A Draft New Conservative Party Constitution has been issued. I set out below various comments on particular clauses. I welcome any comments.
Draft New Conservative Party Constitution (4)
Sch 7-3 1 NAME and AFFILIATION
1.1 The name of the Association shall be
“............ Conservative Association” (if the Association covers a single
Parliamentary Constituency) or “…. Conservative Federation” (if the Association
covers more than a single Parliamentary Constituency).
Hereafter, for
this draft, the term “Association” is used throughout, but could be amended to
say “Association/Federation” if desired.
Delete:
Conservative Federation” (if the Association covers more than a single
Parliamentary Constituency).
Hereafter, for this draft, the term
“Association” is used throughout
1.2 The Association
shall be a member of, and affiliated to, The Conservative and Unionist Party
(“the Party”) and shall at all times be bound by the Constitution of the Party
(as amended 1 January 2027 and thereafter), and any rules laid down by the
Board.
Delete
: , and any rules laid down by the Board
Sch 7-4 Objects
The Objects of the Association shall be
to sustain and promote the objects and values of the Party in the Parliamentary
constituency of ...................... (“the Constituency”); to provide an
effective campaigning organisation in the Constituency; to secure the return of
Conservative Candidates at elections; and to raise the necessary funds to
achieve these objectives; to contribute to the central funds of the Party.
Proposed change
The Association’s primary objective, in support of the Party’s
Purpose (as set out in Part I of the Constitution) is to secure the return of Conservative
Party candidates at elections, by providing an effective campaign organisation and
the raising of funds to do so.
Ignore
the proposed change and stick with the original.
Sch
7-5 3 Membership
3.2 All members of the Association shall be
bound by the Constitution of the Party, the Party’s Code of Conduct, and any rules set out by the Board.
Delete: “the Party’s Code of Conduct,
and any rules set out by the Board.”
Existing rule:
3.3 All
members of the Association shall have the right to attend and vote at any
General Meeting (including an Annual or Special General Meeting) of the
Association or Branch of which they are members, save that no member of the
Association may vote or nominate, propose or second any person or motion at any
meeting of the Association unless they have been a member of that Association
for at least three months prior to the date of the meeting.
Proposed
All members of the Association shall
have the right to attend and vote at a General Meeting, provided that they have
been a member of that Association for at least three months prior to the date
of the vote, and fulfil any other requirements of being Qualifying Members as
set out by the Board from time to time.
The existing rule is sufficient, so
stick with the existing rule. Why
should the Board have the power to determine “other requirements of being a
Qualifying Member”? They could say that
only people with red hair should be qualifying members! This is control freakery gone mad. If the Board was accountable to the members
the position would be different!
Existing rule:
3.5 The Officers of the Association may move
before the Executive Council the suspension or termination of membership of the
Association of any member whose declared opinions or conduct shall, in their
judgement, be inconsistent with the objects or financial well-being of the
Association or be likely to bring the Party into disrepute. Similarly, the
Officers may move the refusal of membership of the Association for the same
reasons. Following such a motion, the Executive Council may by a majority vote
suspend, terminate or refuse membership for the same.
Proposed:
The Management Team may propose to the
Executive Council the suspension or termination of membership of the
Association of any member whose declared opinions or conduct shall, in their
judgement, be inconsistent with the objective or financial well-being of the
Association or be likely to bring the Party into disrepute (as defined in the
Code of Conduct).
Similarly, the Management Team may move
the refusal of membership of the Association for the same reasons.
Following such a motion, the Executive
Council may by a majority vote suspend, terminate or refuse membership for the
same reason.
The Board shall set any procedures or
rules to be followed in order for a suspension, termination or refusal of
membership to be considered valid.
The existing rule is perfectly
satisfactory and should be retained. Once again we have proposed widening powers of the Board to do what ever they like. I am afraid the Board has got a dose of
control freakery. They have destroyed
any vestige of democracy in the Conservative Party. The end result, if all these changes go
through will be the death of the Conservative Party.
Sch 7-6 4
Honorary Positions
Proposed:
4.1 The members of the Association shall elect a President at each AGM. The President shall be a non-voting member of
the Executive Council. The President shall not be an Officer.
Insert after Officer:
“The term of office of the President shall be a maximum of five years.”
Proposed
4.3 The members of the
Association may, at a General Meeting, elect as Honorary Vice-Presidents or
Patrons persons who have made an exceptional contribution to the Party. These Honorary Vice-Presidents or Patrons
shall retain this title for however long they remain as a member of the Party,
unless the Executive Council resolves to require them to submit to re-election
at the subsequent AGM. This role does
not confer any ex-officio rights to any other role within the Association or
its Committees.
Delete: or Patrons shall retain this title for however long they remain as a
member of the Party, unless the Executive Council resolves to require them to to submit to re-election at the subsequent AGM.
Insert after Vice -Presidents
shall be subject to re-election at subsequent AGMs.
Sch 7-7
5 Officers
Proposed:
5.1.3a Within an
Association comprising more than one Parliamentary constituency (namely a
Federation), Constituency Officers for each of those constituencies.
Delete
5.1.4 With the exception of the roles of Deputy
Chairman (Membership & Fundraising) and of Treasurer, which may be held by
the same person, no person shall hold more than one of
the Principal Officer roles.
Delete :With the exception of the roles of Deputy
Chairman (Membership & Fundraising) and of Treasurer, which may be held by
the same person,
An Officer of one Association may only stand
for election for an Officer position in another Association if the two
Associations are within the same Area and prior consent of the Area Management
Executive is given.
Delete
Should there be restrictions on sitting councillors being eligible
to stand as Chairman, or any Officer role?
(If so, should it exclude current Officers?
Insert:”A sitting Councillor shall not be the Constituency
Chairman.”
Councillors are accountable to the Constituency Association. There
is a conflict of interest if the same person is a Councillor and the
Constituency Chairman.
Should there be restrictions on paid staff (of the Association, CCHQ
and/or an MP or candidate) being eligible to stand as Chairman, or any Officer
role?
Paid staff of the Association or CCHQ may only be appointed to a non
voting position. An MP or parliamentary
candidate is not eligible to stand as the Chairman of their Constituency
Association.
Proposed
5.6 If an Officer ceases to hold office, for whatever reason, the
Executive Council shall elect their successor who shall hold office until the
next Annual General Meeting. An officer so elected will be deemed to have served
a year, for the purposes of clause [X], if by the time of that Annual General
Meeting they have been in post for six months or more.
Should any such vacancies be required to be advertised first?
No
Should there be a mechanism for removing an Officer during their
term?
An Officer may be removed from office at a General Meeting of the
Association by a vote of no confidence.
Should provision be made for Associations to elect Officers using an
online ballot with results reported to the AGM, if they so wish?
No
Proposed
The Board may set out mandatory training
for Officers.
Delete “The
Board may set out mandatory training for Officers.”
Who is going to monitor all these Board
requirements? If we continue to keep on
increasing the Board’s power to demand more and more from the officer soo we
will find that no one is prepared to be an officer. Then what?
Sch-10
Existing:
5.10 Ensure that accounts for the year ending
31 December prior have been approved by the Executive Council and are available
for presentation to members, regardless of whether they have been submitted to
the Party or any regulatory body prior; Produce a Report
on the Association’s activities in the year.
5.10.1 prepare all Association accounts which shall be
submitted for audit or certification by a person or persons appointed by the
Association and a certified true copy of the duly audited or certificated
statements of accounts shall be available for all members of the Association
and shall be sent to the Area Management Executive immediately following the
Annual General Meeting of the Association; and
5.10.2 produce a Constituency Report which shall be available
for all members of the Association and shall be sent to the Area Management
Executive immediately following the Annual General Meeting of the Association
and shall include the following information:
Not less than
one month prior to the Annual General Meeting of the Association, the
Management Team shall:
Ensure that
accounts for the year ending 31 December prior have been approved by the
Executive Council and are available for presentation to members, regardless of
whether they have been submitted to the Party or any regulatory body prior;
Proposed
Produce a Report on the Association’s
activities in the year to 31 December
prior, in line with any rules laid down for the purpose by the Board. The Report shall be circulated with the
Notice of the AGM to all entitled to that Notice.
Stick to the existing rules. Under the proposal once again we see
the unaccountable Board asking for carte blanche to introduce whatever it
wants.
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