Conservative Future

Want to stand for NUS elections?

Helen Roberts — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:59:37 +0000

Student Life’s new target it to expand our remit from focusing primarily on setting up new CF branches, to engaging directly with Student Unions across the country.

Up until recently I was working at CCHQ and loving the buzz and excitement at the prospect of a Conservative government. But, the general election is not the only election just around the corner where the Conservatives have the chance to make gains. The National Union of Students is well known as a Labour Students strong hold. It seems the opportune time to start the fight for Conservative students to be representative’s at the most powerful and influential Students’ Union in the country.

As a former Students’ Union hack I can vouch for the hard work of so many sabbatical and executive officers who work tirelessly to help improve students’ experiences at university. Whether it be helping keep down costs at the university bars or in your halls, or whether it be campaigns to keep libraries open for longer or campaigns to improve teaching standards, the chances are, when real change happens at your university, the Students’ Union has had a lot to do with it.

This is why I urge you all to consider standing in the upcoming NUS elections; it is a worthwhile organisation with considerable influence and Conservatives should get stuck in.

We already have a candidate standing for Sabbatical (clear here to join his Facebook fan page) but we are looking for Conservatives to stand for Block of 15. Deadlines for standing is the end of March so time is ticking as you need to have lots of endorsements and a manifesto sorted by then.

If you are interested in standing for Block of 15 or as a delegate at your university then please contact me on helen.roberts@conservativefuture.com

CF Voter Registration Drive launched

Edward Hallam — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:36 +0000

Further to Owen’s recent post that 50% of students will not vote, a study published last week by the Electoral Commisson suggests that the 17-25 year old age bracket has the lowest level of voter registration. A shocking 56% of young people are not on the electoral roll. It’s one thing if students haven’t been engaged to vote, but even worse if they aren’t even enfranchised! The is the cornerstone of our democracy, and yet a vast tranch of the age range from which Conservative Future’s membership is drawn isn’t even entitled to be a part of the democractic process – regardless of who they vote for.

So today we’re launching a CF Voter Registration initiative as part of our General Election “Time to Get Involved” campaign. We’re urging all CF members to carry out a ‘friend audit’, if you like, and make sure that everyone you know is at least registered to vote, even if they don’t vote, or don’t vote Conservative. They owe it to the untold millions of Britons and non-Britons alike who made the ultimate sacrifice for our way of like to endure to “be bothered” about at least registering to vote. In some countries, voting itself is a daring and revolutionary act.

Our sixth form university branches might even like to take it one step further and try flyering, etc, fellow students to make sure they’re registered.

Do take a look at the Time to Get Involved. It already has several different ways for CF members to play an active roll in bring change to our country in the upcoming General Election – and over the coming weeks we’ll be expanding the ways you can get involved.

Let us know who it goes, keep us up to date with your efforts and we’ll post your hard work for change here on ConservativeFuture.com

Conservative candidates will stand in this year’s NUS elections

Michael Rock — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:02:21 +0000

As most of you will know, students form a significant component of the CF membership and we have activists working with student unions up and down the UK.

This April the National Union of Students have their annual elections, and I’m pleased to announce that for the first time in years there will be Conservative candidates standing in these elections.

We are looking for additional candidates for the ‘block of 15′ that form the part-time component of NUS’s leadership, but are proudly supporting Kit Friend as a candidate for the role of Vice President (Higher Education).

Kit has the benefit, as I do, of having a pun-friendly name and we’ve suggested a few options, including running a facebook campaign to find a slogan, which I understand has been a successful tactic previously…

Helen Roberts, who is helping organise Student Life, will be writing a post soon with more info on these elections; and how you can stand as a Conservative candidate. We’ve got a team here to support you so there’s no excuse if you are keen to be involved with the NUS: it’s Time to Get Involved!

Celebrating Commonwealth Day

Christian May — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:21:33 +0000

If you’ve opened a paper, turned on the radio or watched TV today, then you can’t have failed to see that today is International Women’s Day. I think it’s important to highlight the plight of women in under-developed nations, and to look again at the massive health and economic challenges that many women face around the world.

However, here in the UK the occasion is being used by Labour’s rabid “equality” agenda to slap men around for not employing enough women, or for lingering too long on Page 3 of The Sun. I wish they’d spend half as much energy celebrating Commonwealth Day, for it is today, and the liberal middle-class guilt about Britain’s colonial past means that not a lot of people are mentioning it.

One person, however, was not going to let the day pass without a few wise words. Her Majesty the Queen has delivered her annual Commonwealth Address, to all those fortunate enough to have her as their magnificent Head of State. In her address, the Queen speaks of the massive importance of technology in bringing her Commonwealth together.

Developments in communication mean that the world is accessible and connected; whether it’s a medical centre in the Himalayas or a school in the South Pacific. The Queen also speaks of the great benefits that communication technology can have on the fortunes of small businesses, and general economic development. Perhaps most strikingly, we are told that over half the population of the Commonwealth are under 25. It is this generation that takes Facebook, Blackberries, Twitter, YouTube and the internet for granted in most countries. But we can see the incredible effects of the internet in places like Iran, where the “Green Movement” communicated with the world via Twitter and YouTube. I’ve seen for myself the great work that Commonwealth projects are delivering around the world, bringing young people together for lasting partnerships. This is what should be celebrated.

For millions of young people, the Commonwealth gives them a chance to be part of something bigger than their village, town or country. It represents a shared history and a bright future. Members of Conservative Future, and young people in general, should know more about the Commonwealth and the great work it does in uniting young people all over the world.

Activists raise £9,500 for the Poppy Appeal

Edward Hallam — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:02:19 +0000

It with great pride that I can announce today the efforts of CF members raised a grand total of £9470.15 for the cause.

For many CFers late October and early November means one thing in particular: The Poppy Appeal. Last autumn was the third year that CF activists have given up their time to help out the Royal British Legion with its flagship fundraising event, not as a political activity but simply as people with the time and willingness to do good without gain. This year we expanded our reach from London, where our involvement began with my own branch, Cities of London & Westminster, and encouraged other branches to take part.

In the West Midlands Birmingham University CF members collected £1500, whilst in Essex Castle Point CF raised £372.82, and in Hertfordshire Hemel Hempstead CF gathered £772.33. North Wiltshire raised £231.

Last week I attended a gathering of the St George’s Branch of the Royal British Legion, and accepted on behalf of my team the Certificate of Outstanding Achievement for raising £6594. Whilst it bears my name, it in fact recognises not my sole achievement but the collective efforts of my Cities of London & Westminster CF through over nearly 20 nights of collecting. We almost doubled our efforts compared to last year, and have taken our collective total since 2007 to date to over £13,000.

November 2010 seems somewhat distant – and we have a lot of work to do before now and then, but I hope CF members will once again take some time out from politics this autumn to again demonstrate how much we value our armed forces and their families.

Conservatives launch iPhone app

Michael Rock — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:26:05 +0000

The Party has launched a General Election iPhone app for activists and voters.

Available to download for free on the Apple ‘App Store’, the tool will help CFers keep up to date with the latest news from the campaign trail.

Features in the launch version of the app include:

User-friendly guide to all the key policy areas.
Ability to telephone canvass friends and report their voting intentions back to the Party.
Simple mechanism for donating directly to the Party.
Easy way to watch all the latest WebCameron videos.
Virtual ‘Swingometer’ featuring a UK map getting bluer as our percentage share in the General Election increases.
Automatic Twitter updates from the Conservatives and integrated access to the Facebook page.

Jeremy Hunt commented:

“Once again, the Conservative Party is at the forefront of digital innovation in UK politics. This iPhone app will help both existing supporters and floating voters learn more about our policies, connect with us on social networks and share political news with their friends.

“Whether it is on websites, social networks or mobiles, we are the only Party that has fully embraced new technology in the run up to the General Election.”

Download the app today!

Young people turn to the Conservative Party for change

Michelle Donelan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:12:26 +0000

Standing in my local corner shop huddled by the cornflakes – I withstood Nick Ferrari’s attempts to brand us as aloof and unappealing to the youth of today. I explained that Conservative Future is the largest political youth wing in the UK because the Party is really striking a cord with young people by listening and offering change, plus the opportunity to take control back of our own lives.

I flagged up our national campaign ‘Time to Get involved’ and explained that we are organising a number of events and initiatives across the country to encourage activism and help get the Conservative Party into power to bring about the change that this country deserves.

CF and the party as a whole are in touch with society, down to earth and inclusive – we need to make sure that the voter knows this! So get involved!

Click here to listen to the interview

Spring Forum – has put a real spring back into the campaign

Michelle Donelan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:02:14 +0000

Spring Forum was something quite different this year – the atmosphere electric! The event can be somewhat of a let down compared to Conference but this year was anything but – in fact a prominent member of Liberal Youth even described it as “buzzing” and had chosen our event over a Liberal one!

There was a great sense of commitment to a clear vision, a vision for government and for the first time in years, a vision that could be realised in just a few months. However complacency was not on the cards and the PPC for Brighton Pavilion had even prepared leaflet packs for delegates to deliver.

What was also striking this year was the vast number of CFers, who were all very engaged and energetic. It was lovely to see so many of you there talking about your recent campaign activity and future plans. However we still managed to have some well earned fun at our reception and the Party for Change – it was great to unwind but there was a sense that we all knew we couldn’t let our hair down yet – as there is much work to be done.

The weekend culminated in David Cameron’s speech which reminded us all that not only do we want to win for Britain – we NEED TO WIN FOR BRITIAN!

We all left Spring Forum knowing that we’re all behind our plans for government – but now we have to ensure that the electorate knows our plan so that they can all get behind them too.

So please keep campaigning, keep canvassing and keep on spreading the message that we want to bring change to Britain – as David Cameron said “let’s get out there and win it for Britain!”

West Oxfordshire CF’s first event of 2010

Michael Rock — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:40:27 +0000

There have been a few changes in the West Oxfordshire Conservative Future; with new Chairman David Lydiat elected at the December 2009 AGM. David is looking to increase membership, the number of political and social events, hold a fundraiser and of course play a key part in what we hope will be a successful general election this year.

West Oxfordshire Conservative Future (WOCF) had their first event of 2010; a dinner with guest speaker Nicola Blackwood (PPC for Oxford West and Abingdon). The dinner was a success with a good turnout. WOCF will be helping Nicola’s campaign in the neighbouring constituency; she is fighting a key target seat. It is vital that the Conservatives win this seat if WOCF MP and Party leader David Cameron is to win a majority at the election.

If you would like to get involved with West Oxfordshire Conservative Future, go to an event or become a member please contact the Chairman David Lydiat by emailing westoxoncf@yahoo.co.uk

Woman’s Hour, Radio 4

Emma Carr — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:50:11 +0000

This week I took part in a discussion of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour which focused on youth participation in politics and how we can encourage young people to vote in the upcoming general election.

In the 2005 General Election only 37% of 18-24 year olds turned out to vote and if I am honest I am surprised the percentage is that high. Young people, generally, seem to be totally apathetic in terms of party politics and switch off at the mere mention of it. However, when it comes to single issue such as tuition fees, jobs for young people, getting onto the housing ladder and ID cards young people become much more ignited in debate. The question is how as a party do we translate these individual issues into policy and present them in a way in which young people will find accessible.

One suggestion presented on the programme was the use of Celebrity endorsements of individual policies and political parties. This is a development that I am largely sceptical of unless of course the endorsement is sincere and knowledgeable.

Another suggestion was that political parties need to reinvent themselves. I argue that it’s not political parties that need to change but the way that we engage young people when they are at school. All young people have an opinion on different issues and engaging them during their time at school would surely provide them with the basic knowledge of political parties and the political system which could then translate into votes at the age of 18.

For me the issue comes down to education and the lack of participation. Organisations like Conservative Future provide young people with the chance to get involved in the political process and feel like they are helping to change things.

Click here to listen to the interview