What a lovely surprise to receive the following yesterday on my birthday!
Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP
Leader of the Conservative Party
Dear John,
On behalf of the entire Conservative family, I would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday.
I also want to take this moment to thank you for continuing to support our party. Members like you play a critical role and even more so as we renew our party to take us from Opposition back into Government.
But for today John I hope you enjoy your special day.
Time for the Conservative Party should have an Annual General Meeting to which all Party members are invited?
I asked Sir James Cleverley MP whether the Conservative Party Chairman should be elected by the Party Members. He responds!
The following article was published by conservativehome.com on 1st September 2025
See my reply:
The Party cannot rebuild without a long-term Chairman
By
Ryan Stinger
Ryan Stinger worked in CCHQ for nine years, latterly as Chief of Staff to two Chief Executive Officers and seven Party Chairman.
"Let me give you a list.
Lord Eric Pickles, Lord Feldman, Baroness Warsi, Grant Shapps, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, Sir Brandon Lewis, Sir Ben Elliot, Sir James Cleverly MP, Amanda Milling, Sir Oliver Dowden MP, Andrew Stephenson, Sir Jake Berry, Nadhim Zahawi, Greg Hands, Richard Holden MP, Richard Fuller MP, Nigel Huddleston MP, Lord Johnson and Kevin Hollinrake MP.
Since I joined the Conservative Party as a member in 2010, we have had 18 Party Chairman.
I worked at CCHQ from 2013-2024, starting my career as a Campaign Manager, before moving to CCHQ where I most recently served from 2022-2024 as Chief of Staff to two Chief Executive Officers and seven Party Chairman.
Let me just reiterate that. In two years, I worked for seven Party Chairman.
That is bonkers. If a business or charity had that much change, investors would not invest, and the Charity Commission would most certainly be raising concerns.
Being Chairman is a deeply political role, where commentators will often describe you as a media attack dog – but there is so much more to it and constant change cause chaos.
Let me share how I oversaw the process between saying goodbye to a Chairman and welcoming a new one, seven times over.
I feel bad about this one.
Under my desk were four red folders. These were updated every few months. This was a welcome pack for the new Chairman and presumably the team that would replace me. It had the latest on CCHQ, the key people from the National Convention, membership figures and AOB such as conference planning or the inevitable re-review of the membership fee.
This also included a series of recommendations on how they could engage with the Parliamentary Party who desperately needed listening to.
As well the latest Board papers and a call list which included all members of the Party Board, Officers of the National Convention, the leader of the Party in Scotland and Wales, the Chairman of Northern Ireland, top donors and our mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen.
Why do I feel bad about this?
Well because I ensured these folders were continually up to date, even without a change. Because sadly, I assumed there would and could be a change at a moment’s notice and it would not be fair to welcome a new Chairman unprepared.
Then it was relatively simple.
When a change did come, I quietly packed up the office of the former Chairman, which I always tried to do outside of work hours or very quietly to not cause a stir in front of the rest of CCHQ. I waited for a phone call of who our next Chairman was. I was then on the phone to the lucky chosen individual and getting them into CCHQ. On arrival they would be welcomed by the CEO and myself. The team would clap them in; they give some words and then I always put them in their office and gave them a large coffee and let them catch their breath.
Whilst taking a breather, they got two draft emails to approve. One to staff, introducing themselves and reassuring the team, the other to all members of the Party. They were then given the red folder and left alone to start to get up to speed on what is going on.
Phone calls to key stakeholders were the next priority as it showed that the Chairman was listening to the Board and voluntary Party. They would then start to sit down with Directors and get briefed on what their teams were working on.
After this they were presented with a series of options for visits. Whilst Chairman need desk time, getting them out was always a massive priority. Finally, I would sit down with them and talk through the problems they had inherited. Whether a legal or a disciplinary issue which they would have to review, ensure that they were happy with how we were handling it or give instructions to change tack.
Once this was all complete. We would then work at the speed which they felt comfortable working at and on the priorities which they set.
The first 48 hours was frantic and always stressful. Always at the back of my mind was a nervousness as to whether I would still be in my job because they could have, and they would have been well within their right to replace me with ‘their person’. Thankfully (for me) this never happened.
By the time I welcomed my third Chairman, I had this process nailed. It gave them space for a breather but also got them talking to the people they needed to touch base with quickly – buying brownie points.
However, after so much change, people became cynical. The phone calls were never taken as seriously. Board members became rightly frustrated. It caused huge morale issues. Every time a new Chairman comes in, long-term issues were long grassed, or tack changed, and priorities changed. Putting people under pressure and crucially rarely allowing the organisation to move forward.
I must say from my own perspective, having to have the same conversations seven times, answering the same questions and briefing them on the same issues time after time became incredibly tedious. Because of so much change, the more complicated issues were rarely tied up and dealt with.
My point here is that whilst you are an attack dog. You are the Chairman in charge of the very beating heart of the Conservative Party. You cannot fix the long-term issues which face both the professional party and the grassroots without a long-term Chairman.
Going back to a single Chairman is a very sensible starting point. I hope our new Chairman, Kevin Hollinrake MP is given the time he needs to get to know the key players, understand the weaknesses of both CCHQ and the grassroots and then be allowed to develop and deliver long-term change.
If he is not allowed this time, we will end up going around the roundabout of briefings and phone calls, wasting more crucial time in rebuilding the Party and answering the toughest questions."
Reply by John Strafford
"Ryan, what an appalling way to run an organisation! You make some very interesting points. The role of Party Chairman was created in 1911 after the Tories lost the General Election. The position was occupied by 11 Chairmen in the next 35 years. In the last 35 years we have had 32 Party Chairmen!
The role of Chairman should be responsibility for the Party organisation. It should not be the attack dog role. Running the organisation needs both short and long term policies and implementation. The attack dog role is mostly short term and immediate. The best Party Chairman was Lord Woolton who served for 9 years. He was not used as an attack dog but concentrated on organisation.
I am afraid that whilst ever this is an appointed position things will not change. What is needed is for the Party Chairman to be elected and accountable to ordinary Party members at an Annual General Meeting of the Party to which all Party members are invited."
The following video clip was made at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference by the great Aleksandra Turner.
The role of Conservative Party Chairman was created in 1911. In the first 35 years there were 11 Party Chairmen. In the last 35 years there have been 32 Party Chairmen! In 2022 the then Party Chairman was Jake Berry. I optimistically said he would be gone within a year. He went within a month! Today he is no longer a member of the Party, having joined the Reform Party in July 2025. What a Farce!
Some Comments on "The Way We Were":
Andrew Rosindell MP
Nicholas Bennet (Former MP)
Do you remember what Conservative Party Conferences were like? A Trip down memory lane.
Here We Go - More manipulation!
Daily Telegraph report 16 Aug 25 re selection of Conservative Parliamentary Candidates:
The source said: “We want to be in a position where people
are brought in for the right reason. The plan is that previous MPs who lost
their seats will be required to go through a selection process so that we’ve
encouraged everyone who wants to come back to express interest and put their
applications in.”
Who determines "the Right reason" and what is it?
“The reason is that there will be many ex-MPs who say, ‘Yes,
I want to stand, but I don’t want to stand in my old constituency, I want to
stand in a different one’. In which case they can apply and go through the
selection process but they won’t automatically get a free run,” a party source
familiar with the changes said.
“There is also an issue around certain well-known people
wanting to come back who have never been through the current process for
selection and validation of candidates because it started after they were
originally selected,” they added.
How many times does it need to be said "CCHQ role is to do due diligence. Full stop. It should be up to the ordinary members of the Party who to select as their MP. It should be up to the Constituency Associations when to start the selection process. It should be up to the Associations who they invite for interview!
The Candidates Committee only has one MP on it (Bernard Jenkins) so who are these know all experts who know what is required of a Member of Parliament when they have had no experience of the job? Previous MPs know what the job entails so why should the elite in CCHQ stop them from putting their names forward to Constituency Associations?
REFORM PARTY ISSUES NEW RULES
Last year the Reform Party introduced a Constitution which was passed by
the members of the Party in General Meeting.
The Constitution was 17 pages in length. Since then the Party Board, on which a
majority of the members are appointed by Nigel Farage issued the Rules for the
election of Party Board members (just three of them, so they do not form a
majority) and the Rules for Branches/Constituency Associations, (22 pages long)
without going back to the members for their approval! Thus the Dictatorship of Nigel Farage and Zia
Yusuk who control the Party continues.
This is not the way a democratic political Party works! Members have no say on policy and organisation
is effectively controlled by the Leader who has a majority of his appointments on
the Party Board. Eventually the members
will realise this and start to walk away from the Party. In May 2025 the Party claimed to have over
230,000 members. According to the Rules
for the election of the Party Board this is now 227,000.
The Reform Party are repeating the error which the Conservative Party has
made, (the Original Conservative Constitution was 55 pages long, today it is
over 150 pages long) creating a vast bureaucratic organisation controlled by
the elite.
Not all is bad in the changes which have been introduced by Reform:
Rules for the election of the Party Board
First of all congratulations, the three members of the Party Board are
to be elected directly by the ordinary Party members in a nationwide
ballot. This is in stark contrast to
the Conservative Party which has no members directly elected to their Party
Board by ordinary Party members.
The bad news is that under the rules each candidate must
1.1.3. pay a £100 non-refundable application fee and,
1.1.4. like anyone standing for
election for the Party, pass the vetting process.
The vetting process at the moment is very extensive including, we are
told, psychiatric testing, so much so that it is said that it will be
simplified!
The question is: Who judges the results of the process and are they
accountable to the members?
Branch/Constituency Rules
Here the position is mixed.
There are some very good detailed rules which the Conservative Party
should look at and incorporate within its own Constitution. However there are also some rules which
strengthen the dictatorial control of the Party by the Party Board and
ultimately Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuk!
Rules:
4.13 Branch
Officers must sign an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) and will complete Party-approved
GDPR training prior to their confirmation and prior to gaining access to any
Party systems.
The wording of the NDA is not given but generally Non Disclosure
Agreements are used by very powerful people to stop not so powerful people
speaking out. For transparency the
wording of an NDA should be shown so members can judge whether it is
reasonable.
4.15 A National or Regional Director may at their sole discretion,
replace and/or remove any interim Branch Officer for any reason they consider
pertinent.
Nowhere in the Party’s Constitution does it mention National or Regional
Director so presumably these have been created
and appointed by the Party Board without reference to the membership so
who are they accountable to?
5.7 is a strange requirement and indicates that the
Party hierarchy do not trust the members!
National/Regional Directors are not elected, they are
appointed, At any time they can come in to a branch and take the position of
chair to control meetings. This is
control freakery at its worst!
ALL SPEAKERS MUST BE APPROVED. Reform don't trust their branches
organising speakers, they must be approved now by HQ. This is extraordinary. Once again the lack of trust by the
hierarchy is highlighted by this clause!
15 Waiver
15.1 The Party Chairman, Vice Chairman, National
Directors, and their duly authorised appointees, may at their absolute
discretion, revoke, suspend or waive any Branch Rule at any time with or
without notice.
This says
it all For the avoidance of any doubt
we the Party hierarchy can do what ever we please and the ordinary Party member
has no recourse. This is called
dictatorship. It isn’t democracy!
On Friday 1st August Stuart Andrew MP sent the following statement to every Conservative Party member:
Building a thriving and internally democratic Party is important, to ensure that we run our own affairs robustly and transparently.
Hear hear!
Stuart, it is all very well talking the talk but you do not walk the walk! See below
And what will they do about it? Promote you? Appoint you? I wonder what? I set out below the process by which Area and Regional Officers are elected:
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
At the Ward/ Branch AGM to which all Party members within the Ward/Branch are resident one or more representatives are elected to the Executive Council of their Constituency Association.
Party Constitution
6.1.3 [One or more – which number must be defined] elected
representatives from each ward, The Association may list the wards in order to
vary the number according to the size of the ward. if the ward is covered by a
single branch, that branch may elect the representative(s) at its AGM;
Party Constitution:
Elections to the Area Council
48 The
Executive Council of each Association or Federation shall elect the required
number of members, in accordance with its Rules, to represent it on its Area
Council, in addition to the Chairman of the Association or Federation (who
shall be an ex-officio member of the Area Council).
Each Area Council shall comprise
28.2 Two
representatives from each Constituency covered by an Association elected by the
Executive Council of each Association in accordance with the Rules of the
Conservative Party Associations, as contained within Schedule 7. Where the
Association is subject to Schedule 7a, two representatives per constituency
should be elected by the Executive Council under the same rules that pertain to
the election of “Constituency Officers”.
The Area Council then elects the Area Management Executive
Party Constitution:
Area Management Executive
29 Each Area
Council shall meet once a year and elect an Area Management Executive (in
accordance with the provisions of Schedule 5) which shall act as a
co-ordinating body between the Board and Associations with a view to enhancing
the performance of Associations in each Area and co-ordinating activities and
the efficient management of resources within each Area.
The Area Councils then elect the Regional Officers for the Region of which they are part of.
Party Constitution:
38 The
Regional Officers shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of
Schedule 5, by those members of the Area Councils in the region in which they
are situated.
So summing up as an ordinary Party member I
Attend my Branch/Ward AGM to elect the members of my Association Executive Council.
My Association Executive Council elect the representatives to the Area Council.
The Area Council elects the Area Management Executive.
The Area Council elects the Regional Officers
This process is known as pyramid democracy. It was made illegal in the Trade Unions in the 1980s by the Conservative Government because it was too easily manipulated by those in power.
The Area Management Executive and Regional Officers should be elected and accountable to ordinary Party members at an Annual General Meeting to which all Party members in the Area/Region are resident! That is Democracy!
Ps Stuart, Congratulations on your appointment as Shadow Health Secretary!
