Peter Smallwood is President of the National Convention. He has taken leave to support James Cleverly.
10pm 4th July. I strangely felt a sense of relief. Some are saying that “the night is darkest before the dawn”. In our darkest moment, I took some comfort in working out what was next.
As President of the National Conservative Convention, I am all too familiar with the scale of the challenge that faces our Party. After a bruising set of local elections in May, we went on to suffer the worst electoral defeat in our history. As we set about rebuilding, we must be mindful that morale is at an all-time low.
I know that we have it in us to fight back, but we have to have the right person in place to lead us in that mission. So, I’ve taken leave from the Party Board. I won’t seek re-election to my party role. I want to make sure we get this decision right, and I believe that James Cleverly is the right candidate.
Campaigning, fundraising, and the organising potential of local associations are currently depleted in most places. Trust between members, associations, and Conservative Campaign Headquarters has broken down, understandably. We had a parliamentary party preoccupied with infighting, division, and self-interest.
That must never be allowed to happen again; it undermines all of the hard work that members and associations do to make the case for Conservatism. It was described to me as having lots of kids, great individually, but put them together and they’re a pain in the backside. Through all this, Cleverly remained loyal, focused, and a good egg.
Anyone who knows me will know how wound up I get about the candidate selection process. It is simply wrong that the “candidates committee” tried in several cases to parachute their preferred candidates into safer seats at short notice. Some of these people are my friends. But so are the many who didn’t get afforded that special treatment.
Every member, in every association, should feel that they have a vote to select their parliamentary candidates and that the process is clear and transparent from beginning to end. Cleverly gets that. He will fix it.
Ultimately, we are at a crossroads. We need to get CCHQ slimmed down, streamlined, and turned back into the election-winning machine that we all know it can be. It is the Conservative Campaign Headquarters and not Conservative Admin Headquarters or the Conservative We Know Best HQ.
At the same time, we need to properly value our members. Events like conferences should not be focused on politicians engaging with the same people they spend their time with in Westminster; it should be about members and provide them the opportunity to meet Shadow Cabinet Ministers, and MPs and be a part of real policy discussions. As Conference Chairman last year, I finally brought back a direct Q&A with the Leader.
I know that Cleverly gets this because I have known him since I was 15. He has been an activist for decades, delivered papier mâché leaflets, stood for local government, was selected as an outsider for the GLA, and then as an MP for Braintree. He was the Chairman of our Party when we won that 80-seat majority that allowed us to break the deadlock, get Brexit done, and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. He knows the Party better than almost anyone, and crucially the Party knows him.
Cleverly knows the real value of our members. As he has continually said, more than just the troops on the ground, they are the lifeblood of our party: delivering leaflets, knocking on doors, hosting events, raising money, and making the case for Conservatism in their local communities and online.
Cleverly also knows that he owes his journey from local activist to Cabinet Minister to the membership, and that without an empowered and engaged grassroots the Party cannot rebuild nor succeed. He will take the right approach. Cleverly wants to put members back at the heart of our Party, and make sure that party membership is attractive again.
He will insist that seat selection processes happen earlier. Candidates need time to settle in, attend events, and become well-known in their prospective constituencies. He will also make the end-to-end selection process transparent, led by associations with the support of CCHQ – not the other way around.
Crucially, Cleverly knows that the issue of standards has got to be addressed. We cannot afford to be synonymous with scandal or questionable behaviour.
Finally, he wants to properly equip our volunteers and professionals to help the party machine grow, develop, and be ready to win at the next opportunity. That includes the Conservative Policy Forum which should be a real asset to us in opposition. He also knows we need to rapidly upskill our volunteer base in areas like digital and create a genuine place for good practise to be shared. He even knows we need to sort out Vote Source!
I am an optimist and believe that we can win again at the next opportunity. But we have to get this right and unite. If we don’t, we face being out of power for a generation. Frankly, the very existence of our party is on the line. The Conservative Party is the most successful and the greatest political party in the world; there are better days ahead and I believe that James will unite us all – at every level – to deliver once again for Britain.
As a great friend said to me in the early hours of the 5th of July, the battle for the soul of the Conservative Party begins tonight, between pragmatists vs idealists, and the pragmatists must win.
Peter Smallwood is President of the National Convention. He has taken leave to support James Cleverly.
10pm 4th July. I strangely felt a sense of relief. Some are saying that “the night is darkest before the dawn”. In our darkest moment, I took some comfort in working out what was next.
As President of the National Conservative Convention, I am all too familiar with the scale of the challenge that faces our Party. After a bruising set of local elections in May, we went on to suffer the worst electoral defeat in our history. As we set about rebuilding, we must be mindful that morale is at an all-time low.
I know that we have it in us to fight back, but we have to have the right person in place to lead us in that mission. So, I’ve taken leave from the Party Board. I won’t seek re-election to my party role. I want to make sure we get this decision right, and I believe that James Cleverly is the right candidate.
Campaigning, fundraising, and the organising potential of local associations are currently depleted in most places. Trust between members, associations, and Conservative Campaign Headquarters has broken down, understandably. We had a parliamentary party preoccupied with infighting, division, and self-interest.
That must never be allowed to happen again; it undermines all of the hard work that members and associations do to make the case for Conservatism. It was described to me as having lots of kids, great individually, but put them together and they’re a pain in the backside. Through all this, Cleverly remained loyal, focused, and a good egg.
Anyone who knows me will know how wound up I get about the candidate selection process. It is simply wrong that the “candidates committee” tried in several cases to parachute their preferred candidates into safer seats at short notice. Some of these people are my friends. But so are the many who didn’t get afforded that special treatment.
Every member, in every association, should feel that they have a vote to select their parliamentary candidates and that the process is clear and transparent from beginning to end. Cleverly gets that. He will fix it.
Ultimately, we are at a crossroads. We need to get CCHQ slimmed down, streamlined, and turned back into the election-winning machine that we all know it can be. It is the Conservative Campaign Headquarters and not Conservative Admin Headquarters or the Conservative We Know Best HQ.
At the same time, we need to properly value our members. Events like conferences should not be focused on politicians engaging with the same people they spend their time with in Westminster; it should be about members and provide them the opportunity to meet Shadow Cabinet Ministers, and MPs and be a part of real policy discussions. As Conference Chairman last year, I finally brought back a direct Q&A with the Leader.
I know that Cleverly gets this because I have known him since I was 15. He has been an activist for decades, delivered papier mâché leaflets, stood for local government, was selected as an outsider for the GLA, and then as an MP for Braintree. He was the Chairman of our Party when we won that 80-seat majority that allowed us to break the deadlock, get Brexit done, and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. He knows the Party better than almost anyone, and crucially the Party knows him.
Cleverly knows the real value of our members. As he has continually said, more than just the troops on the ground, they are the lifeblood of our party: delivering leaflets, knocking on doors, hosting events, raising money, and making the case for Conservatism in their local communities and online.
Cleverly also knows that he owes his journey from local activist to Cabinet Minister to the membership, and that without an empowered and engaged grassroots the Party cannot rebuild nor succeed. He will take the right approach. Cleverly wants to put members back at the heart of our Party, and make sure that party membership is attractive again.
He will insist that seat selection processes happen earlier. Candidates need time to settle in, attend events, and become well-known in their prospective constituencies. He will also make the end-to-end selection process transparent, led by associations with the support of CCHQ – not the other way around.
Crucially, Cleverly knows that the issue of standards has got to be addressed. We cannot afford to be synonymous with scandal or questionable behaviour.
Finally, he wants to properly equip our volunteers and professionals to help the party machine grow, develop, and be ready to win at the next opportunity. That includes the Conservative Policy Forum which should be a real asset to us in opposition. He also knows we need to rapidly upskill our volunteer base in areas like digital and create a genuine place for good practise to be shared. He even knows we need to sort out Vote Source!
I am an optimist and believe that we can win again at the next opportunity. But we have to get this right and unite. If we don’t, we face being out of power for a generation. Frankly, the very existence of our party is on the line. The Conservative Party is the most successful and the greatest political party in the world; there are better days ahead and I believe that James will unite us all – at every level – to deliver once again for Britain.
As a great friend said to me in the early hours of the 5th of July, the battle for the soul of the Conservative Party begins tonight, between pragmatists vs idealists, and the pragmatists must win.