THE
PLAN: THE MEMBERS’ DECLARATION
THE MEMBERS’ DECLARATION - WHAT THE CAMPAIGN FOR
CONSERVATIVE PARTY DEMOCRACY WILL CAMPAIGN FOR:
1. STRONGER ASSOCIATIONS, AND ONLY VOLUNTARY FEDERATIONS: That
Associations and their members are the rock bed of the Conservative Party –
they are the volunteers who devote huge time, resources and devotion to the
party, through fair weather and foul, delivering leaflets, knocking on doors
and supporting fundraising events.
Associations should be supported, strengthened, listened
to and expanded; not be undermined, overruled, ignored or destroyed by an over centralised
or autocratic party structure, or any forced immersion into more remote
‘federations’ or ‘super associations’ just to make up for falling membership, but
only on a voluntary basis. We need to put individual members back at the centre
of the party, and provide better reasons for members to join the party, which
will make it easier to recruit and retain member, of all age groups - but
particularly younger members.
The Party Constitution should be amended to put associations
back at the centre of the party (before the 1998 Hague Constitution, the
Conservative Party did not exist – it was associations). As the academic Bale
notes, ‘the reforms also granted unprecedented rights to the centre to
intervene in the affairs of associations deemed to be failing to meet specified
‘minimum criteria’ on membership, fund-raising and campaigning’.
The confusion over the roles of regional and area party
officers and representatives should be resolved by scrapping regional party
structures, which were a by-product of the 12 MEP (Member of the European
Parliament) regions, which will cease to be relevant post Brexit in 2019.
Instead Area organisations should be strengthened but not through Central
Office place men, but by representatives of associations and by professional
agents shared with or provided by associations in a bottom up rather than a top
down approach.
On the youth side, the party has been beset by problems
with its youth organisations over many years: notable was Party Chairman Lord
Tebbit having to close down the FCS – the Federation of Conservative Students -
in 1986 for an alleged ‘riot’ and article condemning Macmillan for war crimes,
and the recent closure of the national executive of Conservative Future (CF) - which
was founded in 1998 at the time of Hague’s constitutional reforms and which
controversially blended the Young Conservatives, Conservative Collegiate Forum
(which replaced FCS) and the National Association of Conservative Graduates
together - after CF’s tragic suicide and bullying allegations.
It is suggested that young people be a vital part of strengthening
local associations instead, with a return to the ‘Young Conservatives’ label and
a rich social as well as political programme, but within local associations,
with an age limit of 30 not the proposed 26 for CF, with officer positions at
association or even branch level, an opportunity to be elected for a Board
position(s), and also the establishment of a national ‘Conservative graduates
and professionals’ organisation for networking and candidate recruitment with
some party budget support.
2. AN ELECTED PARTY LEADER: The central right of party
members under the 1998 Hague Constitution directly to elect the Leader of the
Party must be restored and revamped. This in itself would help reenergise the
Party, and give members a rationale for membership. A vote should always be held
to appoint a new Leader.
The Leader of the Party should retain the responsibility
for political campaigns, as this involves political decision making, though
this should still be channeled via Conservative Campaign Headquarters in consultation
with the elected Party Chairman as the voice of the members on
campaigning.
3. AN ELECTED PARTY CHAIRMAN: That the Party Chairman or
Chairperson must be a representative of Conservative members and activists to
the Prime Minister and Government, not be merely a representative or mouthpiece
of the Prime Minister and Government to the party and its members. They should
be elected on an annual basis by the whole membership, and should be
accountable to members and not politicians.
They should be the voice of the membership and its views,
not that of the Government, and they should have a decisive voice on whether a
General Election is held or not. The elected Party Chairman would sit in
Cabinet, but not be a Parliamentarian, preside over the Party Conference and be
a key element in the Party’s Campaigns, for the General Election, local and
other elections such as Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners. The elected
Chairman post would take the place of the Chairman of the National Convention,
whilst covering many of those important representative functions. They and
their (elected) deputies would chair the Spring and October Party Conferences.
4. AN APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE (CEO): The Party’s
political, and its executive and administrative functions should be split up,
with the political functions overseen by the elected Party Chairman and the
non-political by an appointed CEO. The CEO should be appointed on a
professional basis with a CV to back it up, and not be just a party activist or
volunteer. But they should be approved by a vote of the whole Board. The CEO
should oversee functions such as funding, accounts, membership records and
support for Campaigns and be selected on the basis of managerial and
administrative ability, and conduct a thorough review of the functions and
personnel of CCHQ. They would report to the Party Leader on a day to day basis,
and to the entire membership on these functions at every Spring Conference, but
not be elected as they are primarily a professional functionary
5. DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR DEPUTY/CO-CHAIRMEN OF THE PARTY
AND BOARD MEMBERS: At present, too many individuals are appointed as Deputy or
Vice Chairmen on the basis of personal contacts and favours, and later offered
honours for their work. This is undemocratic, unaccountable, and is mysterious
and untrustworthy to the membership, as well as those on the outside looking
in.
Existing position holders should lose their titles, and
all such appointments or re-appointments in future be made subject to a direct
vote of the membership, possibly using e-voting, with the results being
announced at Spring Conference. The Party Board should have 3 or 4 members
delegated to the Board and be elected by the membership, with one being
reserved for a youth representative. The representatives for Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland should normally be the Chairman of the national party but
be subject also to election by the national membership.
6. REFORM OF PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE SELECTION AND A
DIRECTLY ELECTED HEAD OF CANDIDATES ELECTED ANNUALLY: That the methods of
candidate selection to date overseen by the central party have been wholly
unacceptable: undemocratic, unaccountable, dictatorial, London centric and
contemptuous of the associations.
Conservative Home’s analysis of candidate selection in
2017 by Mark Wallace concluded: “I have heard deep unhappiness from people whom
I have never heard complain once in years of hard work and unfulfilled
ambitions. Put simply, a lot of
candidates are angry – particularly, but not exclusively, those who were passed
over. Time and again, I’ve heard the same argument: the process “makes a
mockery of meritocracy”, it “has left me and many other Conservative activists
doubting the very foundations of the organisation we have supported for
decades”, “I feel sick and betrayed”, “what really kills is the kids [selected]
who haven’t fought seats before…unproven ones”, CCHQ has exhibited “a lack of
meritocracy and they have favourites”, and so on.”
Recently we have seen the Party centrally imposing candidates
on local associations with no real discussion or consultation accompanied by
threats to impose candidates unwanted by local associations and the threat of
‘special measures’ if these instructions are not followed.
This takes away a fundamental right for members of local
associations to determine themselves which candidates they select – one of the
most important rights members have and one that has a great bearing how much
support a successful candidate obtains if activists are left angry or
demoralised.
This will end. Under the new rules, a strict criteria for
invoking ‘special measures’ will ensure that legally CCHQ is unable to abuse its
use.
On timing as well, because of CCHQ’s centralist control,
many associations have also wanted to select early but have been unable to do
so. Greater member control will mean this can be done according to the local
association’s desired timetable.
The Party Candidates Committee and its supporting
Department must be closed in its entirety, and officials such as Amanda Slater,
Party Deputy Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Candidates Committee and Head of Candidates,
Gareth Fox, be dismissed with immediate effect, with any honours such as MBEs
or Baroness/Dame positions vetoed by the Party. Questions need to be asked at the
alleged role of the Party Treasurer in Candidate Selection.
A new Candidates Department should be established
separately and independently from CCHQ, importantly in a different office
location such as Manchester, and be under the control of associations and the
elected Chairman and elected Head of Candidates.
The new Head of Candidates should not be an obscure,
unknown individual or be a Deputy/Vice Chairman of the Party and be elected annually.
They should be elected on the basis of management ability, political judgement
and professional experience, and conduct selections in a straightforward and
transparent manner. The aim of Candidate Selection must no longer be to fill
quotas or to promote personally favoured candidates or to keep the list to a
small elite, but be simply to ensure that candidates are talented, well
qualified and have no serious issues such as criminal records, unacceptable
conduct or financial bankruptcy.
Parliamentary Assessment Boards (PABs) must be conducted
professionally and transparently to clearly agreed and understood criteria,
published publicly well in advance, and recognise merit by a simple scoring
system. For example, points being awarded for fighting ‘no hope’
seats well, local council work, charity or voluntary work, media performance,
speech performance. Instead of Pass and Fail for PABs, grades should be issued
as Pass, Fail with chance to reapply following courses and further work in
weaker areas, and Fail owing to serious criteria (such as the uncovering of
unacceptable past conduct or personality issues separate to or in confirmation
of other professional vetting processes).
Those failing PABs should have a right of appeal, be
clearly shown how they can improve and be offered suitable remedial training in
weaker areas, and the right to apply for one further PAB. Local Candidates for
selection for their local seats only may be allowed with quick PABs held just
for that purpose - but not over the telephone or Skype, but face to face in a
proper manner.
It should also be the case that local associations should
have more powers and a clearer mechanism to remove MPs who are not performing
at all satisfactorily, or whose relationship with the association has seriously
broken down (this does not refer to inevitable minor or character or policy differences
but to major recurrent problems or seriously unacceptable behaviour to
detriment of party or association).
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should draw from
this central register of names but continue to operate their own independent
lists mindful of national sensitivity and their appeal to national voters, but
have a commonality of UK quality and very similar procedures to the UK,
overseen by the nationally elected Party Chairman and Head of Candidates.
Local Associations should also be able to select their
choice of local candidates for Parliamentary selection (With CCHQ vetting) and
to go onto the selection shortlist for just that seat, rather than a central
list of imposed candidates only for short listing. That would give local
Associations a say and give local candidates a chance, as the PAB process and
central list is inaccessible to some.
As regarding selecting local rather than Parliamentary
candidates – for local council elections (district, borough, unitary), mayoral,
Police & Crime Commissioner, assembly elections, there must be a wider
involvement of whole associations, who should have the right to stand and to
all vote on candidates, instead of a more insular and limited approach of
association officers choosing local candidates. This again will help revitalise
local associations and their branches.
7. MEMBERS TO BE ALLOWED TO INPUT MORE INTO POLICY
MANIFESTO THROUGH A REVAMPED AND EXPANDED SPRING PARTY CONFERENCE,WITH AN
ELECTED HEAD OF PARTY POLICY ELECTED ANNUALLY TO COLLATE AND REPRESENT MEMBERS’
VIEWS: The October Party Conference has become too remote from the members and
activists, and too expensive for them to attend, leading in turn to very poor
attendance by MPs, but is a proven money spinner for the party and a
professional presentation platform, whilst Conservative Policy Forums are not
as supported as well in the past
It is therefore proposed the Spring Conference, which has
become a ‘grudge’ mandatory event with faltering attendance, be reinvigorated
and expanded in importance and function to mirror ‘old style’ Party Conferences
Conservative activists should be encouraged to have
proper debates, as used to happen at October Party Conferences, and be
encouraged to put forward policy manifesto proposals here, including through
motions agreed at association level and also through Conservative Policy Centre
initiatives.
A proposed Head of Party Policy should be elected annually
with the job of collating and representing the policy opinions of members but
NOT to write election manifestos, but to be a key part of that manifesto team
to help avoid the disastrous manifesto mistakes in the recent General Election,
backed by the Party Chairman.
Unusually, Ministers would be here to listen and respond to
members’ views, including impromptu speeches from the floor, and not be there
to promote their own policies. Ministers would then take from the Spring
Conference to propose their own policy platforms at the October Party
Conference, which will remain primarily to sell party policies to the media, interest
and business groups, similar to now.
The Spring Conference should be cheaper in terms of pass
prices and accommodation for attendees, returning to venues such as Bournemouth
and Harrogate, to encourage as much participation as possible by members of all
ages and incomes.
8. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SUPPORT: The associations must
be offered professional support to market their events, meetings and activities,
and to improve the membership ‘product offering’ – members need to see a point
to paying their membership fees, and being able to choose the MP, help
influence policies, attend party conferences at a reasonable cost, have a fair
chance of candidate selection, and be involved in interesting political and
social events for example, much of which has been lost.
The onus must be on building up associations through promoting
and incentivising extra membership, more appealing events and more successful
fundraising. Whilst most of this Declaration’s initiatives promote
decentralisation of functions, it is suggested that membership be centralised
along the lines of the National Trust for example, with efficient central
records and administration of members, but with far better interaction with
local associations.
9. WORKING FOR ALL UK PARTY CONSTITUTIONS TO BE
DEMOCRATISED: It is unacceptable that all UK political party constitutions are
so weak and limited as to be on a par legally with a golf club. This allows too
much control at the centre and leads to frequent unjust treatment of members. We
pledge to work with other parties on legislation for party constitutional
changes and requirements to help democratise all parties and head off
infiltration and takeovers from within such as by Momentum or by Militant in
Labour.
10. IMPROVE THE MAKING AND DISSEMINATION OF PARTY RULES:
Local associations are too often made subject to rules passed down from the
centre from the Party Board without any true consultation, often leading to misunderstandings
of what the rules are. Instead a framework of rules should be handed to each Association
and each executive should be allowed to decide whether the rules are
appropriate for them. This would help to make each Association or grouping
autonomous, giving a real sense of ownership and belonging.
THE
PLAN: NOTE ON NEW BOARD AND ON CANDIDATES COMMITTEE
New composition of the Board: A Party Board for the 21st
Century
The Board is the ultimate decision-making body of the
Conservative Party. It is responsible for all operational matters including;
fundraising, membership and candidates. It is made up of representatives from
each section of the Party - the voluntary, political and professional.
It is proposed to amend the composition of the Party
Board to provide a more streamlined and efficient method of decision-making.
The Board will consist of:
Leader of the Conservative Party
Chairman of the Conservative Party (and Chairman of the
Party Board) (elected)
Chief Executive of the Conservative Party (appointed)
Treasurer of the Conservative Party
Chairman of the Conservative Councillors’ Association
Chairman of the Scottish & Unionist Conservative
Party
Chairman of the Welsh Conservative Party
Chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party
Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament
(until Brexit in 2019)
Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers
Chairman of the 1922 Committee
Secretary to the Board
Head of Candidates (elected)
3 or 4 delegates representing the membership (elected) –
one of which should be a youth representative
Co-opted members in attendance – 3-4 MPs
All other current positions will be closed.
New composition of the Candidates Committee
Recommended for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland
Elected Head of Candidates – Chairman of Candidates
Committee
• The Head
of Candidates and Candidates Committee Chairman shall be the ultimate authority
on the Candidates Committee; working closely with the Party Chairman (below),
who should have overall responsibility for candidates. Their role will not be
to grandstand or monitor candidates themselves, but will be to attract high
quality candidates for associations based on merit not on social engineering of
personal favouritism, to manage the administration and communications process
efficiently, to oversee independent vetting agencies who vet candidates for
criminal records, fraud, bankruptcy or other unsuitability, oversee fair and
balanced Parliamentary Assessment Boards (PABs), and support associations
fairly and without prejudice respecting the independence of their selections;
• Only serving or past Chairmen of a
parliamentary constituency Association are entitled to stand for this position;
• Each
candidate for the position of Chairman of the Candidates Committee must have a
minimum of three years’ experience as an Association Chairman before they are
eligible to stand;
• Each
candidate should also be able to demonstrate suitable professional skills in
administration, human resources or management functions.
• The Head
of Candidates shall be responsible for establishing and disseminating fair,
transparent and clear rules on candidate selection and criteria. The intention
will be to find a rich variety of well qualified candidates with many different
skills and experience and range of backgrounds, but built always on merit not
on quotas or any form of discrimination;;
• The Head of Candidates/Chairman
will be elected by secret ballot at a meeting of all members at the Spring
Conference, based on their plan for attracting, vetting and training candidates,
and on hustings;
• The
election for this position will take place every two years, at the Spring Conference, and must coincide with the
drawing up of the new style Approved Candidates List;
• The
successful candidate must serve the full two year term, but in the event that
he/she is unable to serve a full term, a by-election will take place, and the
same process will be followed;
• No person
can serve for more than three terms;
Party Chairman
• The
Party Chairman will be directly elected by the entire registered membership
every two years at the Spring Conference based on their manifestos sent at
least a month in advance, and on hustings. Though attending Cabinet, they will
represent the party membership to the Government and not the Government or
Prime Minister to party members, and must be consulted on whether to hold a
General Election or not;
• He/she
sits on the Candidate Committee to convey the views and criteria required by
the Party members, particularly those of association Chairmen, officers and
activists and not that of the Government of HM Opposition;
• Whether
in Government or Opposition, the Party must be supported by the best available
talent who can act as Government or Shadow Ministers, and it is the Chairman’s
responsibility to work with the Head of Candidates to find it.
Chairman of the 1922 Committee
• He/she
will represent the Party in the House of Commons in the selection of
candidates;
• Candidates
successfully elected to the House will be expected to work with their new
colleagues in the Parliamentary Party, so it is right that backbenchers are
represented in the search for the right candidate.
Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers
• He/she
will represent the Party in the House of Lords in the selection of candidates;
• His/her
previous experience in politics will help the Committee identify the standard
required of candidates to maintain a high calibre of Lords, MPs and candidates
across the country.
Head of Candidates Support staff
• The Head
of Candidates/Chairman will be supported by two full time paid staff who are
not members of the Committee, but employed to execute its wishes. They are
answerable to him/her. As an important statement of independence from the
central office, these staff will work from their own separate office outside of
London, doubling up at an area office such as Manchester or Birmingham.
• Ideally,
they will be employed owing to a professional career in the recruitment sector
to improve the vetting and development of candidates selected to join the list.
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