Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Confidence Vote in Tory Party Leader - Time for Party members to have a say!


Last week I wrote to the Conservative Party Chairman.   I have not yet received a reply.
The letter is as follows:



Rt. Hon. Brandon Lewis, MP                                                                     5th November 2018
Chairman, The Party Board,
Conservative Campaign Headquarters,
4 Matthew Parker Street,
London
SW1H 9HQ


 Dear Brandon

Re: Election and De-Selection of the Conservative Party Leader

With reference to my letter of 20th August 2018 relating to the election of the Conservative Party Leader there has been continued speculation in the press about Conservative Members of Parliament triggering a vote of no confidence in the Party Leader.   In addition to the point I made in the letter that all candidates who have more than 20 MPs nominating them should be put to the members in a ballot, there are two further points which need consideration and action:

(1) The first point which arises relating to the election of the Leader is that on two occasions, i.e. Michael Howard and Theresa May the voluntary Party did not get a vote on the matter as there was only one candidate.   Under the present Party constitution Schedule 2 para.7 it states:

“In the event of there being only one valid nomination at the close of nominations prior to the first ballot being held by the Parliamentary Party for the election of the new Leader, the election of the nominee may if so ordered by the Board be ratified by a ballot of the Party Members and Scottish Party Members to be held within one month of the close of nomination”.

 I propose that in the above the following be deleted: “at the close of nominations prior to the first ballot being held by the Parliamentary Party” and “may if so ordered by the Board”
And insert after nominee “will

The effect of this change would be to ensure that in the event of only one nominee being put forward as Party Leader the Party members would be invited to endorse the nomination.   This process was used when William Hague was Leader.   It ensures that the Party as a whole is supporting the new Leader and acts as a unifying force.

(2) The second point is when the Chairman of the 1922 Committee receives the requisite number of letters expressing “no confidence” in the Leader.   At the moment this triggers a vote of the Parliamentary Party on the question of “confidence” in the Party Leader.

 The last time this happened was when Iain Duncan-Smith was Leader and he lost a vote of confidence by the Parliamentary Party.   There was considerable dissatisfaction at the time, in the voluntary Party, that the MPs had got rid of the Leader whom the voluntary Party had elected.   This was done on the grounds that the Leader could no longer count on the support of his parliamentary colleagues so his position was not sustainable.   We now know from the example of Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party that it is perfectly possible to act as Leader of a Party even without the majority support of your fellow MPs.

It is quite clear from the Party’s constitution that the intention is for the members of the Party to elect the Leader.   It is therefore quite bizarre that the Leader can be dismissed by a vote of just the parliamentary Party.   I therefore propose that in the event of the Chairman of the 1922 Committee receiving the requisite number of letters expressing “no confidence “ in the Leader there should be a ballot of all party members asking them for a vote of confidence in the Leader. In the event that the Leader receives less than 50% votes in the ballot there should then be a Leadership election.

Now that we have centrally organised membership it should be relatively easy and inexpensive for members to be balloted on these issues by use of the internet. 

I reiterate the point I made in my letter of 20th August 2018 that it is time for the Party to embrace democracy and allow full participation by the membership.   Only by doing this can we look forward to our membership growing. Could you please put these proposals to the Party Board for action.

Finally, I would emphasize the point I made to you at the Party Conference.   In 1998 with the new constitution all power in the Party was centralised into CCHQ.   In the 20 years prior to 1998 there were five General Elections and we won four.   In the 20 years post 1998 there have been five General Elections and we have won one.   There has to be a lesson here!

Yours sincerely  

 John E. Strafford

Chairman




Copy: Sir Graham Brady (Chairman 1922 Committee)


                                                                          20th August 2018


Rt. Hon. Brandon Lewis, MP
Chairman, The Party Board,
Conservative Campaign Headquarters,
4 Matthew Parker Street,
London
SW1H 9HQ


 Dear Brandon

Re: Proposed Changes to the Election of the Conservative Party Leader

There is much speculation that there will be a Leadership Election in the Conservative Party before the end of this Parliament.  One of the reasons for people to become members of the Party is that they can then participate in a Leadership election and yet in two out of the last four Leadership contests the members did not get a vote.   The Members of Parliament arranged that only one candidate was left to fight the election in 2003.   In 2016 we ended up with only one candidate and even in 2001 when the members got to vote the front runner was eliminated by one vote by the MPs.   In a modern political Party this is not acceptable.   The 1922 Committee should now change the rules so that all candidates who have more than 20 MPs nominating them will be put to the members in a ballot conducted on the Preferential Vote system of election, so that the winner will be the first candidate to get over 50% of the vote.

             This is the fair way to proceed and one advantage is that as all members participate there can be no division between the Parliamentary Party and the rest of the members as the figures as to how each part voted would not be known.

I am aware that under the Party Constitution the 1922 Committee is obliged to put two candidates forward for the members to vote on, but the Party Board has the power under Part IV section 17 of the Constitution “to do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the Party.”   It was under this clause that the entire section of the Constitution on the selection of parliamentary candidates was ignored at the General Election in 2017 so that CCHQ could impose candidates on the constituencies.                                                     

In 2016, when David Cameron resigned as Party Leader some 10,000 people joined the Party because they thought they would be able to vote in the subsequent Leadership election.   It is said that people are now joining the Party in anticipation of being able to participate in the next Leadership election.   I fear there will be mass resignations from the Party of its members if the MPs only put forward one candidate or stop a candidate who is popular with the members of the Party from b  eing included in the ballot.

It is time for the Party to embrace democracy and allow full participation by the membership.   Could you please put this proposal to the Party Board for their approval?

Yours sincerely

 John E. Strafford

Chairman




Copy: Sir Graham Brady (Chairman 1922Committee)