toryleadership

Theresa May declares for David Cameron

We had confirmation yesterday that Cornerstone would not be fielding a leadership candidate and I've just heard Theresa May announce her backing for David Cameron (on the Today programme).  This means - almost certainly - that there will be just four riders in the race to succeed Michael Howard: David Cameron, Ken Clarke, David Davis and Dr Liam Fox.

A leadership bid from Theresa May had always looked unlikely but in her passionate defence of members' voting rights Mrs May has already played an important role in this election process - one which earned her many new admirers.

Has David Davis driven the final nail into the coffin of Michael Howard's reforms?

It's taken longer than some of us would have hoped but frontrunning David Davis has publicly declared himself opposed to Michael Howard's rollback of one-member-one-vote democracy (see conservativehome's ten point briefing for background on this 'rollback').  Speaking on this morning's Today programme Mr Davis said that he personally preferred a proposal originally put forward by William Hague.  I described Mr Hague's proposal in the following terms at the time:

"Mr Hague recommends what is essentially a reversal of the current leadership process. Currently MPs thin the field of candidates and present two candidates for the party in the country to choose between. Mr Hague suggests that candidates for the leadership could be required to receive endorsements from a critical number of constituency associations before MPs have the final say on who should lead the Conservative Party."

Unlike the Howard-Maude-Monbiot (HMM) reforms members would retain a real vote in the Hague proposal.  It is a retreat from the current procedure but probably acceptable to most members.  In light of Mr Davis' intervention I've decided to scrap the 'Wanted for party democracy fight' poster I issued last week.   David Cameron has not said anything about the process since Liam Fox also came out for some form of OMOV.  But Ken Clarke has made it clear that he won't be commenting.   On last night's Westminster Hour he said that it was more important for the leadership contenders to be talking about the big issues facing Britain - not (albeit important) issues within the Conservative Party.  Internal issues should be discussed behind-the-scenes, he said.  In smoke-filled rooms no doubt!

One leading Tory who has made her pro-democracy position clear from the outset has been Theresa May.  She is quoted in today's Guardian as being concerned at attempts by party high-ups to 'blackmail' members of the Constitutional College into voting for the HMM reforms:

"People say if you keep this system you won't have a leader until February.  I don't think that's right, if the party is ready to press the button [for a ballot of members] when the result is known on the 27th.  It's a way of trying to blackmail people into supporting the proposal.  Which is more important? A couple of weeks of comments in the paper about the government - or getting the right leader and making sure over the next four to five years that we are developing the right policies for the next election?"

 

Theresa May isn't giving up on party democracy

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!”

The Times salutes Theresa May

A leading article in this morning’s Times pays tribute to Theresa May’s qualities.

The Thunderer’s leader writers argue that “she provides a refreshing element of candour” and an “uplifting tone of voice”.

The Times continues:

”[Conservatives] have to find a means for advancing themes such as smaller government and lower tax in a fashion that makes them sound relevant to the way in which people live their lives and not as meaningless abstractions. They also need, as Mrs May contends, to talk about “values”. It remains to be seen whether the former party chairman will be in a position to enter the leadership campaign when it finally arrives. If she does, she will not want for interesting arguments to articulate.”

In recent weeks Mrs May has defended internal party democracy and called for more women parliamentary candidates.

Theresa May stands up for party democracy

A number of this morning’s newspapers speculate that Theresa May is interested in standing for the Tory leadership (see here and here). This speculation followed a giveaway moment when, on yesterday's Today programme, she referred to “ourselves” when discussing the Tory leadership candidates. But it was Mrs May’s strong defence of Conservative Party democracy that really stood out in the interview.

Commenting on last week’s indicative vote – by MPs – to strip grassroots members of any say in the leadership election, she told Radio 4’s Today programme:

“We must be acutely aware of the message that such a decision would send to voters. If this is indeed representative of how we plan to behave, then we will be out of touch and out of power.”

Mrs May endorsed the idea of an open primary leadership election – an idea first promoted on conservativehome.com (see point 1 of this memo). Under a primary election a winning candidate would have to win the support of target (as well as committed) voters. Theresa May argued:

“I believe that such a system would have huge merits in the election of any leader. 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.”

As Tory Chairman Mrs May pioneered primary elections for a number of constituency candidate selections.

Last week Theresa May called for an ‘A list’ of candidates to be drawn up for the Tories’ top 100 seats. She hoped that this ‘A list’ would include 50 women. In this morning’s Times, Mary Ann Sieghart believes that Mrs May’s putative candidacy – alongside her campaign for more female MPs - could help the Conservative Party to understand why it is failing to connect with the 52% of voters who are women. Ms Sieghart writes that the Labour Party’s increased number of women MPs agitated “for the party to pay more attention to the issues that female voters really cared about: public services, childcare, work-life balance”.

Theresa May may...

"Are we really saying there is no prospect of a woman leading any of the political parties in the near future?"

That was the question posed by Theresa May in a speech she made yesterday to the Adelaide Group of senior business women. Was it a simple statement about the underepresentation of women in parliament – or was it the beginnings of her own positioning for a future leadership bid?

She also proposed an ‘A-list’ for the Tories’ top 100 target seats. Defending her belief that fifty of the people on that ‘A-list’ should be women, she said:

”Now some people don't like these kind of gender-specific targets. Either they believe it patronises women who would reach the top without a leg up. Or they think it threatens to dilute the quality of candidates we offer by shoehorning in women who are not up to the job. Well I think there is nothing patronising about making the professional judgement that we will win more seats, attract more support, take better decisions, and, ultimately, form a better government, if we have a more even split of male and female faces running our party. And as for those who say we would risk diluting the quality of our candidates and MPs… What planet are you on?! Do you seriously believe that the Conservative Party cannot find 50 females of the highest quality to stand as candidates at the next election? If we cannot find 50 grade-A, top-class women who want to offer themselves to the British people as Conservative candidates at the next election then we should probably all give up now!”

Without supporting a face-deep kind of diversity Mrs May believes that most female candidates have a number of advantages over men. She emphasised listening skills, a less macho approach to political communication and greater experience of things that men don‘t know much about.

Mrs May, a former Party Chairman, also spoke up for the Tory rank-and-file membership:

"I'm worried about the signal that this gives about the sort of party we are, and the sort of party we are going to be, if we can't even trust our own membership to have a say in the election of the party leader. What does that say about how much of a voice we are going to give to the voters?"