Conservative
Party Reform
On
17th November the ballot will close on amendments to the
Conservative Party Constitution. The
amendments are mainly on minor matters although increasing the centralisation
of power to the Establishment and CCHQ.
The changes have been discussed for five years! What a tragedy that the opportunity was not
taken for radical reform of the Party.
These reforms will not help to increase the membership of the Party in
any way. At the time of the Leadership
election a similar paper as follows below was sent to Boris Johnson and in
response he promised radical reform of the Party. It has not happened.
Recommendation: Members of the National Convention should either
not vote or vote against these amendments as a protest that radical reform has
been ignored!.
Incidentally,
no information has been given as to how this ballot will be monitored or
counted. In the past the Electoral
Reform Society has been employed to either conduct the ballot or monitor it. Is
there an independent body checking this ballot?
Current
Position
1)
Party Membership is 125-150,000. Approx. 10-15% are activists. To run a National Ground campaign in a
General Election you need approx. 500,000 members or 50,000 activists.
2)
The last General Election at which we had
500,000 members was in 1992. Since then
we have had 21 Party Chairmen who have presided over a declining membership and
done nothing about it. The last
National membership campaign was in 1988.
3)
Per the Feldman Review (2016), 290
Constituency Associations have fewer than 100 members. Only 50 associations have more than 500
members.
4)
Research has shown that people join
political parties for social reasons, and in order to participate in decision
making, either by voting on policy or voting for those that make policy.
5)
There is
huge gap between the views of the Voluntary Party and the actions of this
Conservative Government.
Objectives
1) To
increase Party membership to a minimum of 500,000.
2) To
eliminate the gap between Government action and the voluntary party on policy
issues by encouraging debate at the Party Conference/Spring Forum.
3) To
reverse the centralisation of the Party organisation by giving power back to
the members on candidate selection.
4) To
bring accountability into how the Party is organised by having elected
officials accountable to the membership.
5) To
enable the Constitution of the Party to be changed without going through a
lengthy process in what is now a rapidly changing world.
Five
Essential Reforms
1)
The National Convention should be replaced
by an Annual General Meeting to which all Party members are invited.
2)
The Chairman of the Party Board, Deputy
Chairman, Treasurer, Chairman of the Candidates Committee and Chairman of the
Policy Forum should be elected by and accountable to Party members and present
Annual reports to the Annual General Meeting.
3)
Constituency Associations should have the
right to determine who their Parliamentary Candidate should be with minimum
interference by CCHQ, with safeguards for Constituencies where the membership
is below a certain level.
4)
Motions for debate should be re-instated
at the Party Conference and/or at the Spring Forum.
5)
The Party Constitution should be capable
of being changed at a General Meeting of the Party by Party members on the
basis of One Member One Vote with a 60% majority. The present minor changes to
the Constitution have been under discussion for four years and nothing has happened.
Administration
1)
Party members have virtually no rights or
means of progressing these essential changes.
It is therefore critical for the Parliamentary Party to get involved. A
group of Conservative MPs together with a group of volunteers should meet and
agree the best way to pursue these reforms.
2)
The Executive of the 1922 Committee should
be asked for their support.
Communication
1) By
use of the internet communication can be speeded up.
2) Voting
on-line can be used for positions and for involvement of the membership in
proposed policies with independent monitoring of the results.
3) Social
media can be used for instant communication.
Without radical reform
the party will cease to exist!
