The Way We Were! Conservative Party Conferences!

 Do you remember what Conservative Party Conferences were like?                                                                      A Trip down Memory Lane.

Reform Party Rule Changes. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

 REFORM PARTY ISSUES NEW RULES

Last year the Reform Party introduced a Constitution which was passed by the members of the Party in General Meeting.   The Constitution was 17 pages in length.   Since then the Party Board, on which a majority of the members are appointed by Nigel Farage issued the Rules for the election of Party Board members (just three of them, so they do not form a majority) and the Rules for Branches/Constituency Associations, (22 pages long) without going back to the members for their approval!   Thus the Dictatorship of Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuk who control the Party continues.   This is not the way a democratic political Party works!   Members have no say on policy and organisation is effectively controlled by the Leader who has a majority of his appointments on the Party Board.   Eventually the members will realise this and start to walk away from the Party.   In May 2025 the Party claimed to have over 230,000 members.  According to the Rules for the election of the Party Board this is now 227,000.

The Reform Party are repeating the error which the Conservative Party has made, (the Original Conservative Constitution was 55 pages long, today it is over 150 pages long) creating a vast bureaucratic organisation controlled by the elite.

Not all is bad in the changes which have been introduced by Reform:

Rules for the election of the Party Board

First of all congratulations, the three members of the Party Board are to be elected directly by the ordinary Party members in a nationwide ballot.   This is in stark contrast to the Conservative Party which has no members directly elected to their Party Board by ordinary Party members.

The bad news is that under the rules each candidate must

 1.1.3.  pay a £100 non-refundable application fee and,

 1.1.4. like anyone standing for election for the Party, pass the vetting process.

The vetting process at the moment is very extensive including, we are told, psychiatric testing, so much so that it is said that it will be simplified!

The question is: Who judges the results of the process and are they accountable to the members?

Branch/Constituency Rules

Here the position is mixed.   There are some very good detailed rules which the Conservative Party should look at and incorporate within its own Constitution.   However there are also some rules which strengthen the dictatorial control of the Party by the Party Board and ultimately Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuk!

Rules:

4.13 Branch Officers must sign an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) and will complete Party-approved GDPR training prior to their confirmation and prior to gaining access to any Party systems.

The wording of the NDA is not given but generally Non Disclosure Agreements are used by very powerful people to stop not so powerful people speaking out.   For transparency the wording of an NDA should be shown so members can judge whether it is reasonable.

4.15 A National or Regional Director may at their sole discretion, replace and/or remove any interim Branch Officer for any reason they consider pertinent.

Nowhere in the Party’s Constitution does it mention National or Regional Director so presumably these have been created  and appointed by the Party Board without reference to the membership so who are they accountable to?

5.7 is a strange requirement and indicates that the Party hierarchy do not trust the members!

National/Regional Directors are not elected, they are appointed, At any time they can come in to a branch and take the position of chair to control meetings.  This is control freakery at its worst!

6.18 If branches call emergency meetings to discuss a problem the National or Regional Director can cancel these meetings at any time.   Once again we see a complete lack of democracy and distrust of ordinary members.

 

ALL SPEAKERS MUST BE APPROVED. Reform don't trust their branches organising speakers, they must be approved now by HQ.   This is extraordinary.   Once again the lack of trust by the hierarchy is highlighted by this clause!

15 Waiver

15.1    The Party Chairman, Vice Chairman, National Directors, and their duly authorised appointees, may at their absolute discretion, revoke, suspend or waive any Branch Rule at any time with or without notice.

This says it all   For the avoidance of any doubt we the Party hierarchy can do what ever we please and the ordinary Party member has no recourse.   This is called dictatorship.   It isn’t democracy!

Conservative Party Democracy Area and Region!

 

Conservative Party Democracy - Area and Region!

On Friday 1st August Stuart Andrew MP sent the following statement to every Conservative Party member: 

Building a thriving and internally democratic Party is important, to ensure that we run our own affairs robustly and transparently.

Hear hear! Does the Party Chairman agree?

 As well as your local Association or Federation we also have elected volunteers covering larger Areas and Regions, who support the work of local activists by targeting campaign support where it is most needed, putting on local conferences and other big events, sharing best practice, and helping resolve contentious matters.

 This is the time of year when the Area and Regional elections take place, and all party members are eligible to stand.

Stuart, it is all very well talking the talk but you do not walk the walk! See below

 If you are interested in standing for one of these roles, either now or in the future, why not get in touch with our senior volunteer team – just email: national.convention@conservatives.com 

 Make sure you let them know which constituency you are from. 

And what will they do about it? Promote you? Appoint you? I wonder what? I set out below the process by which Area and Regional Officers are elected:

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

At the Ward/ Branch AGM to which all Party members within the Ward/Branch are resident one or more representatives are elected to the Executive Council of their Constituency Association.

Party Constitution

6.1.3 [One or more – which number must be defined] elected representatives from each ward, The Association may list the wards in order to vary the number according to the size of the ward. if the ward is covered by a single branch, that branch may elect the representative(s) at its AGM;

 The Executive Council then elects two representatives  to its Area Council

Party Constitution:

Elections to the Area Council

48          The Executive Council of each Association or Federation shall elect the required number of members, in accordance with its Rules, to represent it on its Area Council, in addition to the Chairman of the Association or Federation (who shall be an ex-officio member of the Area Council).

Each Area Council shall comprise

28.2      Two representatives from each Constituency covered by an Association elected by the Executive Council of each Association in accordance with the Rules of the Conservative Party Associations, as contained within Schedule 7. Where the Association is subject to Schedule 7a, two representatives per constituency should be elected by the Executive Council under the same rules that pertain to the election of “Constituency Officers”.

The Area Council then elects the Area Management Executive

Party Constitution:

Area Management Executive

29          Each Area Council shall meet once a year and elect an Area Management Executive (in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 5) which shall act as a co-ordinating body between the Board and Associations with a view to enhancing the performance of Associations in each Area and co-ordinating activities and the efficient management of resources within each Area.

The Area Councils then elect the Regional Officers for the Region of which they are part of. 

Party Constitution:

38          The Regional Officers shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 5, by those members of the Area Councils in the region in which they are situated.

So summing up as an ordinary Party member I

Attend my Branch/Ward AGM to elect the members of my Association Executive Council.

My Association Executive Council elect the representatives to the Area Council.

The Area Council elects the Area Management Executive.

The Area Council elects the Regional Officers

This process is known as pyramid democracy.   It was made illegal in the Trade Unions in the 1980s by the Conservative Government because it was too easily manipulated by those in power.

The Area Management Executive and Regional Officers should be elected and accountable to ordinary Party members at an Annual General Meeting to which all Party members in the Area/Region are resident!   That is Democracy!

Ps Stuart, Congratulations on your appointment as Shadow Health Secretary!