worth waiting for. I am really looking forward to working with him.

In the meantime I hope that ConHome will continue to offer the most comprehensive and independently-minded coverage of Tory politics. August is usually something of a slow month but I was delighted that the website won 200,000 more hits in August 2008 than August 2007 (660,905 hits compared to 462,302). CentreRight.com - the project that Sam and I launched in January - is now the second most popular page of ConservativeHome.  Earlier this month it overtook the ToryDiary and has stayed ahead.  Only the gateway page to the rest of the site - the frontpage - receives more visitors.

The two big casualties of the extended interregnum between Samuel Coates' departure and Jonathan's arrival are two new projects; the Wiki pages and conservativeinternational.com. But they'll take off once Jonathan is on board.  I'm optimistic that they'll both succeed.

Peter Franklin will soon be writing an extra Friday feature and sometime next week I'll be telling you more about this.  I'll also be able to introduce our new local government editor. Watch this space!

Comments

[Sally Roberts]

Welcome back Tim - hope you had a good hol!

[Henry Mayhew - 'kipper]

Ed,

It would be useful to me if you would confirm whether you are happy to have non-Tories participate on this site. After all, it is private property.

I have always claimed to outraged Tories, who make up the vast majority of posters, that this is a site for conservative news and thought, not just Conservative propaganda. I enjoy taking part, offering my opinions and comments on your stories for destruction, ridicule or praise. I should like to continue to do so.

[Sally Roberts]

Henry can I say as a loyal Tory -not an "outraged" one (at least only when provoked ;-)) that it is great fun having you around - especially with all your different "names"!

[Londoner]

I agree that from my viewpoint (but it's Tim's site!) there is no problem with non-Conservatives participating provided they do so in the spirit of genuine debate as Henry does. It is also quite useful for those with definite allegiances elsewhere to make clear those allegiances, as he (and indeed a few left wing participants like Passing Leftie and Comstock) does.

[Sally Roberts]

Londoner I totally agree with you and that of course raises again the thorny question of how it is regulated! Frankly I don't know the answer to it. The posters we have already mentioned have a sensible attitude to debate but certainly there are spates of idiotic trolling from time to time (last week for example!) and if anyone has some good ideas about how to deal with this now would be the time to give them to Tim I would have thought!

[Tim Montgomerie]

Non-Tories are very welcome Henry; I just prefer them to not pretend to be otherwise.

[Henry Mayhew - 'kipper]

Thank you for that clarification ed. I sometimes worry that writing ukip, kipper, or even emir al ukip after my name, might be taken by some to be advertising deviant beliefs for no purpose. Actually I am trying to say that I did not go to School and am not one of Us.

[Sally Roberts]

Henry you write pretty well for one who did not go to school! ;-)

[Malcolm Dunn]

Welcome back to sunny London Tim! Hope you had a wonderful holiday.
Don't believe a word Henry says Sally.He's pretty posh and I suspect expensively well educated. I made a vain attempt to cure him of his UKIP disease once over a fun lunch.

[Henry Mayhew - 'kipper]

Er..

'School' means Slough comp, Sally.

[Henry Mayhew - 'kipper]

Thank you for your earlier comments by the way.

[Sally Roberts]

Er yes thank you for clarifying that Henry - but I'd already guessed as much and was being as ironic as you... ;-)

[Sally Roberts]

"Don't believe a word Henry says Sally.He's pretty posh and I suspect expensively well educated. I made a vain attempt to cure him of his UKIP disease once over a fun lunch."

Thank you Malcolm - I suspect if he didn't attend Slough Comp he may well have done time at the Other Place (Churchill's Old School)

I bet the lunch was fun - I'd love to have been a fly on the wall!

[Comstock]

"Non-Tories are very welcome ..... I just prefer them to not pretend to be otherwise."

Thanks for the confirmation :)

I'm in a relaxed mood tonight (and NO it's not alcohol induced) but no doubt conflict as usual will resume soon....

regards

Comstock

[Peter Harrison]

The disappearance of the wiki over the last week or so is not down to Sam's departure. Our hosts got taken over and migrated the wiki to a new server. Unfortunately that caused a few problems. The good news is that they have now all been resolved so service as normal has resumed.

[Tim Montgomerie]

I'm not quite back in London yet. I get back on Sunday. I'm halfway home though. Left LA this morning and have got 24 hours in Washington to break up the journey. As an experiment I've added a "Tim Montgomerie's update" to the frontpage for those interested in what I'm doing!

[Norm Brainer]

"The disappearance of the wiki over the last week or so is not down to Sam's departure. Our hosts got taken over and migrated the wiki to a new server. Unfortunately that caused a few problems"

Down for a week or so? I think I'll avoid your host then! (and not just because it appears to be hosted at bluesquare)

[Norm Brainer]

As an experiment I've added a "Tim Montgomerie's update" to the frontpage for those interested in what I'm doing!

Can we all have updates? it'll be just like facebook.

'Norm Brainer is plotting, but if I told you what then I'd have to kill you.'