John Strafford: The Conservative Party no longer belongs to its members.
No wonder it faces an existential crisis.
The Conservative Party faces an
unprecedented existential threat. This arises because there is a wide gap
between the hierarchy of the Party, backed by parts of the Parliamentary Party,
and the voluntary Party members. The hierarchy of the Party includes the
Leader, Party Chairman, Deputy Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, and Treasurer, none of
whom have been elected by the members. The backbenchers are reliant on the
hierarchy for their promotion within the Party and in Government, and so are
mainly deferential to that hierarchy.
The gap between the hierarchy and
the members has been growing for the last 20 years since the introduction of
the Party’s constitution, and has been brought to a head by Brexit. Roughly 60
per cent of the hierarchy and Parliamentary Party supported remaining in the
E.U, whilst 70 per cent of the members of the Party want to leave the E.U. If
we do not leave the E.U. on terms that are acceptable to the members of the
Party, large numbers will leave it – hence the existential threat. How have we
arrived at this appalling situation? We must go back to 1998 to see how this
gap was created.
Once the 1998 constitution was
brought in, CCHQ began to demolish all lines of communication between the
members and the hierarchy. All the checks and balances which existed prior to
1998 were abolished. Pre-1998, the annual Party Conference was organised and
run by the National Union (i.e: the voluntary Party). It invited the Leader and
other Ministers to speak at the conference. There were motions for debate
tabled at the conference and published in a handbook. Votes were taken on the
motions. After CCHQ took over, 1999 was the last Conference at which we had
motions for debate.
So what else happened after 1998?
The Central Council of voluntary
members met twice a year and the Party Chairman and other Ministers used to
attend. It consisted of several thousand members, including representatives of
the Women’s Organisation, Young Conservatives and others and at which motions
for debate on Party organisation were tabled. It was abolished.
The National Union Executive
Committee which was regularly addressed by the Party Leader and had elected
representatives by the membership was abolished.
Regional meetings for Party
members which used to be held four times a year and which had officers elected
by the members, motions for debate etc, were all abolished with a couple of
exceptions.
Regional meetings of the
Conservative Political Centre (CPC) which had officers elected by the members
and which discussed policy issues were abolished, also with a couple of
exceptions.
The National Committee of the CPC
which had members elected by the membership of the Party and which had meetings
with the Leader was abolished.
The Annual Conference of the CPC
which any member could attend and which was addressed by Ministers was
abolished.
The Spring Forum 2019 has been
cancelled.
All the lines of communication
between the Party hierarchy and the ordinary membership of the Party have been
eliminated.
One of the main reasons CCHQ
wanted control was so that they could control the Conservative MPs. Prior to
1998, constituency associations had effective control of their candidates in a
general election. This issue came to a head in the general election of 1997
when CCHQ asked the Tatton Constituency Association to drop Neil Hamilton as
their candidate. They refused, and Hamilton was defeated by Martin Bell.
Under the new Constitution, CCHQ
was determined to take control ,and this came to a head just before the general
election of 2005 when Howard Flight had the Conservative whip withdrawn by
Michael Howard – thereby removing his right to stand as a Conservative
candidate.
The Leader not only controls
Conservative MPs but also, through the Party Board, aanyone who wishes to
become a MP, because the Board appoints the Chairman of the Candidates
Committee which determines who may be a Conservative Candidate.
In the 20 years since 1998 there
have been five general elections. The Conservative Party has won one of them.
In the 20 years prior to the constitution there were five general elections.
The Conservative Party won four of them.
In promoting the benefits of being
a member of the Conservative Party, it is always pointed out that you can elect
the Leader of the Party. However, in every recent leadership election to date
there have been attempts to frustrate the members’ rights.
In 1998, when William Hague
introduced the new constitution, he was anointed by the membership, a year
after his election by MPs, without any competitor. In 2001, Michael Portillo
was the front runner and the MPs wanted the run off to be between him and Iain
Duncan-Smith, so they transferred votes from Portillo to Duncan-Smith. The
result was that Portillo lost by one vote to Ken Clarke. In 2003, Michael
Howard was the only name put forward, so the members didn’t get a vote.
In 2005, Michael Howard tried to
change the Party Constitution so that MPs would have the final say on who
should be Leader. The change was defeated. In 2016, only one name came forward,
so the members didn’t get a vote. Not a good record for Party democracy is it?
At a local level, many
Associations have dispensed with holding adoption meetings, so members no
longer have a say on whether their MP should continue.
I have mentioned the gap that
exists between the Party hierarchy and the membership of the Party. That gap
has been growing for the last 20 years and Brexit has brought it to a head –
but the issues at stake range wider than is Brexit. Traditional Conservative
principles seem to have been forgotten. Now we have regulation poured onto
regulation – the State gets ever bigger. I am reminded of Hayek’s book The
Road to Serfdom in which he explains that at the end of the road, after
regulation has been imposed on regulation, you end up with a totalitarian
state, tyranny and dictatorship. I can see the end of the road.
Now, before it is too late, is
the time to reform the Conservative Party. We must close the gap between the
party hierarchy and the members. That can only happen with member involvement.
We can start by having an Annual
General Meeting to which all Party members are invited We can elect the Party
Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Treasurer, Chairman of Candidates and Chairman of
the Conservative Policy Forum and make them accountable to Party members. We
can have a Party Conference at which members can table motions for debate and
on which votes are taken, but most of all: we must have a Constitution, which
can be amended on the basis of One Member One Vote. That is democracy. Without
it, the Conservative Party will slowly drain away down the plug hole of
history.
