Changing To Win

CF goes to Guildford

2008-06-15T20:40:00.000+01:00

At the invitation of fellow exec member, Anastasia Beaumont-Bott, I spent yesterday afternoon campaigning for Anne Milton MP in Guildford. Anne is a great MP who won the seat off the Lib Dems in the 2005 General Election. It is a key priority for CF to ensure that Guildford becomes a solid Conservative seat at the next general election. In addition to that campaigning in Guildford is always great fun!

Guildford Agent, Frank Young, also appreciates the hard work of Conservative Future. Frank says:

“Conservative Future is the party’s secret campaigning weapon, in a highly marginal seat like Guildford we couldn’t campaign as effectively without the support of CF members travelling across constituency boundaries to support us.

Over the past six months Conservative Future members have helped to deliver thousands of leaflets and have shown a willingness to provide large amounts of Campaign Support in key parts of the constituency. If Anne Milton MP is returned to Parliament on a bigger majority at the next General Election a large part of that majority will be down to Conservative Future.

I have a very clear and simply message to any candidate looking to win their seat and win it big - get in touch with Conservative Future!”

Pictures from the Event are below:

Another Guildford campaign day will be happening this summer, so watch this space!

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

Henley By-Election

2008-06-06T12:12:00.000+01:00

Due to Boris Johnson stepping down from his Parliamentary seat to focus on being a full time Mayor of London a by-election has been called in the Henley for Thursday 26th June 2008. The Conservative candidate is John Howell.

Conservative Future will be playing a pivitol role in this by-election. To be kept informed of what we are doing and how you can help please join our facebook group for the by-election:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38540235224

We will be running a CF National Action Day on the 21st June and will be running weekday campaigning teams from 16th June. If you wish to take part please do not hesitate to contact me.

In addition to our campaigning efforts we intend to make this by-election more fun and we will be organising various socials and activities throughout the election - both during the week and during the weekend of the 21st/22nd.

If you need any more information please e-mail me at patricksullivan21@hotmail.com or call me on 07801 233 852.

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

p.s. click here to see what CF got up to at the Crewe & Nantwich by-election.

CF Crewe and Nantwich – An Overview

2008-05-28T21:29:00.001+01:00

I thought nothing could ever top the effort that CF put into the Boris campaign but in Crewe and Nantwich the CF effort far superseded even the best of our expectations when going in there.

Weekday Campaigners

I would like to thank the following people for moving up to Crewe with me for the two weeks that CF was campaigning in Crewe.

The Honour Roll (in alphabetical order) is:

Edward Hallam
Ben Howlett
Alexandra Swann
And Peter Smallwood

All of the above showed their dedication to the party and to Conservative Future making personal sacrifices to make the time to help the party. It is difficult living with people for two weeks non-stop and their were times when there tensions flared up but I would not change those days for the world – it was one of the best times I have ever had.

I would also like to thank Al Gunn and Leeds CF, Matt Lewis and Keele CF, Robert Largen and Manchester CF and James Deighton and Leicester University CF for arranging weekday campaign teams from their areas in the final days

CF Weekend

Some of the CF members up for the ‘CF Weekend’:

This was the major success of the campaign over the course of the Weekend before the election we had over 100 CFers in Crewe. I would like to thank Robert Largen for organising a team from Manchester, Hamish Stewart for bringing almost 20 people from Nottingham, Alex Agius for moving into Premier Inn for the weekend and Owen Meredith and Matt Lewis for ensuring a strong Keele presence.

My professional highlight of the Weekend was that CF made it on the Channel 4 News and my personal highlights have to include the trip up to Manchester on the Saturday Night, thanks to Adele Douglas for putting us up, and the ad-hoc Student Life team building session in Nottingham that former Exec member for Students Councillor Michael Champion, put on for Alexandra, Hamish and I.

Polling Day

Out on polling day getting the vote out:

Dawn Raids are one of the most exhausting, yet most fun parts of any election. This Thursday was no exception. We all woke up at 3 am and were out pounding the streets from 4 am onwards. We did not stop until 9pm and I have to thank the makers of pro-plus for keeping me awake for the duration of the day.

This was also a fun day – I got to meet former National Deputy Chairman and PPC for Pendle Andy Stephenson who was able to fill me in on tales of CF past. I also got to meet Miss Great Britain who was also running in the election. She might not have got many votes but she put in a good showing. Also good fun were the Monster Raving Loonys

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

Photos with some of the other candidates:

Monster Raving Loony Party:

Miss Great Britain:

UK Independence Party candidate:

Tories Take Crewe and Nantwich!

2008-05-23T15:28:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Alexandra Swann

Perhaps this isn’t something I should shout about but I genuinely woke up Friday morning having had a nightmare that we lost Crewe and Nantwich. Luckily, and partly due to the hard work of CF and the incredible campaigning that has gone on over the past 2 weeks this was not the case and the people of Crewe and Nantwich sent a message to Gordon Brown by choosing the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson over the Labour Tamsin Dunwoody with a massive 7,860 majority!!

Having spent over a week in Crewe myself all I can say is thank you to those that have been campaigning for months to secure this victory, thank you in particular to Patrick Sullivan, National Campaigns Director, for the quite staggering national campaign day which saw buses from Manchester, London, Birmingham and Nottingham descend on Crewe, and most of all thank you to the hordes of wonderful people I met up there for one of the most fun and inspiring weeks I’ve spent in a long time.

Now we can look forward to the Henley by-election when it is called safe in the knowledge that even Labour safe seats are sending out the message that Gordon Brown and a Labour government is to be something of the past to a Conservative Future.

Alexandra Swann
Surrey Area Chairman

CF in Crewe, Day 10

2008-05-21T22:43:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Edward Hallam

The last full day of campaigning ahead of polling day saw us making final rounds of canvassing. Whilst people are somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of literature, visits and calls they have received from all the major parties in this election, they remain upbeat and determined to secure the change they desire. Perhaps fittingly I bumped into a team of lost Labour canvassers this afternoon. Dithering and confused in their own backyard, turning to the Tory for guidance - how terribly apt!

This evening, after we’d finished canvassing for the day we set about constructing ‘Vote Today’ arrangements to be mounted on car rooftops tomorrow. Polling day will begin very early indeed for we activists tomorrow, and so an early night is in store. A great deal rides on tomorrow - not simply the competing fortunes of the Conservative and Labour parties, but the aspirations of the people of Crewe and Nantwich, who are poised to send Gordon Brown a message: enough taxes, enough statism, we want a change for the better: we want Edward Timpson.

Edward Hallam
Deputy National Campaign Director

(picture: CF members with IDS)

CF in Crewe, Day 9

2008-05-20T22:16:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Edward Hallam

As the campaign enters its closing days there is a visceral buzz on the streets of Crewe and Nantwich. It is rare to be cheered on the streets simply for being a Tory at the best of times, and yet time and again this is what is happening - people are stopping us in the street and telling us how much they hope Edward Timpson wins, and telling us on the doorstep how disgusted they are with Labour’s campaign. That Edward is the local candidate is ingrained in peoples’ minds. So what, they say, if he’s well off - he’s local, from a local family, who run a local business, bring money and jobs to the area. What’s so bad about that?

It seems that Labour are attacking a local success story, and aspiration in general. This campaign is proving to be a vindication of the Conservative approach - positive, upbeat messages, not outdated cynicism and envy from an increasingly lame duck Prime Minister.

Edward Hallam
Deputy National Campaign Director

(picture: CF members with Edward Timpson)

CF in Crewe, Day 4

2008-05-16T21:57:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Edward Hallam

Today saw many members of the Shadow Cabinet - including George Osborne and Sayeeda Warsi - arriving to do their part on the streets of Crewe. Darling’s fumbling tax con has not blunted the desire of the people of Crewe for change one iota. As we knock on doors we continue to be greeted with the same message - it’s time for a change, it’s time for the Conservatives. Many older residents are telling us they have already cast their postal ballots for our candidate, Edward Timpson, and are relishing the prospect of a change for the better under the Conservatives. We have even had instances of people seeing us on the streets and pulling up their cars alongside to ask for a leaflet!

As tantalising as these dispatches from the front are the fight is not won - far from it - and the only barometer of opinion that counts is the one the electors of Crewe will deliver on May 22nd. We’ll keep spreading our positive message until the final hour, and we need your help to do that. This weekend we are being joined Conservative Future members from across the country. Coaches are arriving from various parts of the country. If you need any help making arrangements please contact myself, or CF National Campaign Director Patrick Sullivan; you can even comment on this post and we’ll get back to you.

Edward Hallam
Deputy National Campaign Director

(picture: Patrick Sullivan and Edward Hallam with CFers, Shadow International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell MP, and the International Development Team)

CF in Crewe, Day 2

2008-05-14T21:32:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Edward Hallam

Under true blue skies the campaigning got underway in earnest today. We began with deliveries in central Crewe. Speaking to householders it became increasingly clear that Labour have alienated their heartland through rising prices and taxes that target the poorest in our society. We might have expected, in this traditionally Labour area, to receive a cool reception, but in fact the reverse has been the case. One voter, seeing the red leaflet in my hand, commented “Oh, Labour eh?”, in a disapproving tone; but when I explained I was with the Conservatives he took it in an instant.

It is noticeable how many MPs are arriving daily from around the country to do their bit. This afternoon I was out canvassing with, amongst others, Gerald Howarth, Simon Burns and John Redwood. All were eager to get out and talk to the voters. Time and again the same refrain greeted us on the doorstep: “I’ve been a Labour voter all my life, but I’m not voting for them this time”. The majority of these voters said they were looking to the Conservatives on polling day. For many this is the first time in their lives they’ll have considered voting for us. It’s a great shift for them, and we’ve got a part to play in helping them with the transition. In contradistinction to Labour, who are running a desperate, negative campaign, and the Liberals, whose comical literature we mistook for a tittle-tattle gossip magazine, our positive approach is winning support.

Crewe could turn blue - there’s a real buzz here, and the momentum is with us nationally. But we’re only going to make it if we maintain the fantastic level of support our activists are giving us. We can make history, and you can be part of it.

Edward Hallam
Deputy National Campaigns Director

(picture l-r: Gerald Howarth MP, Edward Hallam, Simon Burns MP)

CF in Crewe, Day 1

2008-05-13T23:14:00.000+01:00

Arriving in Crewe late last night, we were happy to find that our taxi driver was voting Conservative. For as long as he could remember he had voted Labour. No more. We have found from talking to many other local residents that these sentiments are common amongst the people of Crewe and Nantwich.

We had a meeting with the Area Chairman for the adjacent county of Staffordshire, Matt Lewis, and he has been a great help in ensuring support from members in the surrounding area in the early days of this campaign. We have spoken today to those in charge of the Conservative By-Election efforts about our plans for CF involvement in the by-election. I am happy to say that we are having more people joining us on weekdays, coming from as far a field as Exeter, Cambridge and London, to name but a few.

The campaign team want to thank all the CFers who have volunteered to come up, either on weekdays, or across the weekend. We have a real chance of winning this by-election and CF will be at the forefront of this campaign.

Patrick Sullivan
CF National Campaign Director

Caption the photo “(left to right) Patrick Sullivan and Edward Hallam at Conservative Campaign Headquarters“

Exeter CF Ball

2008-05-13T08:56:00.001+01:00

Last Friday at the kind invitation of Alex Swann a number of London and Surrey CFers went down to the Exeter Ball. It was a very enjoyable and high-spirited evening, so much so that many of us decided to spend another day or two seeing the sights and sounds of Exeter. Guests of Honour Michael Rock and PPC Hannah Foster gave amusing speeches. I was in hysterics for much of Michael’s speech.

Much praise must be given to Tarasyn Whitehead-Patey, Exeter’s brilliant social secretary, for organising this event; and many thanks must also be given to Dan Ericsson, the Exeter CF Chairman, for being an excellent host.

CF working with Anne Milton MP in Guildford

2008-05-08T07:07:00.000+01:00

Anne Milton, the MP for Guildford, has pledged her support for CF and it’s role in her campaign for re-election when an election is finally called.

Following a successful meeting between Anne, Alexandra Swann (Surrey AC and campaigns coordinator) and myself to discuss how CF can back the Guildford campaign and help to reach out to young people, plans have been made to show CF’s support including an upcoming Guildford Action Day on the 31st May.

If you would like to come along to this event, to which every one is of course more than welcome, or would like any details please email Alex at aswann@surrey.cfbranch.com.

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

Crewe and Nantwich By-election

2008-05-04T16:59:00.000+01:00

Due to the sad death of Gwyneth Dunwoody, a by-election has been called in Crewe and Nantwich for Thursday May 22nd.

Conservative Future intends to have a serious presence in this by-election. To be kept informed of what we are doing and how you can help please join our facebook group for the by-election:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13808148174

We will be holding a National Campaign Day in Crewe on the 17th (Sat) and we will be posting more details on that shortly.

If you need any more information please do not hesitate to e-mail me at patricksullivan21@hotmail.com or call me on 07801 233 852.

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

CF Presence at Local Events

2008-05-04T03:01:00.000+01:00

One of the key aims of this year’s NME is to reach out to new members in ways we haven’t done before; I am pleased to say that this year we are having a CF presence at many local events, in particular the Surrey Country Show:

Alexandra Swann, Surrey CF Campaigns Director says:

“County events are a great place for communities to interact with each other and for us to reach out to potential new members. CF attendance at local events will not only help us form a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with the local community but also stretch out to new members across the county.

“The Surrey County Show will be held on Saturday the 26th May , if you would like any more details about Surrey Conservative Future’s involvement with the event or would like to come and help at the stall please email me at: aswann@surrey.cfbranch.com“

I am really pleased that Surrey is taking the initiative with this event and hope that other areas will become similarly involved over the Summer.

If you would like any assistance in getting CF involved in local events in your area please do not hesitate to email me at patricksullivan21@hotmail.com

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

CF Mayoral Results Night Party

2008-05-03T23:35:00.001+01:00

Last night Richard Jackson and I hosted the CF Results Night Party in Central London. It was an amazing night with more than 50 CFers in attendance. It was a well deserved celebration after weeks of hard work and boy did we celebrate!

Particular highlights of the night included one of the most out of tune renditions of ‘We are the Champions’ I have heard and the cheers when we found out the Evening Standard’s headline for the night was ‘Boris is Mayor’.

Photos for the night can be found here. Many Thanks to David Coleman for the use of his camera.

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

Back Boris - the final days

2008-05-03T19:48:00.002+01:00

A guest post by Richard Jackson

In the final days of the Boris campaign CF members were crucial in getting out the vote for Boris to win. Below show the efforts in various areas of London (send in your photos if you have them).

CF members in Cities of London & Westminster/Kensington & Chelsea:

CF members with Boris in Clapham:

CF members in Dagenham & Rainham:

CF goes from strength to strength in Nottingham

2008-05-03T11:32:00.000+01:00

On Monday 21^st April 2008, I attended the Nottingham University Conservative Association (NUCA) Annual General Meeting.

This certainly posed to be a very interesting occasion- for the first time in years the position of President was to be contested, with two first year committee members, Nick Allsopp and Will Bickford Smith, vying for the top spot to replace former NME member Craig Cox.

Both candidates ran dedicated campaigns, with regularly updated Facebook groups, emails and thorough manifestos. As a former officer of the branch, I was extremely proud of the calibre of the candidates and the quality of all the hustings speeches.

(L to R): Will Bickford Smith, Laura Sharp, Nick Allsopp

On the night, around forty-five members turned up. This was a huge achievement in itself as the previous two years had attracted under half this number. This large turnout paid testimony to the quality of the two Presidential candidates and the hard work they had both put into their campaigns and encouraging people to come along and vote.

The new committee was elected and the eventual outcome of the Presidential battle was a tight victory for Will Bickford Smith, who takes up the position of NUCA President from September. For those interested, his manifesto can be viewed on this link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?yuhyemgzod3

Email: williambickfordsmith@hotmail.co.uk

Will had the following to say about his plans for the his forthcoming Presidency:

“I am really honoured to be elected to this role- it is the one position I really wanted to gain during my time at University and now that I have achieved it, I cannot wait to get started. The year ahead promises to be extremely exciting, and after the success of the local elections and Boris’ fantastic Mayoral campaign, I think we can now look to the future and push harder than ever to drive Labour out of power. My plans in Nottingham involve maintaining the right balance between hard work campaigning for the local candidates and getting involved in social action projects, and the more interesting events such as speakers, media training, and bar crawls in Boris fancy dress.

I strongly believe in fulfilling your promises, and therefore over the course of the next twelve months I will be working really hard to ensure that we are doing our upmost to help the local candidates, to contribute to the work of the Party, and to ensure that all members of the Association are having a worthwhile and fun time.”

So well done to Will and all the successful candidates and I look forward to seeing Nottingham move from strength to strength this year!

Patrick Sullivan
National Campaigns Director

Thursday May 1st 2008 - Boris Day

2008-05-01T12:18:00.002+01:00

A guest post by Richard Jackson

Today is the day! The first step to returning us to power. Make sure you go out today and vote (unless you had a postal ballot) - harass all your friends to vote! Today we get rid of Ken & his sleaze and corruption.

You should have got details about campaigning + the ‘celebration & results’ party on Friday night - if not the Facebook links are below (email me if your not on Facebook):

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12760517345

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=27663811592

CF members have also been fighting hard around the country for the local elections - best of luck to all of them. The same GOTV message goes out to CF members around the country.

Boris campaign day - Saturday 26th

2008-04-30T13:15:00.002+01:00

A guest post by Richard Jackson

On saturday CF members were out again campaigning for local elections and Boris. With only a few days left before Boris wins it was crucial to get people out for the final push. CF members were campaigning all over the country including: 16 in Guildford, 10 in Bromley, 6 in Pimlico & 20 in Islington.

Images below from Bromley where Boris joined the CF members for a walk through the town.

Whilst most of the days were campaigning the day in Islington included us welcoming the Mayor of Paris to London - he was out campaigning with Ken Livingstone at the time! Nothing violent happened (see videos below) from the Boris supporters - ‘Fidel Castro’ was on hand as well to highlight Ken’s broken promise to only serve 8 years!

Boris is nearly Mayor…

Campaigning for Boris - Saturday

2008-04-24T16:46:00.003+01:00

A guest post by Richard Jackson

Boris on ‘The Sun’ newspaper bus after they endorsed him for Mayor

No National Day this weekend - rather local campaigning all over London for Boris:

BROMLEY* (London South)
– Meet Bromley South station @ 11:30am
– Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15629810967

PIMLICO (London North West)
– Meet Pimlico farmers market @ 10:30am
– Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10399306767

* confirmed that Boris will be attending during the day

Other campaigning around the country (leave a comment if you know of one not on this list):

GUILDFORD
– Meet Burnet Avenue, GU1 1YF @ 10:30am
– Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10786844570

Back Boris National Day 1

2008-04-21T14:14:00.000+01:00

A post by Richard Jackson

On Sunday 19th April 2008 members from Conservative Future (CF) took part in the first of 2 National Day’s to support Boris Johnson and his bid to become Mayor of London.

CF members in Croydon (photo: London South CF blog)

CF members have been campaigning for Boris ever since his selection as candidate, but Saturday saw an organised strike at the remnants of Ken Livingstone’s support. CF members were also out campaigning around the country for the local elections.

The attendance figures for the day show an effective coverage over key areas of London and the country – these include: Hillingdon -24, Croydon -18, London North-East -11, Highgate -10, London hustings -6, Staffordshire -16, Cheltenham & Gloucester -9 & Nottingham -7.

CF members in Cheltenham & Gloucester (photo: Nick Webb)

CF members in Highgate

Patrick Sullivan, CF National Campaigns Director comments on the day:

“This was an incredibly successful campaign day. Not only did we have 69 people out across London, we also had a number of smaller campaign days taking place nationwide. This shows that CF is moving from strength to strength as a truly national campaigning force.

”This provides us with a great foundation on which to build over the coming year.”

Michael Rock, Chairman of Conservative Future comments on CF’s support for Boris:

“The London Elections aren’t just about London, not just about beating Ken (however satisfying that will be) and not just about Boris. If we win in London, it sets the tone for the run-in to the next General Election. It will prove to the wider public what we already know: Labour is on the ropes and we are heading back into Government.

”We should use the Boris campaign to up the ante; we can win seats across the country and the capital. Of course, every leaflet we deliver in the capital also promotes our London Assembly candidates; we are supporting local campaigns every time we go out and securing victories across the capital will improve our chances in elections across the country.

”Boris will be great as Mayor; his manifesto is achievable, desirable and proudly Conservative. Londoners would get better value for money; everyone would benefit from a safer, greener and cleaner capital; businesses would be encouraged to stay in London and we would all benefit from improvements to the London transport system.”

Back Boris call centre

2008-04-18T15:36:00.001+01:00

A guest post by Richard Jackson

Dear CF members,

Thank you to all of you who have been in to help in the Back Boris Call Centre over the past two weeks. We have made thousands of calls with your help to voters who we need to encourage to turn out and vote on May 1st, but we have thousands more to make! So if you have a spare hour after work or before a night out tonight please book in. It can and will make the difference! This week we have also launched a competition for callers who complete the most calls…

Prizes for most completed calls:

First Prize Tea with Boris
Second Prize Tea with George Osborne
Third Prize Tea with Party Chair, Caroline Spelman
Fourth Prize Bottle of House of Commons Whisky*
Fifth Prize Bottle of House of Commons Whisky*
Highest Strike Rate Bottle of House of Commons Whisky*

*Obviously the whisky can only be given to those over 18!

Please contact Chantelle at Back Boris using the details below if you would like to book a session. (Alternatively, if you live outside London but would like to make calls from home with a script, please also contact us!)

The Call Centre is based at:
34 Bedford Row
London
WC1R 4JH

Open:

5pm to 9pm Monday to Friday
10am to 6pm Saturday
11am to 6pm Sunday

To book in, please e-mail Chantelle at gotv@backboris.com

Thanks!

Chantelle Osili
Back Boris GOTV Team
Call Centre Contact: 07890817222
Campaign HQ Contact: 020 7202 7042

Manifesto

2008-02-20T13:14:00.003Z

Within Conservative Future there exists a great capacity for growth. I am seeking your
vote so I can have the opportunity to do my bit to ensure that we maximize our potential as an organisation.

Please vote for me:

1. Because of proven track record

I have been involved in CF for many years. I have served on a University Branch, on an
Area Executive, organised a fringe event at Spring Forum and run the CF campaigning
efforts in a by-election.

It is because of this track record that I have the endorsements of over 25% of incoming
Area Chairmen and number of Branch Chairmen and CF aged Councillors.

2. For high quality AND affordable events

One of the best ways to bring people into the party is by hosting fun, regular and
affordable events. I intend to run some of these myself should I be elected. More
importantly I intend to offer logistical and organisational support to those branches, areas
and individuals running their own events.

I have experience in this field having being in charge of logistics for a one day music
festival with over 8,000 people in attendance and having been involved in the running of
a number of club nights in Nottingham.

3. For a fresh approach to campaigning

At present we have around 8 national campaign days a year. These are normally well
attended but focus on sending members from across the country to campaign in one seat
for an afternoon. Unless we are fighting a by-election this approach has some
fundamental flaws.

They are that:

a) The campaigning is not consistent – after the campaign day it is rare that the
campaigners will return to the constituency especially because the next national
campaign day is in another constituency.

b) We need to win more than 8 key marginal seats to win the next general election.
My approach would be to make our national campaign days truly NATIONAL. I would
have each area chairman responsible for holding a campaign day for in a key marginal
within their area every month. These campaign days would then occur simultaneously
across the country. This will ensure that we are able to give more marginal seats
consistent support from CF instead of a one off helping hand.

4. For rewarding hard work

There are many unsung heroes in CF. People who put in hard work asking for little or no
reward. I think all those who help the organisation should be recognised regardless of
whether they have a fancy title or not.

I want to introduce the idea of accreditation into CF where we officially recognise the
hours people put in campaigning, participating in social action projects and organising
events. I also intend to set up an CF Awards event to give those that go above and beyond
the call of duty the praise they deserve.

5. I like Pie.

Patrick Sullivan: Conservatives in the Community continued

2008-02-20T13:11:00.001Z

Hamish Stewart has recently written about how he intends to put a greater emphasis on Community Action in Nottinghamshire. He was also kind enough to reference an article I wrote for CF Diary last year, entitled Conservatives in the Community. This is something that I cared about then and am even more passionate about now.

Since my original article on this issue both Conservative Future and the Party in general have made a commitment to Community Action. This commitment was made to the public in the 2006 Party Conference in Bournemouth. This was done with great fanfare and we have managed to keep up with the momentum in this area that this conference provided. In that conference we made a commitment to the public that we would place Community Action at the centre of our activities as a party. Now that we have made this commitment we must be vigilant against the possibility that Community Action get sidelined in the run-up to the general election. The best way to prevent this is to move forward in promoting Community Action projects. This will prevent us from falling back.

If I am elected I promise to make Community Action a key priority for Conservative Future and to build on the work done in this area over the past year. I will also include a Community Action heading in all of my monthly reports, so I can be scrutinized on the progress made in this area.

One of the most heartening things about this election is how a number of candidates have shown their commitment to Community Action. I am very happy that a number of Area Chairman Candidates are already proposing the implementation of Community Action programmes in their areas. I am also glad to say that a number of my fellow Exec candidates have also worked hard to place Community Action in the mainstream of Conservative Future. Owen Meredith even made the great and doubtless painful sacrifice of having his leg waxed for Children in Need. I do not think that we all need wax our legs but we should encourage and support more of our branches in the running of similar events. It is important to realise that engaging in the Community and with the voluntary sector can be fun as well as rewarding.

My specific policies on Community Action if elected are:

- To work towards setting up a Conservatives in the Community programme in each Area
- To be a point of contact and support for those running Community Action Events
- To run at least two National Community Action Days during my term, with each region running their own events simultaneously.
- To expand the Christmas Hamper Initiative to give every branch the opportunity to take part - To coordinate and advertise CF events in support of Children In Need and Red Nose Day

Hamish Stewart: Conservatives in the Community

2008-02-20T13:05:00.002Z

This is an article written by my friend Hamish Stewart on CF Diary. It follows on from my earlier article on this topic. He has just been elected the new Area Chairman for Nottinghamshire.

Hamish Stewart: Conservatives in the Community

The first CF Diary article dealing with the importance of community engagement; “Conservatives in the Community,” was submitted last year by Patrick Sullivan. Since that time the concept of “social action” has grown enormously within the party and is widely touted as both a new front in campaigning as well as a force with which conservatives will affect society for the better. It goes without saying that conservatives who are active in their communities enrich them in the direct manner that leafleting and canvassing do not, and improve the standing of the party through their actions. I believe that the benefits of community activity go further even than those commonly recognised, and I hope to outline how encouraging social action can strengthen CF branches and enrich their individual members.

A party branch is only as strong as its members are active, every branch chairmen’s’ biggest problem is to maintain member involvement, including social involvement but especially when it comes to campaigning. The reason that persuading people to campaign on behalf of the party is difficult is simply that traditional campaigning methods, while necessary, alienate a substantial portion of our members.

CF must maximise its members’ involvement, and therefore should offer or enable a diverse range of activities to allow members to contribute to the party and society in a manner which they consider fulfilling. For many people like me, who became involved in politics because they wish to make the world a better place, social action such as volunteering attracts by providing rewarding results and a great variety of possible activities. The point is that social action need not replace traditional campaigning but should instead compliment it by involving those conservatives who are left cold by canvassing.

Directly organising social action isn’t the only way CF can encourage community activity and indeed for smaller branches may prove difficult. We must recognise that in any community there already exists an impressive wealth of activities, be they volunteering for a local charity or more political work such as activity in a residents association. Area and branch chairman can enable involvement by researching these opportunities and making their members aware of them, giving those with an interest in supporting their communities the encouragement and the means to turn that interest into action.

Social action also has a benefit that is of special importance to young conservatives in that it gives them a stake in their local communities that they might otherwise never have. I believe that CF should encourage its members to grow to become pillars of their communities, and that those with a real sense of involvement will be likely to come around to fight traditional campaigns when they have something more to fight for.

Rest assured that if elected to the Nottinghamshire area I will use the seat to put these thoughts on social action into practice, to strengthen the branches and support their members and communities. Whilst researching this article I spoke to Patrick Sullivan, who has pledged to introduce a Conservatives in the Community program if elected to the NME, I hope that though writing this article I can encourage more candidates to offer policies in regards to community action.

Conservatives in the Community

2008-02-20T13:00:00.002Z

This is an article that I wrote for CF Diary last year.

Conservatives in the Community

Politics is about making life better for people. I joined the Conservative Party because I want a better Britain. A better Britain is a country with a neighbourly society, where people care for each other and faceless state intervention is rarely needed. This type of society by its very nature cannot be created by state action but only through empowering the voluntary sector.

However, it is all very well talking about empowering the voluntary sector but we need to turn our words into action. If we do not we allow ourselves to be open to the criticism that our talk about the voluntary sector is just code for cutting public services. The only way we can show people that the voluntary sector has an increasingly important role to play in the 21st century, is by helping it make a difference in communities throughout Britain.

One of the things that I am proudest of doing during my time at Nottingham University was an event called Returners Week. This was the first ever freshers week put on for returning students. I put it on under the banner of the Students’ Union charity organization Karnival. Our costs were only £50 and we made over £6,500 for charity.

Conservative Future needs to get more involved in local communities. If I get elected I will push for all CF associations to set up ‘Conservatives in the Community’ programs. These programs would have CF branches help organize events like neighbourhood clean-ups, raise money for local charities and have a greater involvement with the voluntary sector.

In their personal lives many of our members do dedicate a lot of their free time to community causes and helping charity. What the ‘Conservatives in the Community’ programmes will do is offer a structure and organisational support to those members as well as encouraging more of our members to get involved in these activities. In addition to this ‘Conservatives in the Community’ can undertake specific projects such as working with local councils to assist in the renewal of run-down publicly owned areas.

If we do these things through this programme we will show people what good the voluntary sector does and what more good it could do. We will also show them that not only are Conservatives compassionate but they put their compassion to practical use and the benefit of the whole community.

Conservatives are also renowned for being excellent fundraisers. One of the things that I want CF to become is much better fundraiser for the party. However, I also want CF to assist charitable organizations in raising money for good causes. It is important that our party is well-funded but it is equally if not more important that we use our organisational capacity to ensure that the most needy in our communities, both local and global, are adequately cared for.