Throughout today - every ninety minutes - ConservativeHome will be posting the answers that the five candidates for the Party Board gave to six questions posed by New Forest Councillor, Derek Tipp. I'm very grateful to Derek for taking this initiative and for suggesting that ConservativeHome publish the answers he received.
Derek is an ex-teacher and company director. He first joined the New Forest East constituency in 1998, became a district councillor in 1999, gaining the seat from the Lib Dems. He became a Branch chairman in 2000, and then an Association Officer. He has been Association chairman since 2003, and is now doing his fourth and final year.
The first of Derek's question refer to constituency autonomy:
Would you support the compulsory merging of constituencies into larger groupings under any circumstances, if so what are they?
[The candidates' answers are listed in alphabetical order - except those given by Emma Pidding. Emma's answers to some of the questions are particularly detailed and it seemed unfair to Toby Vintcent for his answers to always come after hers.]
Continue reading "Party board election: Constituency mergers " »
"The Board is the ultimate decision making body of the Conservative Party. It is responsible for all operational matters including; fundraising, membership and candidates. It is made up of representatives from each section of the Party - the voluntary, political and professional. It meets once a month and works closely with Conservative Central Office, elected representatives and the voluntary membership. The Board has a number of sub-committees, including membership, candidates and conferences."
That description of the Conservative Party Board appears on conservatives.com but there is nothing on the party's website about elections that are currently taking place to the Party Board. The Chairman and President's positions on the National Convention are unopposed but the places for three Vice Presidents are contested. Listed below are thumbnail profiles of the five candidates and, in the middle of the Jeremy Middleton profile, I've drawn attention to the fact that John Flack was an unambiguous clear supporter of last year's campaign to protect members' voting rights in the leadership election.
John Flack: "I am standing for election as one of the three Vice Presidents of the National Convention because I believe I offer a fresh approach and a fresh voice. I am a Campaigner at heart and want to help our Party Campaign more effectively. If elected my priorities as a member of the Party’s board will be:
Please also take a moment to look at my website. If you want to vote for change, if you want to vote for modern ideas with traditional values, if you want to vote to make campaigning a priority please give me one of your three votes."
Jeremy Middleton has not submitted a paragraph but has sent a pdf of his campaign messages. This highlights his support for abolishing the distinction between central and national members, the delivery of the blue chip replacement and the importance of local candidates. Jeremy, as a sitting member of the board, also responded directly to my question about membership participation in last year's leadership election (and in future leadership elections):
"I supported the board propsals last year. However the election process. turned out to be open, positive and exciting. It worked for us then and I therefore think we should stick with our current system. All methods of electing a leader carry risks but it would now take a lot to convince me to change it."
We also know that John Flack actively opposed last year's attempt to take the vote away from members and we know that Toby Vincent supported a reversal of the existing process whereby party members would reduce the slate of available leadership candidates to two and then MPs would decide between the two. This was first proposed by William Hague. I have not yet received anything from Simon Mort or Emma Pidding on where they stand on members' voting rights in the leadership election.
Simon Mort (the second sitting Board member): "You have asked me for a paragraph on why I should be re-elected... In a nutshell I have started, so please let me finish. I was elected by the voluntary party at Harrogate in March 2004. It was a high which exceeded even success in a parliamentary selection. I very much hope that I have never forgotten that the Voluntary Party gave me these responsibilities and they are my constituency. The glorious idiosyncrasies and differences between all parts of the country are reflected in our associations. These have to inform in party organisational structures, choice of candidate and every other respect of our political lives . My slogan for this campaign is Voluntary Party First Among Equals." Simon Mort's page on conservatives.com.
Emma Pidding: 'These are important elections at a time of change for our Party and it is vital that we have the strongest grass roots representation on the Board. You and I, the voluntary workers - the bedrock of our Party organisation - must ensure that our voices are heard and heeded. I believe that my experience and sound understanding of the voluntary party equip me to communicate our views with force and clarity. My belief is based on the experience I have gained in 20 years of working at most levels within the voluntary organisation. I am confident that I have the energy and determination to represent you on the Board, and to make our influence count. My objective is clear – not to pursue a Parliamentary career but to contribute with optimal effect at voluntary level. For more details on what I will work to achieve if elected, please take a look at my attached campaign message.'
Toby Vintcent - "founder of Geneva" (the CCHQ call centre) - submitted his campaign CV
and a pdf of endorsements. One endorsement came from Rt Hon Michael Ancram MP: “I am happy to support Toby as I have long admired his contribution to the work of the Party. He has a natural feel for politics and great organisational skills and he would bring valuable campaigning experience to the Board at this crucial time.” Charles Tannock MEP said: "I have known Toby Vintcent for eight years when he skilfully chaired the London Region during my successful campaign for the European Parliament in 1999. He is charming, eloquent and of great integrity and has the required modern vision for our Conservative Party. I believe he will bring great value-added to the Conservative Party Board.”
Ballot papers for this election were mailed out in the last few days. About 900 local association chairmen plus regional and area officers are entitled to vote. You must contact them as soon as possible if you want your voice to be heard in this election.
We already knew that a debt-laden Labour Party was having to sell property to meet its financial commitments... Today's Telegraph Spy (not online but see right) suggests that the debt-laden Tories are also juggling the party's property portfolio to deal with the party's own financial difficulties.
David Cameron is still having to cope with the financial hangover from last year's General Election and although membership has risen since he became leader there has not been a spectacular inflow of big money. The current loans-for-peerages row is not going to make it more likely that big donors will open up their cheque books.
The party's current enthusiasm for additional state funding undoubtedly reflects this. Accessing more money from the taxpayer seems an awful lot easier than building the sort of internet coalitions that could transform the funding of Britain's political parties - and, at the same time, force them to reconnect with the concerns of ordinary voters.
As I write countless Conservative volunteers are distributing 200,000 'Cameron's Conservatives - Everyone's Invited' newspapers at tube and train stations around the country. Some were distributed last night in an operation organised by the Cameron Campaign.
The newspaper reprises Mr Cameron's main themes - change, hope and optimism are words that stand out on the frontpage of the handout. Inside the newspaper there are big articles on climate change, his national school leaver programme, fighting crime and helping vulnerable people.
The newspaper spells out six characteristics of his 'modern, compassionate conservatism':
Also being distributed last night were a million letters to people who have previously pledged to vote Tory or who have been identified by the Voter Vault system. This is part of a massive effort by the Cameron team to capitalise on today's positive headlines and recruit tens of thousands of new members and supporters.
Recent Comments