ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

CSJ launches new policy groups

Iain Duncan Smith launched a new raft of policy groups yesterday, building on the foundations of BreakdownBritain and BreakthroughBritain:

• Martin Howe QC will lead a group looking into Courts and Sentencing - how to restore faith in the sentencing process and strengthen the link in criminals' minds between crime and punishment.
• The Prison Reform group, headed up by Jonathan Aitken (pictured with CSJ Director Philippa Stroud), will be looking particularly at over-crowding and tackling recidivism rates through more effective rehabilitation.
• Crime affects the poor the most, the Policing group will look at how Police Officers can do their job more effectively.
• Vice-Chairman of Voluntary Youth Services Simon Antrobus will look at Youth & Gang Crime - how to get young kids off the conveyor belt to it, and how to help those already in the criminal justice system.
• Dr Stephen Brien will chair the Economic Dependency group looking at how the benefits system can do more to incentives working, without penalising those who genuinely can't.
• Housing will also be covered, Kate Davies and her team will look into the problems such as social housing reinforcing dependency, and over one million houses being unfit for human habitation.
• The Asylum group chaired by Julian Prior will, making the distinction with economic migrants, will assess the current situation in which a majority of asylum seekers can't work, claim benefits or even volunteer.
• Looked-after children, i.e. children in state care, have amazingly dismal prospects in life - Ryan Robson will chair a group assessing how the system can be improved, and how sending children to care can be avoided.
• Dr Samantha Callan will chair the Family Law Commission reviewing recent developments in family law and the Early Years Commission examining effective ways of intervening

The launch was in the Salmon Youth Centre in Bethnal Green and was attended by many people from small charities in London. As usual for a CSJ event, rather than hearing from politicians we heard from people on the ground, including a moving poem recital by a young girl about a young black lad who was shot in his bed recently.

There was a lot of talk, rightfully, about young people needing love, role models, stability etc, sitting alongside talk of the more distinctly conservative approaches of empowering society rather than the state, helping people to help themselves, and supporting risk-takers.

Deputy Editor

Tax cuts please

The TaxPayers'Alliance and Isitfair organised an eye-catching joint campaign today, involving a crowd of placard-waving supporters handing thousands of council tax forms, accompanied by letters, to 10 Downing Street and the Treasury. For so many people to send their forms in shows the huge strength of feeling on Council Tax. Each one will have to be responded to individually.

Blair Gibbs, the TPA's Campaign Director, describes what happened:

"The TaxPayers’ Alliance, along with Isitfair, today handed in the petition from their ‘Brown Envelope Campaign’ at 11 Downing Street and the Treasury.  Thousands of taxpayers from across the country took part in the campaign in protest at ever increasing council tax, a tax that has increased by 91% under Labour, by sending a photocopy of their latest inflation-busting council tax bill along with a letter of protest to the TPA offices.  Sky News, press photographers and the BBC covered our march from our offices at 43 Old Queen Street to Downing Street and then on to the Treasury to deliver the bundles of brown envelopes.

Holding placards made by the TPA team, we received a good reception from cab drivers, bus passengers and even a Treasury security guard.  One socialist decided to have a pop, but seeing as he was the only one among hundreds we passed who was in favour of high taxes and keeping our pensioners in miserable poverty, we know the British people are on our side in the fight against high taxes.  And the fight goes on…"

ConservativeHome took part in the protest and made this short video of it:

Deputy Editor

Roger Helmer appointed new Chairman of TFA

At a meeting of The Freedom Association's Council on St George's Day, Roger Helmer MEP was unanimously elected the new Honorary Chairman of TFA. He succeeds Christopher Gill, former MP for Ludlow, who has now taken on the role of TFA President. Lord Tebbit recently became one of its patrons.

TFA is a multi-issue pressure group, and its campaigns include the Better Off Out campaign against the EU, opposing ID cards, political correctness and the nanny state. Roger said of his appointment:

"It is a huge honour to become the Honorary Chairman of an organisation with such campaigning pedigree that stands for Jeffersonian principles, such as individual liberty, personal responsibility, the free market, strong national defence, low taxation and the small state. It was to support precisely these principles that I got involved in politics, and I look forward greatly to working with The Freedom Association to further promote these ideals."

His recent activities include organising a Counter-Consensual Climate Change Conference and doing a podcast on marriage.

Deputy Editor

And the winners were...

ConservativeHome held its first movement awards last night and a full list of winners are pasted at the bottom of this post.  Pictured is George Osborne MP receiving the award for 'Best Campaign' from Stephan Shakespeare of YouGov and yesterday's 'master of ceremonies'.  If you weren't there last night you can watch the whole awards ceremony at 7pm tonight on 18 Doughty Street Talk TV.

More than 2,000 members of the ConservativeHome Members' Panel voted for last night's award winners.  The fact that David Cameron won the Environmental Champion Award - rather than climate change sceptics Ruth Lea and Bjorn Lomborg - only goes to prove that I didn't manipulate the voting!  Even I have to admit, however, that David Cameron's success at putting green causes at the top of the national agenda is an enormous tribute to the Tory leader's political skills.  David Cameron's video message to last night's event will be posted here later today and you can hear him describe ConservativeHome as "infuriating" but "good value"!

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne gave the main speech of the evening after collecting the 'Best Campaign' award for his chairmanship of the Cameron leadership bid.  George used his remarks to announce that the Conservative Party is launching a major initiative to increase transparency of government spending.  See the Follow Your Money website here and, later today, there'll be more about this initiative on ToryDiary.  George paid tribute to ConservativeHome as a powerful voice in the Conservative Party and a sign of healthy internal democracy.

George faced calls for lower taxes from a number of presenters and award winners.  Fraser Nelson of The Spectator (who presented The Taxpayers' Alliance with its highly deserved 'One To Watch' award) and Jonathan Isaby (who presented Wandsworth's Russell King with the 'TaxCutter' award - read his acceptance speech here) both looked pointedly at the Shadow Chancellor when they spoke about the importance of lower taxation for economic prosperity.  The Shadow Chancellor faced a different kind of pressure at the end of the evening when Iain Duncan Smith called for the Tories to put Britain's overstretched military at the front of the spending queue.

After last night's success the aim is to make the ConservativeHome Awards an annual affair and make next year's event a much bigger deal.  That will mean more notice than three weeks (!), proper sponsorship and an attendance of hundreds.  The aim is to make it an annual showcase for the best thinking and activity within the broad conservative family.  Next year we'll probably aim to see a few more grassroots Tories and organisations win some deserved recognition.

Tomorrow's ConservativeHome Awards

If you have booked your tickets for tomorrow's ConservativeHome Awards Evening you should have received details by now.  If not please email here.  For those not able to be with us - the whole event will be broadcast on 18 Doughty Street Talk TV on Tuesday evening and BBC2's Newsnight will also be there for a package they are preparing on the centre-right's use of new media.

ConservativeHome Awards ceremony, 6pm, 13th November

At 6pm until 7.30pm on Monday 13th November - in central London - ConservativeHome.com will host the first Conservative Movement Awards ceremony to recognise individuals and groups that are advancing small 'c' conservative ideas.

All of the shortlisted nominees are listed at the bottom of this post and winners were chosen by 'voters' in the ConservativeHome Members' Panel.

George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor, will address the ceremony and will speak about the value of groups beyond the Tory party campaigning for conservative ideas.

To reserve your place you need to make a £10 payment via the PayPal button below.  Alternatively please send a £10 cheque made payable to 'ConservativeHome.com' to ConservativeHome, 18 Doughty Street, London WC1N.

After the awards ceremony Tim Montgomerie and Sam Coates of the ConservativeHome team will be hosting a reception and will present a ten minute guide to ConservativeHome's next steps.

New campaign groups fill vacuum left by Tories

If the Tories won't talk about immigration at least we have MigrationWatch... if the Tories are afraid of making the case for lower taxation at least we have The TaxPayers' Alliance... and now, with David Cameron reluctant to even mention Europe in his address to Party Conference, we have the launch of a £10m campaign to put  Britain's relationship with the EU back at the centre of national debate.

The Speak Out campaign will - says The Daily Telegraph - launch next Monday with a series of newspaper advertisements.  The campaign will seek a referendum on repatriating seven sets of powers transferred to Brussels.  The campaign is the brainchild of Yorkshire businessman Paul Sykes - who used to bankroll UKIP.  Mr Sykes told The Telegraph:

"Our MPs have betrayed us. They have given away powers that were not theirs to give," say the advertisements. More than half our laws — some people say as much as 80 per cent — originate not in the debating chambers of our elected Parliament but behind closed doors in Brussels... This is an outbreak of the truth. Every man, woman and child will get to know what our relationship with the EU is."

ConservativeHome.com believes that small 'c' conservatives have relied too heavily on the Conservative Party for the advancement of their beliefs.  The emergence of stronger and stronger campaigning groups like the Centre for Social Justice and Direct Democracy - which have longer time horizons than the need to win the next General Election - is good news.  The Tories should only be seen as the political arm of a wider conservative movement that is engaged in a long-term reshaping of public attitudes.   Conservative business people have put too big a share of their money into the Tory Party.  Investment in the success of these wider movement groups can only be in the long-term interests of big and little 'c' conservatism.

Related link: Ed Vaizey MP reacts to this post.

ASDA adopts Conservative fishing policy (as Tories abandon it)

Earlier today I posted on how the TaxPayers' Alliance might be needed to fill the vacuum created by the Tories' reluctance to advocate economy-boosting cuts in taxation.

It seems we might also have to rely upon the supermarket ASDA to make the case for the end of the EU's environmentally-disastrous Common Fisheries Policy.  ASDA wants the North Sea to be declared a Marine Conversation Zone - only open to local fishermen "who depend on it for their sole income and who use recognised sustainable fishing practices".  Gordon Maddan, regulatory affairs manager at ASDA has issued a press release stating the following:

"We want all the fish we sell to be sustainable. It's very clear however that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed to deliver this so we are now supporting calls for a radical change in approach." 

It was disappointing to hear a Scottish Tory MEP - Struan Stevenson - appear on this morning's Today programme to distance himself from the ASDA statement.

What is not a bad thing, however, is if conservative or/ and anti-establishment causes are taken up by groups outside of the Tory Party.  It is probably true that small 'c' 'conservatives' have long expected the big 'C' Conservative Party to do far too much of the 'persuading work'.  We are all more likely to achieve a long-term change in British public attitudes if the 'persuading work' is shared amongst a number of grassroots groups who have a long-term mission and are unconstrained by the short-term need to win the next election.  The TPA, MigrationWatch, Business for Sterling are just some of the more successful campaigning organisations I have in mind.  It will be good if they are occasionally joined by enlightened businesses like ASDA on specific campaigns.  They can help to shift public opinion... and clear the way for a more conservative Conservative Party...

Related link: EU Referendum blog discusses the ASDA statement and Ten point briefing on Britain's conservative movement.

The advocacy revolution

Commenting on the recent poll about public appetite for tax cuts, James Harkin in today's Guardian remarks:

"But only in the small print was it pointed out that the poll was carried out on behalf of an obscure organisation called the Taxpayers Alliance. On its garishly old-fashioned website, the Taxpayers Alliance boasts 5,000 supporters, but as you can register your support simply by sending an email address - as I did, just for the hell of it - it hardly amounts to a revolution."

He goes on to decry the shift in influence from voluntary associations to professional advocacy groups. It's odd that he decided to single the TPA out for criticism though, it's hardly an elite lobbying organisation pushing the interests of a minority.

"Some argue the grassroots politics that were trampled by insiderism and professionalism can be refurbished with new social movements based on the web - the so-called net roots."

And they would be right.

Deputy Editor

Is Britain about to get US-style political advertising?

An interesting story in today's Guardian suggests that Animal Defenders International may be successful in overturning a broadcast ban on advertising by campaigning organisations like the Taxpayers' Alliance and the hoped-for campaign against state funding of political parties:

"ADI, a peaceful animal rights campaign group, was told it could not advertise on TV against the use of primates by commercial companies for advertising and in zoos. If the high court declares that the ban is incompatible with article 10 [of the ECHR] it would force the government to change the law sooner or later, though ministers could delay taking action and wait for ADI to take the case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.  The Strasbourg court is almost certain to agree that the ban should be lifted because it has already declared a similar proscription in Switzerland a breach of article 10 in a case brought by an animal rights group. Campaigning organisations can now advertise freely in most other European and Commonwealth countries."

The Taxpayers' Alliance has already welcomed the possibility:

"The TPA fully supports lifting the ban. It will allow us to finally seriously break the dominance the BBC exercises over people's view on politics and it will massively increase our ability to educate the public on the real benefits of lower taxation and constitutional reform. We would be able to develop a campaign to break the consensus which currently exists on tax and spend. Instead of hoping that BBC correspondents pick up on what we're saying, or hoping that we get our message across through the various nespapers and blogs, we would be able to run 30 second ads during Coronation Street and Emmerdale."

Opponents of such advertising worry that it could empower 'big money' with powerful business lobbies funding advertising front groups.  They also worry that we will see the kind of negative advertising that has come to dominate American politics.  The Willie Horton and Swift Boat Veteran advertisements are probably in their minds.  Whatever the decision the stranglehold of the BBC and other old media giants is coming to an end.   Even if ADI fail to win their case the technological merger of TV and internet over the next few years will eliminate the barriers that prevent campaigns from addressing mass and targeted audiences.

Second front now

One of the running debates on ConservativeHome has been the tension between image and policy.  Some say the first priority is to rebuild trust in the Conservative Party, and that it would be wrong to make too many commitments too early; others are impatient for red meat and claim that it is never too early to start winning the argument.  Probably, you have to do both (see for example "The Way Ahead (and Why)".

 

The pause for reflection while the Policy Groups compile their recommendations has created a space for free enterprise: campaigning groups have the opportunity to set out their stalls and make a case for what they believe and open a "Second Front" against the Blair Regime and all its works. 

 

This is beneficial tactically for the Conservative Party, in that it effectively outsources their message-testing to out-rider organisations and buys breathing-space for the critical Change-to-Win agenda.  When the point in the manifesto cycle has been reached where a successful idea can be adopted formally, the chances are that a lot of the preliminary spadework will have undertaken already.  If an idea doesn't take light, then it can be buried quietly without too much damage.

 

There are, of course, a host of anti-EU groups and websites, and the Right Links site has acted as a clearing house for bloggers, for example on the campaign against the Legislative & Regulatory Reform Bill.

 

However, up to now most of the running in this area has been made by the TaxPayer's Alliance.  In a few short months they have assembled an impressive membership of several thousand (and an even more impressive income stream of donations) and have carved a distinct niche for themselves making an aggressive case for lower taxation from a non-party, not to say anti-politician, standpoint.  A useful marker of success is that the mainstream press have started to take quotes from Matthew Elliott, the TPA's Chief Executive, on stories originating from other organisations.

Nominations for Compassionate Conservative

In the final request for nominations for the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards we ask you to identify an individual, organisation or idea that best embodies a conservative understanding of social justice.

Inspect the full list of nominations through this index.

Nominations for Patriot

Patriotism, literally, means ‘love of ‘father’-land’.  This eleventh award of the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards seeks to award a conservative who has acted upon their love of country in a significant way.  Your nominations and citations are sought for someone who understands the first duty of government to defend the realm, to stand up for the unity of the kingdom or believes that too many powers have been surrendered to supranational bureaucracies.  This award might be, for example, suitable for a regular author, a blogger, a campaigner or a parliamentarian.

Tomorrow we'll be opening nominations for the compassionate conservative award.

Nominations for Environmental Champion

Today is day ten of the nominations process and this tenth award - for an environmental champion within the conservative movement - illustrates the evolving priorities of the party and movement.  Yesterday we sought nominations for a taxcutter.  Tomorrow it will be for a patriot and on Friday it'll be our compassionate conservatism award.

This award could recognise a politician who has championed the environment...or a local council... or a green-minded think tank.

When you make your nomination please remember to add a citation of not more than thirty words explaining your suggestion.

Nominations for Taxcutter

Today we begin seeking nominations for the final third of the twelve Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards and if Hollywood has its 'message movies' these are our 'message awards'.

Tomorrow we'll be seeking nominations for outstanding contribution to the environment, then patriot of the year and then social justice.  Taken with today's Taxcutter award the four categories neatly underline the 'politics of and'.

Targeted tax relief is a key belief of ConservativeHome.  Low tax economies tend to be high growth economies.  It is morally right that people are rewarded for hard work and initiative by keeping a lion's share of their earnings.  And, as this incompetent Labour administration has shown, governments do not take good care of taxpayers' money.

In this awards category we are looking for political or thought leaders who make the moral, intellectual and practical case for lower taxation.  We are also open to awarding Conservative or other councils who have limited the tax burden on local people.  Your nominations and citations should be posted on the thread below please.

Nominations for Contribution to Culture

In the 1960s American conservatives decided to become dominant in politics.  At the same time the American left decided to become dominant in culture.  Both achieved their aims.  American conservatives currently have a majority in both Houses of Congress and they have the Presidency.  They almost have a majority on the Supreme Court following the recent appointments of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito.  But the left are dominant in culture.  Hollywood, for example, provides the political left with an MGM lion's share of its funds.  Tinseltown is no longer home to the likes of Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan.

As Britain's conservative movement develops we cannot afford to win the battle for Westminster but lose the battle of the playhouses, cinemas and television screens.  This award is one of the most important.  It is a reminder that conservatism must not become too political.  Who deserves to be recognised for a conservative contribution to culture?

• A blogging critic of the BBC?
• Michael Gove for his contributions to Newsnight's Late Review?
• Tim Sainsbury for his sponsorship of Christian art?

What do you think?

Nominations for New Technology

Category seven in the Conservative Movement Awards concerns use of technology...

...a good blog or podcast...
...a successful viral email campaign...
...a standout website...
...advanced search engine management...

Tomorrow nominations will open for the 'Contribution to Culture' award.

Nominations for Unlikely Ally

This sixth category in ConservativeHome's inaugural awards programme is for an 'Unlikely Ally'.

Through this award we are looking to recognise someone or some organisation who is not associated with the conservative movement (and may not want to be!) but has made a positive contribution to the idea of the family, smaller government, the nation state or some other principle dear to conservatives.

Charles Clarke, Patricia Hewitt and John Prescott have, of course, given generously to the cause of Conservatism in recent days but we are not thinking of awarding them.  We are looking to make a positive award...

Nominations for One-To-Watch

Today is the fifth day of the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards and nominations are sought for an awards category suggested by Matthew Sinclair - One-To-Watch.

We're not looking in this category for the best writer or best parliamentarian or best blogger but an individual or group or idea that could be influential in the coming months or year.

Yesterday we sought nominations for 'Local Hero' and weren't exactly overwhelmed with suggestions... That category and all categories are open until 10th May if inspiration strikes you!

Tomorrow - Saturday - nominations will open for Peter Franklin's 'Unlikely Ally' category...

Nominations for Local Hero

Your nominations and citations are sought for the 'Local Hero' award of the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  This award seeks to award someone who has championed the 'small is beautiful' tradition within conservatism.  It might be an outstanding local councillor or council.  It might be a local campaigner who has taken on overmighty bureaucracy.  It might be someone or some group that has championed localisation.  Please submit your ideas on the comments thread below.

Yesterday we sought nominations for 'National Campaign'.  Tomorrow we'll be focusing on 'One To Watch'.

Nominations for National Campaign

Today is the third day of nominations for the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  On Monday we sought nominations for 'Best Writing' and yesterday for an 'Outstanding Parliamentarian'.  All nomination categories will remain open until 10th May.

Please use the space below to make your nomination and write a brief citation of no more than thirty words on who you think should win the Best National Campaign Award.  The campaign could be ongoing effort or could already have achieved success.  This award aims to recognise those in the conservative movement who realise that publishing a worthy pamphlet does not amount to a serious engagement with public opinion.  This award aims to encourage those individuals, organisations or media outlets that have attempted to achieve a sustainable change in public opinion or public policy.

Tomorrow we'll seek nominations for the 'Local Hero Award'.

Nominations for Outstanding Parliamentarian

Today is the second day of nominations for the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  The conservative movement is defined in a new briefing on the ten points blog.  Yesterday we sought nominations for 'Best Writing' and all nomination categories will remain open until 10th May.  We'll be seeking nominations for Best National Campaign tomorrow.

Please use the space below to make your nomination and write a brief citation of no more than thirty words on who you think should win the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.  The parliamentarian could be a member of the Commons, Lords, European Parliament or any of the devolved assemblies.  Ideally they will have made an exceptional contribution in the last twelve months.

A judging panel (to be announced) will then choose three nominations from each of the twelve categories and participants in May's ConservativeHome Members' Panel will vote on each category.  The awards will be presented at a forthcoming awards ceremony in London.

Nominations for Best Writing

Over the next twelve days ConservativeHome will be seeking your nominations and citations for twelve award categories.  These categories (listed yesterday) are part of the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  The conservative movement is defined in a new briefing on the ten points blog.

The award nominations open today with a search for the Best Writer.  We'll be seeking nominations for Outstanding Parliamentarian tomorrow.

Please use the space below to make your nomination and write a brief citation of no more than thirty words on who you think should win the best writing award.  It might be a columnist, an author, a speechwriter or even a blog which hosts a group of writers.

ConservativeHome is barred from being nominated for any of its own awards so the example below illustrates what we are seeking in the thread below...

Nomination: ConservativeHome.com

Citation: For providing an insightful daily commentary on the Conservative Party's personalities, tactics and strategy and for reminding conservatives that conservatism is bigger than the Tory party.

A judging panel (to be announced) will then choose three nominations from each of the twelve categories and participants in May's ConservativeHome Members' Panel will vote on each category.  The awards will be presented at an awards ceremony in London, in June.

Awards categories for the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards

Starting tomorrow - with the Best Writer of the Year award category - ConservativeHome will be seeking your nominations for the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  After much discussion on this blog (here and here) there will be twelve award categories for readers to decide...

1. Best Writer
2. Outstanding Parliamentarian
3. National Campaign
4. Local Heroism
5. One-To-Watch
6. Unlikely Ally
7. New Technology
8. Contribution to Culture
9. Taxcutter
10. Environmental
11. Patriot
12. Compassionate Conservative

In addition the Editor of ConservativeHome will award an international conservative and a lifetime achiever.

Categories for the Conservative Movement Awards (Draft 2)

Thanks for all of yesterday's comments about ConservativeHome's Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards.  Listed below are my revised suggestions for the Award categories:

'Local Hero Award' - I think we should stick with this category.  Although it might be used to recognise a good Tory councillor - as first suggested by Richard Bailey - there should be room to nominate an excellent, non-partisan local campaigner or a more independent organisation.

'Blogger Award' - we'll keep this award, too, as the whole idea of insurgent blogging is close to ConservativeHome's heart!

'Use Of New Technology Award' - this could cover a clever viral email campaign or an innovative website.  Thank you, Jules, for underlining the importance of this type of award.

'Best Writing Award' - this, as widely suggested by Andrew Woodman and others, merges my initial suggestion of separate awards for a columnist and author.

'Unlikely Ally Award' - I don't think the name of this is quite right but I like Peter Franklin's idea that we should reward people who are clearly outside of the big 'C' Conservative fold.

'Cultural Award' - the title of this one isn't quite right either but Stephen B's suggestion of a cultural focus is important.  ConservativeHomers' interest in movies etc was illustrated in a recent thread on right-wing plays.  This Award replaces the more bland idea of a 'broadcast category'.

'Lifetime Achievement Award' - Thank you, Geoff, for that one.  This category, Carolyn, might provide the opportunity to reward those "unsung heroes" who have given much of their lives to causes like the Conservative Party.  This will neatly balance the 'One To Watch Award'.  This partly reflects Matthew Sinclair's observation that newstart blogs should, perhaps, be awarded separately from established blogs that might attract more votes.  A 'One To Watch' category would cover more possibilities than blogs, however.

The 'Wooden Spoon' award has been dropped by popular demand!  The international award will also go as we're in danger of too many awards and it would be perfectly possible for an international group or person to win under one of the general categories.  I liked the idea of rewarding "Conversions", "Boomerangs", "Blue Sky Thinking", "Tax-Cutting" or "Courage Under Fire" but the awards ceremony can't go on all night!  We'll keep my initial ideas of awards for 'Campaigner of the Year' and 'Parliamentarian of the Year' - which take the total number of awards to ten - unless you use this thread to persuade me otherwise...