In an interview with Petronella Wyatt in the Daily Mail this morning George Osborne says the Conservatives might scrap their annual conference altogether. The quote reads: "We might scrap the big autumn conference altogether. We need to face issues about the future of Britain in modern cities with modern facilities. I certainly have nothing against ensuite bathrooms. The old conference involving people drinking and discussing politics in bars rather than on the stage, is not what we are aiming for. Apart from anything else, they had this Soviet air about them." Well - pause for breath - what does that all mean?! Let me lay my cards on the table. When I was David Davis's Chief of Staff I drafted a plan to reform the conference, which involved shifting it to Thursday to Sunday to attract more working people and women, and there would be much more debate from the floor. The whole plan involved giving the conference back to the members. David signed up to it, we made the plan public and it was well received. If George is really serious about abolishing the conference without replacing it with what I called a 'political mini-break' I think there will be an outcry within the Party. Of course we need to change the conference and try to avoid pictures like the one above. But conference is one of the few times when activists can mingle with the Party leaders and tell them what they're thinking. It should be a time for debate - especially, when you're in opposition - as well as hearing set piece speeches from the Shadow Cabinet. In recent years it has become a stage managed convention, not a conference. This was why we suggested increasing the importance of the Spring conference and making it concentrate on policy and leaving the autumn conference to be more of a rally/convention. And we also said it should be organised in places other than Blackpool, Brighton and Bournemouth. We suggested Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow and four cities which could cope with an event like this. So, could this year's event in Bournemouth really be the last Tory Conference? They certainly have the opportunity to cut it after this year because the contract with CCO Conferences comes to an end then. It would be a big mistake.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Osborne: Conference Could be Scrapped Altogether
In an interview with Petronella Wyatt in the Daily Mail this morning George Osborne says the Conservatives might scrap their annual conference altogether. The quote reads: "We might scrap the big autumn conference altogether. We need to face issues about the future of Britain in modern cities with modern facilities. I certainly have nothing against ensuite bathrooms. The old conference involving people drinking and discussing politics in bars rather than on the stage, is not what we are aiming for. Apart from anything else, they had this Soviet air about them." Well - pause for breath - what does that all mean?! Let me lay my cards on the table. When I was David Davis's Chief of Staff I drafted a plan to reform the conference, which involved shifting it to Thursday to Sunday to attract more working people and women, and there would be much more debate from the floor. The whole plan involved giving the conference back to the members. David signed up to it, we made the plan public and it was well received. If George is really serious about abolishing the conference without replacing it with what I called a 'political mini-break' I think there will be an outcry within the Party. Of course we need to change the conference and try to avoid pictures like the one above. But conference is one of the few times when activists can mingle with the Party leaders and tell them what they're thinking. It should be a time for debate - especially, when you're in opposition - as well as hearing set piece speeches from the Shadow Cabinet. In recent years it has become a stage managed convention, not a conference. This was why we suggested increasing the importance of the Spring conference and making it concentrate on policy and leaving the autumn conference to be more of a rally/convention. And we also said it should be organised in places other than Blackpool, Brighton and Bournemouth. We suggested Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow and four cities which could cope with an event like this. So, could this year's event in Bournemouth really be the last Tory Conference? They certainly have the opportunity to cut it after this year because the contract with CCO Conferences comes to an end then. It would be a big mistake.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Move the venue to Nice. It would be sunnier and cheaper.
It is a fact that an off-peak EasyJet flight to Nice costs less than a rail-ticket to Blackpool.
I think moving and changing those conferences is a very good idea, especially if you want to attract a younger membership…
I have to say that the ideas laid out by David Davis in the leadership campaign were very well thought out.
If we want to show that we are different, then a very visible way to do that would be these Mini conferences. Moving them around the country would help more people to attend as well.
I think it would be a mistake to lose the traditional 4-day conference format, although I would like to see it worked around a weekend to allow wider participation.
The big plus to the seaside resorts used is the plentiful availability of accommodation, which is also relatively cheap. It would be a mistake to move the conference over the weekend to enable a broader range of people to attend, only for them not to be able to do so due to the high cost or non-availability of accommodation.
In theory all party conferences are where the leadership are accountable, in debate, to the party faithful - this was so at a time when communication was not as it is now. In practice, with the unusual exception of Cameron's leadership race, it is something the leaders aim at getting through with some good newspaper coverage & any embarassing actual debate quashed.
In the internet age it is perfectly possible for people to take part in politics without participating in parties & any party could arrange a non-binding rolling online debate which would make conferences almost pointless.
On the other hand if what is proposed is just to get rid of conferences without any replacement this would be another example of the hollowing out of political parties (all parties) which is seeing memberships drop & weakening democracy.
Far be it from me to agree with Serf!
David Davis!There's a name.A lot of things he said in his leadership campaign were spot on.
You're right, of course, Iain. I absolutely loathed attending conferences when I was in the lobby - but the fact that we were forced to attend them demonstrates their value to the parties - ie the fact that, for these three weeks in the year, the media were totally focused on what they had to say. This is particularly important for opposition parties - how many other David Cameron speeches will lead the 10 o'clock news this year?
But as an aside, your support for conferences would have nothing to do with the likely impact of abolishing them on Politicos' book sales, would it? ;-)
"The Tories say they are scrapping their traditional week-long seaside conferences as they are only attended by "fanatics" and retired people."
http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4513096.stm
Whilst I don't want to seem like I;m toadying to Gudo.. he's RIGHT!
Now, on a more serious note, I only joined the party last September (after threatening to myself I would for some time) and the conference has always been one of those things that I looked at from afar and thought "what a great excuse to get p*ssed!" I think the idea of regular min-conferences around the country would do more to fix the (and I apologise for the management speak), fundamental disconnect that occured witht he public at large.
I suppose the other obvious comment to make about this post is to congratulate George Osborne on having come through an interview with Petronella Wyatt without being stitched-up (cf William Hague, Janet Anderson.)
I think scrapping the Autumn conference is a daft idea. It is the one big chance for members to get together and feel that they are part of a wider entity than just thgei local association and ward with all its petty jealousies and bickering!
I am relaxed about shifting the venues as long as we keep Bournemouth.
Post a Comment