Liz Truss is the Foreign Secretary, has been the MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, and is a current candidate to become Leader of the Conservative Party.
Over the last several weeks, in back gardens, village halls, Conservative Clubs, cricket pavilions and at myriad hustings, I have met over 20,000 fellow party members. I have been inspired by so many examples of dedication to our shared endeavour, by our members’ deep-rooted love of our party and its values, and the selflessness and generosity of those who give so freely their time and money to keep us in power.
I joined the Conservative Party in 1996. I feared that 18 years of Conservative government were coming to an end, and I wanted to help rebuild after what seemed the inevitable New Labour landslide. I wanted to work to support the Conservative Party and promote our shared values of self-responsibility, hard work, spreading opportunity, and harnessing entrepreneurship and enterprise.
Like so many of you, I knocked on doors, delivered leaflets, attended coffee mornings, bought raffle tickets, and did what was needed. When members speak about the need to rebuild our grassroots, attract more members, recruit new helpers, and value and respect our volunteers, I know exactly what they mean.
For my first fourteen years I was a foot soldier too. As a volunteer I served as an Association Chairman. As a local government candidate I fought two Labour-held council seats before winning a seat on Greenwich Council. As a parliamentary candidate, I contested two safe Labour constituencies before entering Parliament as MP for South West Norfolk in 2010.
I know that our Party’s volunteers up and down the country have been central to our record of success, and that you are as important today as you have ever been. But we would be fooling ourselves if we allowed complacency or fear of change to deny that some associations are struggling.
If I am elected as Leader of the Conservative Party, my priority for our Party is to reinvigorate our grassroots so that we can keep on winning elections and delivering our vision for the country.
I will re-establish a network of professional agents who will provide our volunteers with the support they need to renew our associations and branches, recruit new activists, and build our local organisation. Campaign Managers have done a wonderful job in helping to deliver a parliamentary victory, but too few are retained after the General Election. Moreover, the decline in our grassroots has not been addressed.
I will respect the autonomy of our associations. As Conservatives we understand that decisions are best made by those closest to the areas they are affecting, and local representatives play a key role in ensuring we are delivering the right programme and message for our communities across the country.
We must also do more to encourage voluntary groupings and joint working to share costs and leave more funds for campaigning, where they have local support. I will create county-wide canvass teams who will be ready to flood into an area when needed to provide campaign support for a key by-election or marginal constituency, so we can continue to fight on all fronts.
Following our excellent result in 2019, I want to ensure that we build links between strong and established Conservative organisations with our newly won and held seats, with “twinning” arrangements and special fundraising events to ensure our new intake have the resources they need to win again in 2024.
And I will increase funding for the LibDem Unit at CCHQ to ensure we can offer the best possible advice and support to associations and candidates facing strong Lib Dem challengers. As a recovered Lib Dem myself, I know that the issues and areas that they focus on are different to Labour and require a different approach.
The network of Conservative Policy Forums that provide such important feedback on Party policy will remain important to the policy making process under my leadership, to ensure our vision as Conservatives remains clear and properly conservative.
But most importantly of all, as Leader I will always respect the enormous unpaid contribution our members make to our success and to say thank you. I will never take that support for granted.
It is a tremendous privilege to be a candidate in this election. I will never forget that if elected I will not only be Prime Minister, but Leader of the Conservative Party too. As such, I will be a custodian of the world’s oldest and most successful political party. It will be my duty to nurture it and pass it on to the next generation in better shape than it is today. That is my commitment to you.
Liz Truss is the Foreign Secretary, has been the MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, and is a current candidate to become Leader of the Conservative Party.
Over the last several weeks, in back gardens, village halls, Conservative Clubs, cricket pavilions and at myriad hustings, I have met over 20,000 fellow party members. I have been inspired by so many examples of dedication to our shared endeavour, by our members’ deep-rooted love of our party and its values, and the selflessness and generosity of those who give so freely their time and money to keep us in power.
I joined the Conservative Party in 1996. I feared that 18 years of Conservative government were coming to an end, and I wanted to help rebuild after what seemed the inevitable New Labour landslide. I wanted to work to support the Conservative Party and promote our shared values of self-responsibility, hard work, spreading opportunity, and harnessing entrepreneurship and enterprise.
Like so many of you, I knocked on doors, delivered leaflets, attended coffee mornings, bought raffle tickets, and did what was needed. When members speak about the need to rebuild our grassroots, attract more members, recruit new helpers, and value and respect our volunteers, I know exactly what they mean.
For my first fourteen years I was a foot soldier too. As a volunteer I served as an Association Chairman. As a local government candidate I fought two Labour-held council seats before winning a seat on Greenwich Council. As a parliamentary candidate, I contested two safe Labour constituencies before entering Parliament as MP for South West Norfolk in 2010.
I know that our Party’s volunteers up and down the country have been central to our record of success, and that you are as important today as you have ever been. But we would be fooling ourselves if we allowed complacency or fear of change to deny that some associations are struggling.
If I am elected as Leader of the Conservative Party, my priority for our Party is to reinvigorate our grassroots so that we can keep on winning elections and delivering our vision for the country.
I will re-establish a network of professional agents who will provide our volunteers with the support they need to renew our associations and branches, recruit new activists, and build our local organisation. Campaign Managers have done a wonderful job in helping to deliver a parliamentary victory, but too few are retained after the General Election. Moreover, the decline in our grassroots has not been addressed.
I will respect the autonomy of our associations. As Conservatives we understand that decisions are best made by those closest to the areas they are affecting, and local representatives play a key role in ensuring we are delivering the right programme and message for our communities across the country.
We must also do more to encourage voluntary groupings and joint working to share costs and leave more funds for campaigning, where they have local support. I will create county-wide canvass teams who will be ready to flood into an area when needed to provide campaign support for a key by-election or marginal constituency, so we can continue to fight on all fronts.
Following our excellent result in 2019, I want to ensure that we build links between strong and established Conservative organisations with our newly won and held seats, with “twinning” arrangements and special fundraising events to ensure our new intake have the resources they need to win again in 2024.
And I will increase funding for the LibDem Unit at CCHQ to ensure we can offer the best possible advice and support to associations and candidates facing strong Lib Dem challengers. As a recovered Lib Dem myself, I know that the issues and areas that they focus on are different to Labour and require a different approach.
The network of Conservative Policy Forums that provide such important feedback on Party policy will remain important to the policy making process under my leadership, to ensure our vision as Conservatives remains clear and properly conservative.
But most importantly of all, as Leader I will always respect the enormous unpaid contribution our members make to our success and to say thank you. I will never take that support for granted.
It is a tremendous privilege to be a candidate in this election. I will never forget that if elected I will not only be Prime Minister, but Leader of the Conservative Party too. As such, I will be a custodian of the world’s oldest and most successful political party. It will be my duty to nurture it and pass it on to the next generation in better shape than it is today. That is my commitment to you.