Robert Halfon is MP for Harlow, a former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman, Chair of the Education Select Committee and President of Conservative Workers and Trade Unionists.
I remember growing up as a younger Tory member,
going to various events, and hearing someone called John Strafford going on
about democratising the Conservative Party. I used to think: “who is this crazy
guy, this political obsessive, rabbiting on about obscure party mechanics,
which few are interested in?’”
In recent times, I began to realise that, far from
being a lunatic, John was quite sane…and it was perhaps us who closed our ears
to what he was saying who were the crazy ones. For many years, he rightly
predicted that a lack of democracy would lead to a loss of membership. He was
right.
You don’t have to agree with every one of his
prescriptions – and I don’t. I still think that a Prime Minister should be able
to choose his or her own Party Chairman, for example. However, a little bit of
common sense will tell you that in an age of ever-increasing consumer choice,
if people join organisations, they want to be involved and have an active part
in shaping that organisation.
Unfortunately for the Conservatives, Jeremy Corbyn
understands this in terms of the Labour Party. The 600,000 plus members that
Labour now has are not all from the far left, (although those make a
significant contingent), but also include people who are both attracted by a
romantic view of socialism, and also know that, when they join their party,
they can vote on party motions, vote for their representatives and have serious
votes on policy. To those on the centre-left who argue that this just gives
those on the hard-left a platform to take-over the party, that is somewhat
defeatist. Are there really not a few hundred thousand, moderate social
democrats – who could be persuaded to be involved and influence their party,
with the right leadership and motivations?
In a similar way, a truly democratic, membership-based
Conservative Party would be an important step in galvanising current members,
and persuading existing members to join.
In practice, this would mean the whole of the Party
Board, including the Chair of the National Convention elected by the membership,
not the current system in which they are chosen by just a few senior people
from each association. The same would apply to the directly-affiliated
organisations such as the Conservative Policy Forum. The Board could produce an
annual report, just as companies do to their shareholders, which would be
adopted or rejected annually by all the members through a vote.
Conference too, should be radically democratised.
Our party must move away from just the Politburo-style announcements (“tractor
production in the Soviet Union has gone up by 50 per cent this year”). I
remember going to conference during the time of Margaret Thatcher, when motions
for conference would be selected by associations and debated. The Government of
the day was still able to get their core messages across – and win elections.
Why not do the same now, with members voting online
as to which ones are chosen for debate at both the Spring and Winter
Conferences? In terms of selecting parliamentary candidates, this could
continue to be done by primaries (although this can offer an unfair advantage
to a well connected local candidate) – or an electoral college consisting of
the local association members (60 per cent), the public (20 per cent) and CCHQ
representation (20 per cent).
Of course, the first objection to democratisation
is to point at Corbyn’s Labour and express concerns about ‘infiltration’, or
about ‘undesirables’ elected to positions etc. As explained above, not only
does this show a misunderstanding of what the 600,000 Labour members are all
about, but even so, can be dealt with.
The answer is simple: paying a full membership fee
of £25 would give a member full participatory rights, whilst less expensive
fees could be charged for non-voting membership. There would of course be concession
rates for certain groups on lower incomes, as there are at the moment. As a
final check and balance, if it was felt that despite the financial safety net,
infiltration, malpractice, reputational damage et al had occurred, the Prime
Minister, Party Chairman, or the Board could have a final veto.
Democratisation of the Tory party is not the only
solution to increasing our membership base. A proper national membership
offering, rocket-boosting candidate bursaries, expenses for lower income
members to get involved at senior level, a radical and simplified message and
symbol (yes – the ladder of opportunity) that all Conservatives can unite
behind, are just a few other things that could be done. But what is the point
if, when Conservatives do finally get people to join, the latter realise they
have no real say in making their new party one that really works for
everyone? They won’t remain members for long.
No comments:
Post a Comment