Friday, November 13, 2020

Conservative Party Constitution - Reforms needed now!

 

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!

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