Who determines the quality of Conservative MPs of the future?

 Julian Ellacot responds:

Nearly two years ago when I was elected Chairman of the National Convention, my top commitment was to overhaul candidate selection, pledging:

“I will ensure that this is led by a senior volunteer as Chairman of Candidates, accountable to you, the Convention. Candidates must prove their Conservative credentials and campaigning abilities, and members must be fully involved in selecting them, well in advance of the next General Election.”

Working with Clare Hambro as a superb Chairman of Candidates, and with Kemi and her team, all the foundations for this are now in place, and we are on our way to selecting talented, committed and energetic Conservatives, ready to Get Britain Working Again. 

So Julian we continue with the disastrous selection process we have had for the last 25 years whereby a small group of people unelected, unaccountable to the ordinary members of the Party determine who can be a Conservative parliamentary Candidate. CCHQ's role should solely be to conduct due dilligence!

Go back to pre 1998 when the ordinary Party members decided who they wanted as their MP. The results then were high quality. Once again the ordinary members are being treated with contempt and you wonder why membership is collapsing.! Soon the Conservative Party will cease to exist as a membership organisation and inevitably the parliamentary party will go into decline?

As Per today's Sunday Telegraph

A powerful and clear statement from Kemi Badenoch about the quality of MP we need in future:

Conservative Parliamentary Candidates

• " must be clever"  What is "clever"   Is it a university degree or what?   The Candidates Committee will decide!
• "have charisma"   Who decides someone has charisma - the Candidates Committee!
• "communication skills" How is this assessed and by whom? - the Candidates Committee!
• "conviction" - Conviction in what?   The Candidates Committee will decide!
• "most importantly, be Conservative" For the last 25 years the Candidates Committee didn't understand what being a Conservative meant!   What has changed.?
• So there we are.   The Candidates Committee must be super human with all these abilities.   Perhaps they should be judged by ordinary members of the party to see if they meet up to the same criteria they are imposing on the parliamentary candidates!