Theresa May – one of The Telegraph Ten - is not giving up in her battle for party democracy. She has written an uncompromising article for this week’s Spectator and three of the best sections are reprinted below:
The one member, one vote principle
”The current system for electing the Conservative party leader contains a powerful principle — one member, one vote. As people involved in democracy, you might think the principle would appeal to MPs. Sadly not. Instead, it is the view of the majority of Conservative MPs that they know best, and they would deny everyone but MPs any substantive say whatsoever in the election of our next leader.”
Grassroots party members are probably more representative than MPs
Our party members and councillors up and down the country are in touch on a day-to-day basis with the problems faced by voters. They are grappling with the problem of finding affordable childcare, with the impact of family breakdown, and with the pressures of caring. They are school governors and teachers, doctors and nurses, businessmen and women. They are increasingly diverse — young and old, and from all religions, ethnic groups, backgrounds and cultures. In short, they are more representative of our country today than our MPs are. Let’s recognise them and their experience and ensure they have a real voice in choosing the next leader.
If the present franchise is too narrow – let’s fix it by broadening it, not by old-style centralisation
”When I was party chairman, I introduced primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates. The idea is simple. Exposing leadership candidates to a process involving a wide cross-section of Conservative supporters would help expose the Conservative party and its potential leaders to a far wider range of views and issues. Adopting primaries would also be part of the process of accepting that the days of party mass membership have gone. Primaries would instead reflect the need to embrace and encourage the concept of registered supporters, in part by making it worthwhile for people to register their support in order to have a say in the future of the party.”
(The case for primaries was also made in ConservativeHome.com’s 44% Manifesto).
Editor’s comment: “Go Theresa, Go! Go! Go!”
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