Conservative Future

CF Constitution

Michael Rock — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:39:36 +0000

Below you can download a new copy of the Conservative Future Constitution that has been approved by the Conservative Party Board.

We’ve updated this document for several reasons; the main reason though was so that we could cement the Regional Chairman role as a fully elected position.

The following changes have been made to the document:

To slim down the National Executive to just four elected positions, whilst keeping the flexibility of co-opting up to three more members.
The Regional Chairmen positions were already in the document, but we wanted to ensure that in future they are always elected.
To restructure the Area Chairman role so in future they exist as part of a regional executive under the relevant Regional Chairman.
To remove specific quoted CF Committees (Membership & Constitutional), but to allow for committees to be established in the future if needed.

If you have any questions about this new document then please leave a comment below.

You can download the CF Constitution here.

Epsom & Ewell CF hosts Minister of State Chris Grayling MP

guest author — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:47:41 +0000

By Alex Clarke (Chairman EECF)

For our regular Speaker social his month we welcomed Chris Grayling to talk to us on all areas of the recent emergency budget & coalition agreement, with a special focus on his new brief within the Department of Work & Pensions and the Coalition’s plans for welfare reform. Chris gave us his thoughts, and then opened the floor for general questions and discussion.

The topic of welfare provision brought about great discussion from all members, with everyone enjoying the opportunity to air their views on the developments post-Election. The debate was lend additional weight by the influx of new members EECF has enjoyed since the General Election campaign, with long-standing election veterans mixing with some who have yet to take part in any campaigning. Everyone was keen to understand what the Coalition agreement will mean for the Party’s pre-election welfare plans – and some, of course, did not agree with everything. The Conservative Party has always been a confident enough organisation that honest debate will always strengthen it – and this was very much the case, with many answers given and arguments/counter-arguments supplied all went home contented.

As Chairman of the Epsom and Ewell Conservative Future I was very proud of my members who provided a constant stream of well informed, and occasionally very innovative, questions – as well as adding their own special contributions to the discussion. We were fortunate that Chris stayed on long beyond what his diary had prescribed to answer our questions and join the debate – for which we offer our further thanks to him. At times I must say anyone listening in and not informed of the event would have been surprised to learn the average age of the attendees was well under 30! On a personal note, and I have said this before – but I believe it should be said again; it is evenings like this which make the efforts of the Committee and myself worthwhile.

All those that were there expressed a desire to see if Chris will come again soon, his work at the Department of Work & Pensions permitting. Our next event will be on the 30th of July at our usual venue, the Epsom Conservative Club. (speaker TBC).

Read a review of the event on the Epsom Guardian website.

Conservative Future Elections 2010

Michael Rock — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:08:02 +0000

The Conservative Party Co-Chairmen have announced their intention to hold elections for the leadership of Conservative Future.

The elections will be held during the summer and will be concluded by this year’s Party Conference.

The electoral roll will be made up of every member of the Party under the age of 30. Over the next few weeks associations will be asked to send in relevant data to make up the electorate. For university members to vote, the branch must ensure that their data has been sent to the local association. CF members who joined the Party centrally (through conservatives.com) will be added automatically.

Nominations for all available positions will announced shortly.

For all other inquiries, please write to the Party’s Nominating Officer Alan Mabbutt (alan.mabbutt@conservatives.com) who will act as the Returning Officer.

Shoot Nations 2010

Michael Rock — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:02:01 +0000

Shoot Nations is an annual, global photography project including a competition, workshops and exhibitions on various continents. Each year focusses on a different global issue and the photographs produced are presented to the United Nations in New York.

Have your Say
This year’s theme is CITY LIVING. Whether living in the country, town or big city, we want to build a global picture of what urban environments mean to young people aged 11 – 25.

It doesn’t matter what sort of camera you have – phone camera, high-end digital, point-and-shoot, show us your view of city life. The best 48 images will be presented to the United Nations in New York on International Youth Day to represent youth opinion on this global issue.

Prizes
Win an all expenses paid trip to New York, digital SLR cameras, designer maps and National Geographic subscriptions, plus the chance to have your photo presented to the UN and included in the exhibition tour of seven global cities.

More info
shootnations.org
facebook.com/shootnations
twitter.com/shoot_nations

Labour’s legacy to Britain

Michael Rock — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:11:33 +0000

The Conservatives have published Labour’s Last Will and Testament, outlining thirteen years of economic failures.

The document, published ahead of next week’s Emergency Budget, sets out why we must act now to reduce the deficit the previous Government left behind.

Commenting on the release of the document, Conservative Party Co-Chairman Sayeeda Warsi said:

“Let no one be in any doubt about the mess that Labour have left behind. We are all in this together and must realise the consequences of their 13 years in charge.”

This is Labour’s legacy:

Every man, woman and child in Britain now owes £22,400
We now have one of the worst deficits in Europe
There are 2.47 million people out of work
One in five young people is unemployed
£3 billion on benefit overpayments and £10 million on tax credits for the dead
Selling off Britain’s gold at a 20 year low in the market.

Sayeeda added, “The cuts that are coming are Labour’s cuts.”

Click here to read the document

An Invitation to join the Government of Britain

An Invite from the IYDU

Michael Rock — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:51:53 +0000

Come to Georgia in June. Meet the President, campaign for freedom and explore the country. Food, drink, internal travel and sightseeing are free!

As a member of International Young Democrat Union, our organisation is entitled to send our youth activists to the IYDU Freedom Forum in Georgia, from 24 to 27 June. The Freedom Forum is a three day programme made up of political briefings, receptions, panel discussions and debates focused on democracy and political freedom. This year’s Freedom Forum will be hosted by the youth movement of the ruling United National Movement and speakers will include government ministers, representatives of international democracy foundations and the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The programme will be divided into four distinct sessions – democracy, civil society, economic and personal freedom and security. The focus will be on the recent experience of Georgia and the South Caucasus but will also be looking more widely at global developments in economic and personal freedom. All youth members of our organisation can attend the Freedom Forum.

IYDU events are always lots of fun and a great opportunity to network with like minded people from around the world. All meals are included and there will be also be cultural and sightseeing visits as part of the programme at no extra cost. There is a limited number of spaces available for this event and they are filling up fast, so be sure to register as soon as possible by visiting the IYDU website. If you have any questions about this programme, you can contact the IYDU Executive Secretary by e-mailing james.marriott@hoyre.no.

IYDU is the global alliance of centre right political youth organizations and connected youth organisations united by a common desire for greater freedom and less government. It’s members include 80 organizations from 50 countries and IYDU is recognised as the official youth network of the International Democrat Union.

Want to receive updates from IYDU about this and other events? Why not join the mailing list at IYDU or sign up to the Facebook group.

West Yorkshire Area Chairman Vacancy

Philip Smith — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:04:57 +0000

Gregory Rodwell, the current Area Chairmen for West Yorkshire will be stepping down on 31st July as he prepares for his year abroad in Canada. I express my thanks and appreciation to Gregory for his hard work and determination to improve CF in the area; he will be missed by the entire team.

If you believe you have what it takes to develop CF in West Yorkshire and are an active team player I encourage you to drop in an application form for this unique opportunity.

The Area Chairman for West will be expected to work closely with CF Branches and develop there potential. The new Area Chairman will also be expected to work on setting up new branches across West Yorkshire working closely with me in my capacity as the Regional Chairman for Yorkshire and Humber.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30th June at 6.00pm.

Good luck!

Click here to download the application form.

Elation for Conservatives in Worcestershire as the County turns blue!

guest author — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:27:18 +0000

By Chris Morrall

I want to congratulate new Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier as Worcestershire turned blue on May 7th. The recent General Election saw 4 new Conservatives seats join Bromsgrove and Mid Worcestershire’s Peter Luff giving Worcestershire 6 Conservative MP’s in total out of 6.

In all there were 5 new Conservative MP’s elected. The Bromsgrove seat was returned to the Conservatives by Sajid Javid following the resignation of Julie Kirkbride. Harriett Baldwin won West Worcestershire, Robin Walker won Worcester and Wyre Forest saw Mark Garnier take the seat.

Another big surprise came in Redditch where Karen Lumley took a large majority over the ex Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

I joined Mark Garnier at the count in Wyre Forest where there were momentous scenes in the early hours with Wyre Forest enjoying its first Conservative MP since 1997.

In all, it was a momentous day for Worcestershire and I want to thank all the activists and voters who helped to bring about change and I wish all the new MP’s the very best in the new Parliament!

GE 2010 – the North West results

David Bonner — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:21:34 +0000

On behalf of the wider Conservative Future organisation, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the fantastic effort, commitment and tireless support you have shown to your local candidates and PPCs throughout the region. Indeed I hope you all would agree that despite a disappointing result nationally, this has been tempered with some excellent Conservative wins in the North West.

In no small part, this is down to the excellent work of Conservative Future branches across the region, many of which I have had the pleasure of campaigning with over the past few months (and many years before that too!). It is perhaps wrong to single people out for special mentions but here are a few people who I know have contributed a great deal of time and energy to campaigns over the past weeks, months, and in many cases, years:

Tom Currie, James Calder, Dan Dugmore, Nick Vose and the Lancaster CF team for their contribution towards the very well deserved Conservative gain for Eric Ollerenshaw in Lancaster and Fleetwood
Luke Springthorpe, Will Stobart and the GMCF/UMCF team’s tireless efforts in Bury North another Conservative gain, and other seats across the Greater Manchester region, many of which we only narrowly missed out on (in Bolton West we were less than 100 votes of the mark!)
James Barnaby and the Liverpool team for their efforts campaigning in Southport, which the Lib Dems sadly held
Jospeh Willis for his work in Penrith, a Conservative hold, and Morecambe and Lunesdale, another spectacular gain for the Conservatives
Lee Evans, Declan Lyons and the Cheshire team for an excellent wins in Chester and Warrington South, both Conservative gains

I know there must be many more CF activists who deserve mentions so my sincere apologies to anyone I have missed.

It is hard not to get despondent when we have not done as well nationally as we would have liked, but I think the results in the North West emphasise we have achieved a tremendous amount and we should celebrate the successes of our local PPCs across the region.

Thirsk and Malton CF Action Day

Philip Smith — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:34:43 +0000

Thought the General Election in Yorkshire was over? Think again!

Join members of the CF team this Sunday in Thirsk, as we campaign to re-elect Anne Mcintosh for the new seat of Thirsk and Malton.

The poll was delayed in this seat due to the unfortunate sudden death of the UKIP candidate, John Boakes

For meeting details please contact Chris Southeran at chris.southeran@yorkshirecf.com or Philip Smith at chairman@yorkshirecf.com

All members will be supported and well looked after. We hope to see you there!