History of the Conservative Party Constitution Episode 6

 February 1998 William Hague is about to launch a document called "Fresh Future" setting out some principles of a new Constitution for the Conservative Party!"

A History of the Conservative Party Constitution ( Episode 5)

 The 1997 Conservative Party Conference.   "What we want William, what we really, really want!

Essential viewing do not miss this video!

Tory Democracy in action, or is it?

 The following letter has been sent to Conservative Party members in the Buckinghamshire Area inviting ordinary members to stand for election as an officer of the Buckinghamshire Area.   However  unless you are an officer of your Constituency or any other Constituency in the Area you will not be able to attend the meeting at which the vote will take place, or if there is more than one candidate for a position, you will not be able to vote for yourself!

The Area Council should invite every member of the Party to the meeting at which elections take place and each member should have a vote.   That is democracy!

Many years ago, after a Buckinghamshire Area AGM it was announced that that there was one position that there had been no candidate for, so I put my name forward to fill the vacancy.   Guess what? The Establishment very quickly found another person to put their nomination in who was on the Area Executive so was able to stand and vote for herself in the election.    That person was Emma Pidding, now Baroness Pidding who started her long ride up the greasy pole!    I somehow feel that I helped her on the way! 

Subject: Notice of the Buckinghamshire Area Annual General Meeting Dear*********,  Thank you for your continued support of the Party, and any activities through which you actively help the Party, such as campaigning or fundraising.  It is only through our members and volunteers that we can succeed in our ultimate aim of getting Conservatives elected at all levels, across the country. Building a thriving and internally democratic Party is also important, to ensure that we run our own affairs robustly and transparently.  You may be aware that we hold elections at your local Association or Federation level, but we also hold elections at our Area level (which typically cover a whole county, or similar).  The roles of our elected Area teams are to co-ordinate Associations/Federations and take initiatives in respect of: Sharing of resources between Associations; The finance and membership of Associations; The motivation and monitoring of the performance of Associations; The management and training of Officers of Associations; Campaigning and Conservative representation in National, and Local Government elections; Matters relating to Local Government; Assisting elected representatives and the professional staff with the co-ordination of local media relations; Resolving disputes within Associations and Branches thereof, including the investigation of breaches of Rules of Associations; The provision of assistance to, and the undertaking of activities within a Supported Association; Preparing and submitting to the Board an annual report on the activities of each Association within the Area.  Beyond these formal roles, Area Officers play an important role in representing the views of members upwards to your Regional team, and onwards to the Party Board, Chairman and Leader.  If you are interested in standing for one of the three Area Officer roles for this Area (Chairman; Deputy Chairman Membership; or Deputy Chairman Political), you will need the support of two senior officers from either your own local Association or one of the others in the Area.  You may contact them directly if you wish, or reply to this email (mario@mariocreatura.org.uk) and I can put you in contact. The Area AGM will take place on Monday 28th September 2026, therefore the deadline for valid nominations is no later than 6pm on Monday 21st September 2026.  Only valid members of the Area Executive Council may attend the AGM, and have a vote

Yours sincerely,   Mario Creatura Deputy Chairman of South East of England

A History of the Conservative Party Constitution (Episode 4).

 The week before the 1997 Party Conference.   The Proposed Party Constitution is leaked!   See what the late, great Ann Widdecombe thought about it, what Archie Norman thinks it will contain. William Hague is confirmed as Party Leader, the one and only time a Party Leader has been confirmed by all the members of the Party!

Essential viewing to see how the Tory Party works!

Draft New Conservative Party Constitution (14)

 

Draft New Conservative Party Constitution (14)

The following clauses are from existing Schedule 6.

 Candidate Selection – Committee on Candidates

NP- 1   7

Proposed by CCHQ

Remove reference to English Parliament and PCCs; refer to Senedd and add Combined Authority Mayors.

Provide the option for a mechanism for mutual recognition of candidates with the Scottish Party?

These points are agreed but still no reference to the Northern Ireland Assembly.   Why not?

8

Proposed by CCHQ:

The Candidates Committee shall prepare a procedure for the selection and review of applicants onto the Approved Lists and submit that procedure to the Board for prior approval.

The Candidates Committee shall from time to time prepare mandatory rules as to the procedure by which Associations and other bodies select candidates for all or any public elections and submit that procedure to the Board for prior approval and publication.

This is an improvement on what was originally proposed.   At least now The Board has to give approval.   However the Board requires radical reform if it is to perform this function.

The following clauses are from existing Schedule 7/7A.

15.1  The Executive Council shall when required establish a Candidate Selection Committee, the members of which shall be:

15.1.1          The Chairman of the Association;

15.1.2          Other members of the Association appointed by the Executive Council in accordance with guidance published by the Committee on Candidates of the Board (as established under Schedule 6 of the Party Constitution);

15.1.3          The Agent, who will act as Secretary to the Candidates Selection Committee, and not be entitled to vote;

15.1.4          Such person as is appointed by the Board of the Party for the purpose, who shall be invited to attend all meetings of the committee in an advisory capacity and not be entitled to vote.

 

CCHQ:

This is essentially the Sift Committee.  Should we enshrine it at this level of detail in the Constitution or leave this to the rules to be set by the Board, or something in between?

Change reference to Agent to cover or other staff.

This wording must be kept so that if the Board decide to alter it members are made aware.

15.2  Selection of Parliamentary Candidates

15.2.1          Whenever it may be necessary to initiate the procedure to adopt a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, the Candidate Selection Committee shall, through the Chairman or other Officer of the Association, act in consultation with the Committee of the Board on Candidates and, as far as is practicable, shall follow the procedure published by the Committee on Candidates of the Board (as established under Schedule 6 of the Constitution). In any case the following procedure shall apply:

 

CCHQ: This is essentially the Selection Council and Member Meeting.  Should we enshrine it at this level of detail in the Constitution or leave this to the rules to be set by the Board, or something in between?

This wording must be kept so that if the Board decide to alter it members are made aware.

PER CCHQ: In the event of the motion to readopt a sitting Member of Parliament being passed, no further approvals are required.

This is to clarify that no member SGM is needed (which is a query often raised).

I am not surprised that this question is often raised.   The motion should be put to all members of the Constituency Association for their agreement at a General Meeting.   I remember John Major complaining to me that some MPs packed their Executives with family members so that they could not be removed!   This was not unusual!

Per CCHQ:

14          The Board may refuse or withdraw the membership of an Association.

 Clauses 16-19   Detail – for Rulebook (if it needs retaining at all)?

These details are necessary to ensure that there is a fair process in place and should be kept.

Proposed by CCHQ:

22.3 A Conservative group on a local authority shall not enter any formal arrangement with another political party or grouping without the prior consent of the Party Chairman, with such consent being coordinated by the CCA.

What about an informal agreement, and what is the difference?

Association of Conservative Clubs

25          (i)           Where a Conservative Club is affiliated to the Association of Conservative Clubs and a subscription, donation or per capita payment is made on behalf of the members of the Club to the Association in which the Club is situated, those members should be deemed to be Club members of the Conservative Party (hereafter referred to as Club members). (i)  Club members shall become Party members upon payment of such appropriate subscription as shall be determined by the Board from time to time. (iii)               In order to represent a Club or the ACC in a representative capacity within the Party such a representative must be a Party member.

Is this still relevant/does this need changing?

Probably!

I was hoping that eventually the Party would see sense and create a democratic Constitution.   It was not to be.   The Dictatorship, unaccountability of the Party Board and layers of bureaucracy remain.   Transparency in the Party is zero.   Why cannot membership figures be given on a 6 monthly basis so we van have an idea as to what Party members are feeling or do the hierarchy fear that membership is into a serious decline.   On the other hand perhaps that is what they want, so then they would not have to bother with members!

 

A History of the Conservative Party Constitution (Episode 3) July 1997

 Moving towards a Conservative Party Constitution.

Jon Sopel interviews John Strafford and Theresa May

Changes to the Conservative Party Constitution Phase 7

Here we go again.   Has your Constituency Chairman told you about this?   Comments to follow! 

Email sent by Julian Ellacott, Chairman of the National Convention on 30 July.   

Dear John, Thank you to the many of you who provided your input in response to the previous phases of consultation on changes to the Party Constitution. The responses have been analysed and draft text updated as a result. To recap on the process, we are reviewing the Constitution in phases, covering different topics, starting last year and running until later this year. Once all sections of the Constitution have been covered all of the proposed changes will be put to a vote (in line with the Constitution). We have now moved onto to Phase 7, which covers the following sections: Wording from various existing Schedules relating to candidate selection, proposed to be consolidated into its own new section along with additional principles relating to selection processes Schedule 6 – Further Rules of the Party The document setting out suggested changes and questions for your consideration is here.

Phase 7 Discussion paper Please review the document and then use the following online survey to submit your views on these topics. The consultation will close on Tuesday 18 August. There will be an online call at 6.00pm on Monday 17 August for you to discuss these topics and provide your input.   Please use this link to register for the call in advance. Association and Federation Chairmen are also encouraged to share this consultation with your fellow Officers, Executive Councils, staff and any particularly interested members, and host local meetings to discuss it and provide feedback (as some of you did for previous Phases). If you wish to submit marked up text instead, please download the discussion document above, mark up the text in the first column, and email as an attachment to national.convention@conservatives.com, or if you prefer a freeform text response, just email it to the same address. Thank you in for your participation in this important task. Yours, Julian Ellacott Chairman of the National Convention and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee

A History of the Conservative Party Constitution (Episode 2)

 June 1997

The Establishment fights back. Archie Hamilton, the new Chairman of the 1922 Committee is not keen on democracy!

Will the 1922 Committee fight back on changes to the Party Constitution?

 

With Lord Graham Brady at the Conservative's Flackwell Heath branch Summer Party held on 3 July.   Supper was organised and hosted by the lovely Kirsty Griffiths and her husband Rob.   I put two questions to Lord Brady as follow:

1) Under the present Conservative Party Constitution the Executive of the 1922 Committee determines the rules for the Leadership Election after consultation with the Party Board.   Under the proposed new Constitution to be implemented  on 1 January 2027 this is changed to "The Party Board will determine the Rules for the Leadership Election." (nothing about consulting with the 1922 Committee!)   Does he agree with this change?

Lord Brady's response "Under the present Constitution any change has to be agreed by a majority of the 1922 Committee. I would be surprised if they agree to it!"

2) Recently Rishi Sunak said that his greatest regret as Leader of the Conservative Party was not being elected by the ordinary members of the Conservative Party, because if he had been so elected he would have been able to put forward his proposals on policy and know that the voluntary Party supported him.

Lord Brady responded "There were several hustings meetings at which Rishi could have put forward his Agenda"   

Under the present Party Constitution if a Leader is the only candidate for election, the new Leader and the Party Board can order a vote of the Party membership to endorse the new Leader.   This is what William Hague did after he was elected by just the Conservative MPs!    Rishi could have done the same!

A History of the Conservative Party Constitution-Episode 1

 In June 1997 the Conservative Party set out to elect a new Leader after the General Election defeat. A Constitution for the Party had been proposed, but the Establishment closed ranks to stop it! Archie Norman sets out his views. John Strafford responds!