Draft Conservative Party Constitution Phase 6

 Here we go again.   Comments to follow in due course!

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 6, which covers the following sections: - Part I – the Party’s Purpose - Part XIII and Schedule 9 – Changes to the Constitution - Part XIV – Commencement Provisions - Part XV and Schedule 1 – Interpretation The document setting out suggested changes and questions for your consideration is here.

Phase 6 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 Friday 17 July. There will be an online call at 6.00pm on Wednesday 15 July 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. Finally, following the consultation on Schedules 7/7A earlier in the year, and the resulting exposure draft which was shared in May, the further comments we have received have been analysed and an updated exposure draft produced.  Given the significance of Schedules 7/7A, we are circulating this further draft to enable any final comment – if you have any additional comments, please email national.convention@conservatives.com. The updated draft is here: Phase 3 document 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

Two Great Conservatives Sir Bill Cash and Lord Peter Lilley

                  

                                 Chatting with the great Bill Cash 18 Jun 26 

         

                          Putting a question to Lord Peter Lilley 19 Jun 26

Spent a wonderful evening chatting to the Great Conservative Sir Bill Cash who I first met when he was applied to be the candidate for the Beaconsfield by-election in 1982.   What I didn't know was that he was brought up in Sheffield, my home town!   Bill lost his father just after D Day when he was four years old.   I lost my father at the Battle For Monte Natale when i was 16 months old.   We reminisced about old times.   Because of his height Bill was a good bowler and cricketer.  So good that he was invited to an interview by Yorkshire cricket club, whose Chairman at the time was the formidable Bill Bows! The first question Bill was asked was "Where were you born?" Bill replied that he wasn't born in Sheffield but he had been brought up there!   To which Bill Bows said "We only employ men born in Yorkshire for the Yorkshire cricket team."   End of bill's cricketing future.   Just imagine if he had been selected, we might have lost a great politician.

75 years ago I went to the Dore cricket ground to watch the great West Indian cricketer Sir Leary Constantine. Bill Cash was also there. How zat?

On Friday I went to the always excellent New Forest East Conservatives lunch where the guest speaker was Lord Peter Lilley.  I first met Peter 55 years ago when he chaired the Bow Group!   I put the following question to him "I believe that a basic Conservative principle is that taxation should always be fair between people, groups of people and businesses, and yet far too often all political parties give favours to particular people, or groups of people.   For example the Reform Party promises to reduce VAT on pubs to 5%.   The Conservative Party promises particular favours to farmers regarding their Inheritance tax!   When these favours are given the Parties never say that as a result of the favour the rest of the people will pay more tax!   Equally political Parties penalise certain companies if they make a higher profit than expected by imposing special taxes on them such as the taxes on oil companies and the banks, because politicians know that these companies do not have any votes,   This seems to me to be wrong.   Do you agree and how can it be stopped?   Lord Lilley replied "Yes I do agree and the best way to stop this is to have low taxation and low regulation so that the temptation to interfere is diminished".   A good solid Conservative answer!    

Draft New Conservative Party Constitution (10)

 

Draft New Conservative Party Constitution (10)

Review of the Conservative Party Constitution - Phase 5

Document sent to Party members by the Chairman of the National Convention, Julian Ellacott  May 2026

Suggested changes:

We have now moved onto to Phase 5, which covers provisions relating to:

Constitutional Review Discussion Paper Phase 5b – Q2 2026

This Phase covers the following topics:

 • Part IV – The Board of the Conservative Party

 • Part IX – Recognised Organisations (plus Specialist Groups and Other Bodies)

 

Proposals:

IV-1 There shall be a Board, which shall be the supreme decision-making body in respect of Party organisation and management (with the Leader being responsible for determining political policy and political strategy, notwithstanding [clause X]). The members of the Board shall be: 4There shall be a Board, which shall be the supreme decision-making body in respect of Party organisation and management (with the Leader being responsible for determining political policy and political strategy, notwithstanding [clause X]). The members of the Board shall be:

The Chairman of the Conservative Party, appointed by the Leader, who shall be Chairman of the Board. In the event that the Leader appoints two or more Co Chairmen, the Leader shall designate which of them shall be Chairman of the Board for the purposes of this clause. The other(s) shall not be a member of the Board unless by virtue of fulfilling another position.

Two Deputy Chairmen of the Party, namely The Chairman of the National Conservative Convention (elected pursuant to [clause X]) who shall chair meetings in the absence of the Chairman of the Conservative Party.

A Deputy Chairman appointed by the Leader. If the Leader appoints more than one Deputy Chairman of the Party, they shall designate which of these shall fill this position, with others not being members of the Board, unless by virtue of filling another position.

DELETE all of the above.

INSERT as follows:

There shall be established and maintained a Board of the Conservative Party (referred to in this constitution as “the Board”). The Board shall consist of:

12.1                   The Chairman of the Conservative Party (“the Chairman of the Board”) elected by the members of the Party in Annual Meeting, who will chair the Board.

12.2                   Three Deputy Chairmen

12.2.1                   One of whom shall be Chairman of the National Conservative Convention and, 

12.2.2                   Two of whom shall be elected by the Party members in Annual Meeting.

 

The Chairman of the Party should be elected by the ordinary Party members at an Annual General Meeting to which all members are invited.

IV-3 12.4 Insert before Chairman “elected”

IV -4 12.5 Insert before Chairman “elected”

                                       12.6 Insert before Chairman “elected”

                                       12.7 Insert before Chairman “elected”

                                       12.8 Insert before Chairman “elected”

IV-4 12.9 Insert: The Chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party.

 

12.7 Delete: “The Treasurer of the Party, who shall be appointed by the Leader”.

!2.7 Insert  “The Treasurer of the Party who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Party”

IV-8 17 DELETE The Board shall have power to do anything which, in its opinion, relates to the management and administration of the Party.

This clause makes the rest of the Party Constitution irrelevant.   It has been used many times to override the Constitution and should therefore be abolished.

Insert “The Board shall oversee all activities within the Party and  be responsible for:

 

17.2 Keep the existing wording :  the review and approval of the Party’s annual budgets, the monitoring of financial performance and the production and publication of annual accounts;

Delete the proposed wording: Approving and regularly monitoring budgets Approving annual accounts in line with statutory requirements.

17.3 What does this mean? – “The Party’s Nominating Officer (and approving a process for delegating authority to nominate the Party’s candidates at elections)”   How does this fit in with the Committee on Candidates?

17.19  Delete: Determining and overseeing a procedure for the election of the Leader, pursuant to [clause X]

Does this mean that the procedure for electing the Leader is now determined by the Party Board and not the 1922 Committee?   The clause should be deleted.   The procedure for electing the Leader should be in the main body of the Party Constitution.   On too many occasions the rules have been changed!

IV-10-19 Insert: The Chairman of the Candidates Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Party to which all members are invited.

 

Recognised Organisations, Specialist Groups and Other Bodies

No comments

Who determines the quality of Conservative MPs of the future?

 Julian Ellacot responds:

Nearly two years ago when I was elected Chairman of the National Convention, my top commitment was to overhaul candidate selection, pledging:

“I will ensure that this is led by a senior volunteer as Chairman of Candidates, accountable to you, the Convention. Candidates must prove their Conservative credentials and campaigning abilities, and members must be fully involved in selecting them, well in advance of the next General Election.”

Working with Clare Hambro as a superb Chairman of Candidates, and with Kemi and her team, all the foundations for this are now in place, and we are on our way to selecting talented, committed and energetic Conservatives, ready to Get Britain Working Again. 

So Julian we continue with the disastrous selection process we have had for the last 25 years whereby a small group of people unelected, unaccountable to the ordinary members of the Party determine who can be a Conservative parliamentary Candidate. CCHQ's role should solely be to conduct due dilligence!

Go back to pre 1998 when the ordinary Party members decided who they wanted as their MP. The results then were high quality. Once again the ordinary members are being treated with contempt and you wonder why membership is collapsing.! Soon the Conservative Party will cease to exist as a membership organisation and inevitably the parliamentary party will go into decline?

As Per today's Sunday Telegraph

A powerful and clear statement from Kemi Badenoch about the quality of MP we need in future:

Conservative Parliamentary Candidates

• " must be clever"  What is "clever"   Is it a university degree or what?   The Candidates Committee will decide!
• "have charisma"   Who decides someone has charisma - the Candidates Committee!
• "communication skills" How is this assessed and by whom? - the Candidates Committee!
• "conviction" - Conviction in what?   The Candidates Committee will decide!
• "most importantly, be Conservative" For the last 25 years the Candidates Committee didn't understand what being a Conservative meant!   What has changed.?
• So there we are.   The Candidates Committee must be super human with all these abilities.   Perhaps they should be judged by ordinary members of the party to see if they meet up to the same criteria they are imposing on the parliamentary candidates!

Changes to the Conservative Party Constitution Phase 5

 Here we go again!   Watch this space!

22 May 2026 Dear John,  Thank you to the many of you who provided your input in response to the first two 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, starting last year and running until later this year.  Each phase covers different topics, on each of which you will have the opportunity to have your say.  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 5, which covers provisions relating to:  The Party Board Recognised Organisations, Specialist Groups and Other Bodies  The document setting out suggested changes and questions for your consideration is here.  Please review the document and then use this online survey to submit your views on these topics.  The consultation will close on Sunday 7 June.  There will be an online call at 6.30pm on Tuesday 2 June 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.  Finally, following the consultation on Schedules 7/7A earlier in the year, the comments received have been analysed and an updated draft produced.  Given its significance, we are circulating the draft to enable any further comment – if you have any comments, please email national.convention@conservatives.com.  The updated draft is here.  Thank you in for your participation in this important task.

 

Yours sincerely,   Julian Ellacott Chairman of the National Convention and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee

 

Lord Walker’s experience as a Conservative Candidate

 

Lord Walker’s experience as a Conservative Candidate

Edited extract from the “House Magazine”

Is this the way we treat applicants to become a Parliamentary Candidate?   The Party members are entitled to hear his views and if unacceptable turn him down.   It should not be an elite in CCHQ that impose their own views in determining whether an applicant should be on the Candidate’s List!

Until the last election, he (Lord Walker) had only ever voted for the Conservatives, to whom he donated £10,000 in 2020.

In a letter to Rishi Sunak in 2023, he said it was his “most fervent wish” to become a Tory parliamentary candidate, having “given my all to earning that privilege”. 

By that point, Walker says he had spent two years door-knocking and leafleting for the party in the hope of being selected for a constituency at the general election.

“I did feel I was being given the endless runaround by CCHQ [Conservative Campaign Headquarters],” he says. “This was a long, committed process. I was not so arrogant to think I could just parachute in and bag a seat.”

Walker says his candidacy was repeatedly deferred, as the party told him he was being too outspoken on issues like sewage in Britain’s seas. But he says he had also become disillusioned by the Tories’ ideological direction.

“I just did not like the aping Reform kind of way that the politics was going. I could see the writing on the wall, and I think I’ve been broadly vindicated in them becoming a bit of a tribute band and this existential crisis they’re now having.”

There was nothing opportunistic, he insists, about his decision to switch his support to Labour in early 2024, and he points out that he has “never donated a penny” to the party.

Conservative Party Constitution - The establishment strikes back!

 The Establishment strikes back!

Richard you can do better than this.   Start by getting my name right and also the abbreviation of Campaign For Conservative Democracy!

The following article appeared on Richard Robinson's web site:

Is the Conservative Party Dead?

Saturday, 2 May, 2026

• Articles

A couple of weeks ago, John Stafford published an article on his Campaign for Conservative Democracy (CCCD) website, that asked, “Is the Conservative Party Dead?”

John is a long‑standing Conservative activist who has become the leading voice for Party reform through the CCCD, a grassroots initiative advocating greater accountability, transparency, and member participation within the Party.

He founded the CCCD in the mid-1990s and although I was aware of his advocacy, I didn’t meet him until 2005, when we found ourselves on the same side, opposing Michael Howard’s proposed changes to the Constitution.

His argument now is that the Party has become over-centralised, with CCHQ taking control of fundraising, policy, the party conference and the approval of parliamentary candidates.

In making his argument he makes a number of contentious statements:

The candidates’ list was packed with “Lib/Dem inclined people, careerists who were in politics for the money because they could not get a job elsewhere.”

The Party has been taken over by the big donors and “did not want members”, but would rather like to be “like the Republican Party of the USA which is not a membership organization”.

“The voluntary Party now mainly comprises Councillors and their families”.

His prescription is a member-led party with an annual general meeting, members largely running party conference and appointing The Party Chairman, Two Deputy Chairmen, Treasurer, Chairman of the Candidates Committee and Chairman of the Policy Forum.

In making his case, he relies on a nostalgia for a golden age of party democracy that never existed, but I think he does reflect genuine issues for the Party and we need to engage with his criticisms. I don’t, however, believe that the solution is in the institutional changes he proposes.

There has been real change under new leadership. New candidate selection rules put Conservative principles at the heart of the approvals process and there is a strong commitment to giving associations the final say on candidate selection. The Conference committee is committed to increasing the voice of Party members at Conference. We will need to go further.

In my view, however, the greatest shift we need is cultural. CCHQ has to be much more a service organization to associations, and much less Command and Control.

You may also be interested in

Richard Robinson will be standing for election as Vice President of the National Convention

Sunday, 1 March, 2026

I’m standing to be your voluntary party representative on the Board of the Conservative Party. For more than fifty years, I’ve been part of our voluntary party — as a councillor, an association chairman, an area chairman, and now as Deputy Chairman Political for the South East Region.

Lead up to the 2001 General Election

 

Lead up to the 2001 General Election with the delightful Cheryl Gillan MP - a great Lady!

 

Is the Conservative Party Dead?

By

John Strafford

 The Conservative Party is about to launch a new Constitution on 1^st January 2027.   As yet we have not seen the final draft of the rule book that goes with it or Phase 5 of the consultation with members.  What is abundantly clear so far is that if the present proposals all go through the Conservative Party as a members organization is finished.   The Party will be run and dominated by the large donors.   Inevitably this will lead to the gradual decline of the Conservative Party as a political organization.   How has this happened?

Pre 1998 The Conservative Party had three separate autonomous elements to it. They were The Parliamentary Party, the Leader's office at CCHQ and the National Union, (the Constituency Associations). Because they were autonomous they had to work together by trusting each other!

Selection of Candidates was wholly in the hands of the Constituency Associations. CCHQ could advise but the final decision was with the Associations.  

Policy was decided by the Leader, but a good Leader would take account of the views of the Constituency Associations before taking a decision on policy.   If the Constituency Associations were consulted before the decision was made they would follow the Leader whatever the decision was.

CCHQ was the servant of the Leader primarily but also the servant of the Constituency Associations.   For example the Party Conference was organized and controlled  by the Voluntary Party (National Union) assisted by CCHQ.   The MPS and CCHQ were invited to it by the National Union.   There were motions for debate, some of which were balloted for by the voluntary Party.

The Parliamentary Party would follow the policies decided by the Leader.   If he or she disagreed with them they had to ensure that they had the support of their Constituency Association which had the power to deselect the MP.

The whole Party organization was based on trust!

All this changed after 1998 when the new Constitution was introduced, and from that moment CCHQ took total control.

They took over the Selection of Candidates imposing their own list on Constituency Associations. That list over the last twenty years became totally adrift from the voluntary Party.   Instead of Candidates with genuine Conservative values we got Lib/Dem inclined people, careerists who were in politics for the money because they could not get a job elsewhere.   They could and did on occasion remove the Whip from an MP preventing him or her from standing for reelection even where the MP had the support of his/her Constituency Association, as happened with Howard Flight.

They took over control of the Party Conference and turned into a Public Relations exercise.   Motions were dropped so members had no voice!

The Conservative Political Centre, which had a National Committee elected by the members was scrapped and a new CPF with appointed officers replaced it.

Those running the Party are unaccountable to the Party members.

Effectively the Party has been taken over by the big donors!   CCHQ gets 75% of its income from 10 donors!   As long as CCHQ continue to get the money in they will continue to treat the voluntary Party with contempt.   I was told by a former Director of CCHQ that the Party did not want members.   They would like to be like the Republican Party of the USA which is not a membership organisation.   I pointed out that in the USA they pay activists vast amounts of money to run their elections!

The Establishment of the Party has decided to run the Party like a business. Trust has broken down because whereas in a business you can control people by fear(do it or lose your job) or by incentive (do it and you get a pay rise) but the voluntary Party is based on volunteers.   It is not a business. With volunteers if you place too many onerous conditions on them they just say “I have had enough of this” and walk away. Trust has been lost. That is what has happened with the membership.   Constituency Associations are having difficulty in getting people to stand as officers because they now have to submit to huge amounts of bureaucracy.

Parliamentary Candidates and local Government candidates will stop coming forward because of all the restrictions on them and the costs of paying for training etc.   Having put themselves forward to be a Parliamentary Candidate a small group of unelected people will decide whether or not you meet their criteria.   No Thanks!

The voluntary Party now mainly comprises of Councillors and their families and it looks like many of them will lose their seats in the coming elections.

Does this all matter?   General Elections are basically won based on the policies put forward by a political Party, but in the marginal seats where the margin is below 3% what counts are feet on the ground. Kemi Badenoch is starting to bring forward Conservative policies, so if this continues there is a good chance the Party will hold on to the seats which it presently holds.   However to win more seats it has to win in the marginals. To Win a General Election on the ground you need 500,000 members of which 10-15% are active.   You need members to man the polling stations, get the vote out, distribute your literature, man the committee rooms etc.   Tory Party membership has sunk to approx.100,000 and is sinking. The last National membership drive was the Bulldog campaign in 1988. Reform has understood the necessity of membership having built up their membership to 280,000 in just over a year. In my own constituency of Beaconsfield Reform have had three training meetings in one week! No wonder they now have more members than the Conservatives. Unless the Party gives more rights to members and more incentives to join the Party I am afraid the Party is heading for disaster. Processes for selecting Council Candidates or Parliamentary Candidates are important but if you do not have any applicants they become meaningless!

Can the Conservative Party once again embrace Trust?   Yes, if it moves back to the situation pre 1998 where the whole Party organization was based on trust.   If it doesn’t it will slowly fade away and as it does so the big donors will stop making their gifts to the Party as soon as they think it no longer has a chance of forming a government!

Conservatives, the choice is yours.   The Party is not yet dead but it is dying!

To revive it and start to build back membership it needs to do the following:

The Seven Steps to Reform

1)     The Chairman of the Party Board, Two Deputy Chairmen, Treasurer, Chairman of the Candidates Committee and Chairman of the Policy Forum to be officers of the Party on the Party Board, elected by and accountable to Party Members, and to present Annual Reports to an Annual General Meeting to which all Party members are invited.

 The Accounts of the Party to be adopted at the Annual General Meeting.

 The clause in the Party Constitution (Article 17) which gives power to the    Party Board “to do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the Party” to be deleted. The Party Board to have a majority of voluntary Party members.

 This is to ensure that those in control of the Party’s organisation are accountable to the Members of the Party.   The Party Board to have a majority of Members elected by Party Members.   Article 17 of the Constitution as it stands makes the rest of the Constitution irrelevant.   In an emergency the Board may respond but any action taken should be ratified by the Members at the following General Meeting.

2)     The Party Constitution should be capable of being changed by a motion at the Annual General Meeting of the Party, by Party members on the basis of One Member One Vote with a 60% majority of those voting.

 At present there are parts of the Constitution which get changed without the members having any say and have no knowledge until the change is published.   For example the Rules on the Selection of Candidates are changed almost every year by the Candidates Committee and members have no say in these changes.   Similarly the 1922 Committee can change the Rules for the Leadership election without the members knowing until the change is published as a fait accompli.   Sub Committees of the Party Board or indeed the Party Board itself should not be allowed to change the Constitution.   They can make recommendations but it is up to the members of the Party to agree rule changes.  

 3)     Constituency Associations should have the right to determine who their Conservative Parliamentary Candidate is, with minimum interference by CCHQ.   This includes both selecting and deselecting candidates and selecting or deselecting their Member of Parliament   Any member of the Party should be able to apply to be the candidate.   Local candidates i.e., those resident in the Constituency, should be invited for interview by the Executive Council.

Where a Constituency Association passes a motion of no confidence in their MP in General Meeting they should be able to immediately start the process of selecting a new parliamentary candidate.

CCHQ would have an advisory role for the conduct of due diligence which must be carried out before the Candidate is finally elected.   There would be safeguards for Constituencies where their membership is below 150 members.   This restores the autonomy of Constituency Associations and is back to the situation prior to 1998 when the new Constitution was implemented.

.4)     The Spring Conference should be a policy conference where Ministers would listen to members ideas on policies in their subject area selected by motions submitted through the Executive Council of local associations.

 This Conference is not to determine the policy of the Party but to demonstrate the views of the Party membership to the Leader.

 5)     The Party Conference should be controlled by a subcommittee of the Party Board consisting of a majority of voluntary members of the Party.   There should be motions for debate and votes taken on those motions.

 The motions submitted by the local associations through their Executive Councils should be printed on the Party web site at the time the Agenda for the Party Conference is published.   Pre 1998 the Party Conference was run and controlled by the voluntary Party.   This change reverts back to that position.

6)     The Rules for the Election of the Party Leader to be incorporated within the main body of the Constitution.

 At present the Rules for the election of the Party Leader are controlled by the 1922 Committee which can and does change them without any reference to Party members.   For example in 2016 only a Proposer and Seconder were required for an MP to put his name forward as a candidate. In 2019 this changed to eight Nominations required.   In 2022 20 nominations were required. In late 2022 100 nominations required

 7)        The Party Constitution should be a democratic Constitution with the emphasis on directly involving members of the Party on the basis of One Member One Vote.

There are many areas of the Constitution that require reform.   For example: Regional/Area Officers should be elected by and accountable to the members of the Region/Area at an Annual General Meeting of the Region/Area to which all members residing in the Region/Area are invited.

The Rules of Local Associations need reform particularly relating to the suspension of members and the selection of local government candidates.   Is there a conflict between Councillors who are the local political voice of an Association also being Constituency Chairmen responsible for the organisation in the Constituency?

Objects and values of the Conservative Party should be included as an appendix to the Constitution.   At present they are called for but nowhere defined.