CF National Executive Blog

Freshers Tip #2

It’s easy to turn our minds to how we get new people involved with CF, what’s the best way to grab the attention of fresh faced students all eagerly looking for something to do in between lectures; but it it vital we don’t forget our own members.

For the majority of members, their Party membership will be due for renewal in September/October at the start of term.  One of the most difficult things to achieve at that time is getting all existing members to pay up for another year.

That’s why it is important to keep in contact with your members over the summer and make sure they renew as soon as possible. Try and give them plenty of options – renewing at freshers’, or online, or at a meeting/social. Make it easy to pay by cheque, paypal or however you can. You can start this now!

However, with some people, no matter how hard you try they wont renew. Don’t worry, contact them and ask if they have decided not to renew, and so, why – this way it will save your time if people have left the university, joined another Party or decided to spend their time on another society; and it also gives you some useful feedback. 

Remember, to have full voting rights in CF and Party elections members must be paid up to date.

p.s. I have emailed each Freshers’ Manager a blank spreadsheet to fill in membership details for CCHQ’s record. I’ve also attached it here for anyone who hasn’t received it.

Template Membership Database

Christian May, Deputy Chairman of Conservative Future, has written a guest post on Tory Bear today about the CF reforms.

Read it here.

Last night I attended an event hosted by the History Channel called “50 Things You Need To Know About British History.” It was a panel discussion prior to the launch of the channel’s new series on British history. Chaired by Iain Dale, the panel consisted of Dianne Abbott, Dominic Sandbrook, Douglas Murray (very sound) and of course, Polly Toynbee.

At one point during the lively discussion about how history should be taught, Douglas Murray said that one of the benefits of learning about great people in history is that it encourages children to think “that could be me” - a sense that individuals matter. Given how much of a Labour lover Toynbee is one would have thought that she might have agreed with this, given that it seems to fit with Brown’s “aspiration agenda.” However, she attacked Murray’s argument and said that to tell children that they could achieve greatness was to fill their heads with fairy tale nonsense. Apparently we live in a society where only the very rich achieve greatness. She went on to say that America’s notion that ‘anyone can make it if they work hard’ is simply a way of “keeping people in their place.” I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, and during the Q&;A session I asked her to clarify her remarks and suggested that there was no better way of “keeping children in their place” than by telling them not to bother aspiring to greatness. I’m pleased to say that my questioning was met with general approval by the audience, but Polly just reiterated her notion that we live in a society where only the rich can make it etc. I then put it to her that not all great figures from history were born wealthy (or indeed achieved wealth), at which point she reverted to some safe ground - America bashing.

As a (relatively young) Conservative it is one of my core beliefs that individuals should aspire to better themselves, and society, through ambition and hard work. A world run by Toynbee would be a world where children are encouraged not to try, as “they’ll never make it in to the history book. That’s just where rich people end up.” Frightening stuff.

As the NME member responsible for Wales, I am in the process of drawing up plans with Paul Rogers (CF Wales Chairman) for CF to move forwards over the coming years.  

I don’t want to produce a document that is read and nothing more though, it needs to be about what action can be taken on the ground to achieve real difference. Realistic, planned and achievable goals.

 I will be setting up a meeting with the Wales AC’s after freshers’ season has finished and we know where our membership levels are to discuss some initial ideas, before producing a final action plan. If anyone has any ideas, burning issues or problems, please feed them in to me over the coming weeks to kick start the process. My email is owen@owenmeredith.co.uk and mobile 07816 156925. 

The Young Britons’ Foundation is holding its 5^th Activist Training Conference at Wellington College, Berkshire, from lunchtime on Friday 24^th – Sunday 26^th October.  YBF leads the field in political training for students and graduates, and the residential conference is one of the highlights of their year. YBF is working very closely with the Conservative Party – specifically Conservative Future, where the Deputy National Chairman (Christian May) is YBF’s new Director of Operations.

This year’s conference will feature talks on areas such as campaign management, fundraising, opposition research, dealing with the media and internet activism. Speakers already confirmed include Ed Vaizey MP (leading Cameronite), Eric Pickles MP (Shadow Local Government Secretary and mastermind of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election), Iain Dale (leading blogger), Eamonn Butler (Director of the Adam Smith Institute) and Jonathan Isaby (Co-editor of ConservativeHome.com). More speakers will be announced soon. The conference also includes invaluable on camera television training.

As well as the exciting seminars and speakers, the conference is also a great social event – bringing together 100 of the most active and engaged young activists from across the country.

Of the nearly 1,000 graduates trained by YBF, many have gone on to become parliamentary candidates, local councillors, political researchers, lobbyists and journalists. Others have gone on to successful careers in the City, the professions and in business, from where they are already supporting conservative causes.

To find out how you could follow in their footsteps, contact Christian May (Christian@ybf.org.uk) and request more information about the 5^th YBF Activist Training Conference. The cost is only £95 (£75 for students in full time education) which includes accommodation at Wellington College, tuition, course materials and meals.

FRESHERS’ TIP #1

Freshers’ week is a great time to promote your local CF website. Make sure your web address is on everything you hand out, and also on all your posters to really boost your hits. But before the new freshers’ start arriving on campus, there are a few important things to think about.

While you have some time over the summer, make sure your website is up-to-date; in many ways an out of date site is worst than no site at all:

1. Remove any out of date or irrelevant information,

2. Make sure the contact details are right, and that someone is monitoring the email address you give out.

3. Add on up to date news stories, CF comment on topical issues, examples of what you do as a branch as well as plenty of photos. (adding on video’s from the national party, blog pages or comment forum are also good additions)

Something you might also what to think about is giving freshers’ something a bit extra. In recent years, many branches have added a specific ‘freshers’ page’ for the first few weeks of term, with student-to-student tips on where is the cheapest place to shop, drink, eat out, as well as local information such as taxi numbers, take away numbers, a list of places in the local area offering student discount, as well as bus routes & fares, price of a pint etc. Use your imagination and remember that most freshers’ will be completely new to the areas – being helpful and practical will give them a positive impression of CF.

Remember, a good website comes in many different forms. It’s not all about looking flashy. Having up-to-date, interesting and relevant content that is accessible is often more important than having a technical masterpiece!

Research done by the Open University and reported by Channel 4 News has shown how students are being worst hit by soaring inflation. The Student Price Index, believed to be the first measure of its kind calculates the annual inflation rate faced by students to be 50% higher than the rest of the population.

Last month RPI (Retail Price Index) rose to 5%, with the Government’s prefered mesaure - the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hitting an all time high of 4.4%. Yet at the same time, student inflation is heading towards 7% !

The reason behind the difference is that students spend a higher share of their total budget on items which have risen in price fastest over recent years - goods such as food and drink, clothing, tobacco, personal care products, housing and travel, plus tuition fees. Students spend 75 per cent of their budget on these items, compared to just over 50 per cent for the average UK consumer.

The government is falling to get a grip on inflation, or deal with the cases of inflationary pressure. The Bank of England are stuck between a faltering economy and housing market in free-fall, while at the same time prices are going through the roof! Rather than helping, the Government is making things worse for the poorest individuals with the removal of the 10p tax rate, and extra taxes of motoring.

There is no quick fix to the problem of inflation, but the simple facts are the Government didn’t see this coming, and failed to prepare. We are now left with rising prices and a government too weak to take action.

On a damp and dreary Saturday afternoon, in the overheating 70’s style scout hut masquerading as Conservative Offices; the mammoth task of sending out freshers’ packs has begun.

With the able assistance of a trusted friend, 90 cardboard boxes have been assembled, labelled, addressed and numbered. Standing in long lines ready to receive a bounty of freshers’ materials destined for freshers’ fairs up and down the country during the months of September and October.

For the past 2 weeks, our partners at NO2ID, YBF and the Freedom Association have, along with CCHQ suppliers, been delivering an abundance of packages to the offices in Stafford, from where the heart of the this years freshers’ campaign will beat.

14 hours in, and the hundreds of parcels have been opened and sorted, with leaflets re-bundled, badges bagged up and posters rolled. Everything has been bundled into quantities to recruit 50 members, ready to be allocated to each university in accordance with the current and target membership supplied.

For the past 3 months, I have been in contact with branches and associations all over the UK, gaining delivery addresses, freshers’ dates and membership details. This has allowed me to allocate the right amount of materials to each University, making sure you have enough to exceed your targets. My priority has been to ensure everything is delivered on time, in a well-planned and coordinated campaign throughout the country.

Each University has been allocated one of the 90 boxes, with a named person and delivery address. Each box has then been numbered to reflect the target membership, ensuring we put enough stock into the boxes. All this means that you get the right stuff, on time and in person; and if anything goes wrong, I can trace everything back to solve it quickly.

So that’s the update… we are still waiting on delivery of one or two items, which should be with me this week. Then packs can be delivered on time, as promised, during August.

Simon Maynard, CF Branch Chairman and Enfield Southgate ’s Deputy Chairman,  has set up a new cross-party online community under the tagline ‘home of citizen journalism’. Ventures like this can be far more engaging for a broader spectrum of those interested in politics and, vitally, those not yet persuaded by conservatism.

I look forward to seeing many CFers contributing and winning the argument: the other parties’ youth movements have been invited, which I think makes BePolitics a great opportunity to  put our ideas across and prove that we’re right!

*****BePolitics*****

Tired of listening to the same old commentators, journos and political hacks?  So were we.  Politics isn’t just about the views of a select handful of individuals – even if might feel like that sometimes.  Politics is about you and me, and even the dodgy looking guy sitting on the train next to you.

And that’s where we come in.  BePolitics is an online political community that allows you to reach and interact with people throughout the country.  Have an opinion?  Then write an article and we promise to publish it.  After that it’s for everyone else to tell you what they think.  Guaranteed readership, guaranteed feedback.  But be careful, you’re probably guaranteed criticism too!

Young or old, rich or poor, right or left, marmite lover or hater, we don’t care.  You can write about anything, from how to help the developing world to how to organise rubbish collections on your street. Because politics is both of those things and more.

Gone are the days when you can complain that no one will listen, because BePolitics offers you the opportunity to reach, well, everyone.  They’re already out there telling their story, sharing and shaping opinions.

So what is politics?  They are – and you can be too.

So be controversial, be informative, be bold, be positive, be change…just BePolitics.

Website: www.bepolitics.com

F/book: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28304799950&refurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fs.php%3Fq%3DBePolitics%26init%3Dq

I keep on trying to impress upon the National Executive how important it is to remain sceptical and adopt a healthy dose of cynicism when reading blogs. As a general rule, blogs are exactly what their full title describes: a web log, a personal diary or personal account of the day’s events.

I am not denying that myself and the National Executive have discussed numerous ways of how to improve Conservative Future, many aspects of which I spoke of throughout the election campaign, and that we are reviewing the structure and constitution of CF.  

I can only assure you of two things: there are no specific, accepted plans that I can report and whatever plans are accepted will have the long-term future and best interests of CF at heart.