Leadership and Parliamentary Candidate Selection by Mark Taha

 Leadership and Parliamentary Candidate Selection 

by

Mark Taha

"Re candidate selection- I believe in fixed term four yearly general elections at the beginning of May. All candidates to.be selected the previous January by one member one vote postal ballot with Alternative Vote, the shortlist consisting of anyone who can get a proposer and seconder from the local party members. Each member would be sent a ballot paper and another piece of paper with a maximum 100-word election address from each prospective candidate. Bye- election candidates to be selected in the same way as far as possible.

For the party leadership- annual election every July. 10% of MPs to nominate each candidate. Postal ballot of all members - if nobody gets over 50% a runoff among MPs between the top two. The leader nominates their deputy and makes all other appointments subject to confirmation by MPs. If the leadership falls vacant during the year, the deputy leader takes over."

Comment by John Strafford:  Interesting proposal, although postal ballots are too expensive at a local level.   The internet could be used instead.

Decisions at the COPOV Forums, 11 December & 25 September

 At the COPOV Forum on 11th December attendance was 28 with representatives from nine Constituency Associations.   The following votes were taken:

1) Should vaccinations for COVID19 be made compulsory?

Only one person was in favour.

2) Should vaccination passports be introduced and used for entry into different venues?.

The vote on this was 7 in favour and 11 against, others abstaining.

3) Should Boris Johnson resign as Prime Minister immediately?

A clear majority thought that he should resign now.

At the COPOV Forum meeting held on the 25th September the following motion was passed unanimously:

"COPOV believes that it is in the long term interests of the Conservative Party for the Party Board to relinquish its ultimate control of all decision making and for the Conservative Party to become an accountable, accessible, democratically elected organisation."