All-Women Shortlists and the Conservative Party

by Rene Kinzett
Councillor, PPC for Swansea West and TRG Member

At this evening’s Swansea Council Meeting, we briefly debated the recommendations of the Welsh Assembly Government Panel looking into how councillors are selected and elected across Wales and how we should all be working towards making councillors more representative of the communities they represent. For example, across Wales, 75% of councillors are men.

I have made my views known and given more analysis on the WalesHome website.

This debate reminded me about the issues surrounding the debate within and outside the Conservative Party on All-Women Shorlists. Currently, only 28% of all selected Tory Parliamentary Candidates are women. Whilst the number of female Tory MPs looks set, at current estimates, to rise from 18 to around 60, the trends for women being selected in currently held Conservative constituencies (where the sitting MP is retiring) is not very satisfactory at all.

Of the last 8 selections for candidates in these seats, all 8 have selected male candidates, even after rules were implemented ensuring balanced shorlists in three of those selection battles. Interestingly, the only Tory-held seat to select a female candidate recently has been Totnes, which selected a local GP after an open primary selection procedure.

Now, the John Maples MP, the Deputy Chairman of the Party with responsibility for candidates, has posted his views as to why All-Women Shortlists, in Tory-held seats, is now vital if the Party is to seriously address the historic (and continuing) under-representation of women in our Parliamentary Party.

I have to say that I do agree that we MUST press ahead with All-Women Shortlists. It cannot be the case that we are selecting only the best candidates when under one-third of our PPCs are women. It simply cannot be the case that selection committees are weighing up in a fair and even manner the respective skills of all candidates of both genders and coming up with conclusions that appear to virtually exclusively favour male candidates. There are problems with selection procedures and approval systems for candidates in ALL parties, but we have to act NOW and not wait another four years or more before we can move decisively towards a more balanced and representative Parliamentary Party.

I would propose that open primary selection procedures should now be brought in for ALL selections for Parliamentary candidates across ALL political parties – conceivably this could be enshrined in law. This seems to have been the one initative within the Party that has had some success in selecting women in winnable seats.

Conservative HQ have challenged local parties to take the issue of selecting women candidates more seriously and they have failed. The Party may express that it is “reluctantly” going down the road of All-Women Shortlists, but to quote one famous Tory lady “there is no alternative”.

This piece first appeared on Rene’s Blog. You can see the original here

TRG Chairman’s Conference Diary – Day 1 Monday 5 October

I arrived at Conference on Monday morning along with the TRG Deputy Chairman Victoria Roberts and Student TRG Chair Iain Martin. We made our way to the TRG Apartment about half a mile from the Manchester Central and Midland Hotel where this year’s Party Conference was to be held. Some of the TRG Board had arrived on the Sunday night and were ready to greet us. My predecessor as Chairman Tim Barnes was of course on hand ready to lend a hand where needed as well as newly appointed Dave Fazakerley and Cllr Gareth Compton. The TRG was scheduled to hold five large events over the course of 3 days. This was an ambitious programme but I was confident that as a team we would be able to put on a real show! This was to be the fifth TRG Conference programme that I had been responsible for but my first as the TRG Chairman! So the pressure was on.

Having spent the afternoon meeting with TRG members at the Midland Hotel, Victoria and I scouted out the rooms where our events were to be held. Our first event was the TRG Mainstream Reception at 6pm in the Fairclough Suite at the Midland Hotel. From experience of conferences past I knew that this meant that our first guests would begin arriving at around 5.15pm! The difficulty with being TRG Chairman at these events is spending the right amount of time talking to members, MPs and Candidates about the TRG as well as concentrating on the running of the event itself. As a former Events Board member the temptation for me is just to consume myself in the organising. But Victoria and Iain were certainly not going to let me do that. They along with the Midland staff had the room looking ship shape in no time. Copies of Reformer, TRG flyers and adverts for upcoming events were littered around the room. The doors were kept firmly locked until 5.50pm.

The event format was to be a wine and refreshments reception – a sort of welcome to Conference for our members. I never know how many TRG members go to the Conference but of the 14,000 delegates in Manchester I had a feeling a good many would be TRG members or prospective members and so it is important for us to have a real presence. This reception was the opportunity to announce our programme and to show that the home of One Nation Progressive Conservatism is alive and prospering. Damian Green MP, the TRG Vice-President is one of our strongest assets as a group. He has been hugely welcoming to me since I took up the post of Chairman and an invaluable source of advice. Damian hosts this reception every year and he and his wife Alicia were prompt and immediately began chatting to TRG members. Chloe Smith , the newly elected MP for Norwich North is a good friend to the TRG and sure to be an excellent Parliamentarian. Chloe had kindly agreed to address the group and was gracious in her thanks for TRG’s work in Norwich earlier in 2009.

The reception was a great success. TRG members from across the country popped in and the room was soon enough jammed. Alistair Burt MP, another TRG Vice-President, observed to me that the room was just the right size as the atmosphere was excellent. Over a 100 attendees at our first event! The reception was also a great moment for the TRG Board at Conference to meet up. Our excellent Board Member Nigel Huddleston is the Parliamentary Candidate in Luton South where he is facing Ester Ranson. I lost no time in announcing that TRG’s next Action Day would be in Luton. I have long been confused by Esther Ranson’s sudden desire to be the MP for Luton especially as the awful Margaret Moran is standing down and given that she appears to have no local connections!

Following the reception, the TRG Board went off their separate ways to attend as many fringe events as possible. It is vital for us as an organisation to speak to as many groups and delegates as we can. It was some hours later that we all met up again in the bar of the Midland Hotel. Conference is in many ways like a meeting place for old friends – Party members from across the country meet up every year and it is fascinating to know how campaigns are going in different parts of the country.  I chatted over the course of the night to what felt like hundreds of delegates and was really struck by the interest in the TRG and by how many had heard of the work we had been doing.

The atmosphere at Conference on Day 1 was electric – a really powerful feeling that we, as a Party, are ready to take power, ready to change our country for the better and that we have the real ideas needed. Chatting to TRG Patron Nick Bourne AM I was delighted to hear that the One Nation message was proving effective in Wales and that we stood a real chance of gaining a number of previously unthinkable seats. Re-energising TRG Wales was a commitment that I had made some time ago and over the later part of 2009 and 2010 I am determined to ensure that we provide more for TRG in Wales.

As I headed back to the TRG Apartment that evening it was with a real feeling of elation and excitement.  

Day Two will appear tomorrow……………..

Marketing Perils for MEPs at Conference

Dan Hannan Card

Roger Helmer Card

Geoffrey Van Orden Card

Sir Robert Atkins Card

There is a theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity. I am not so sure.

In a week of conference discussions where Europe was, once again, a prominent issue for the Conservatives, the MEP group had decided to give away a stack of playing cards with their faces on the cards, so that we can all learn their names as we play poker. I seem to remember the Americans doing something similar so their troops could learn to recognise the top Iraqi’s during the initial invasion a few years ago.

However, these things are never quite as thought through as you might expect.

It seems that Roger Helmer and Dan Hannan are a pair of jokers (perhaps not too surprising, that) and Geoffrey Van Orden is the Jack of Hearts (a little gossip we should know about?). Sir Robert Atkins managed a more sombre tone, at least.

PS – apologies for the quality of the images, but I took the pictures with my phone!

A Bit Wet in Manchester

Day two of the party conference is under way in Manchester. Time was when describing it as a ‘wet’ affair would have meant something different, but I mean it only in the conext of the weather. It is raining. A lot.

Inside the warmth of the conference venues, things are hot and packed, even first thing on the morning after what was, for some at least, a very late night in the bar.

It is perhaps not surprising that the mood here is very business like. There are exhibitors in the main hall that I have never seen at a conference before, including Marks and Spencer and Tesco. People want to know what Conservatives think and are planning. They believe we can win.

In the bars, there are plenty of meetings that feel like the kind you find at trade shows. It is the vibe given off by people getting things done and meeting new people that they think they will be working with. They think we can win.

And at the risk of offending some of our members and readers it is also worth saying that there are many more women here than I have noticed before. And they are young, attractive and very well tuned out. The se may be true of the guys, but I am afraid my radar doesn’t really pick that up. Whether these young ladies are candidates, activists or lobbyists and PR girls, does not really matter. They are a circumstantial sign of the belief that it is now worth coming to a Conservative Party conference even when it is a wet one.

They believe we can win. So do I.

TRG@Conference2009

As the Party Conference gets underway in Manchester this evening, the TRG is making final preparations for its programme of events. There is a very good new section on the refreshed TRG website that has all the details of what we will be doing (I can say how brilliant it all is safe in the knowledge it had nothing to do with me, so no bragging!).

Victoria, Tim C and I will all be blogging here with our thoughts over the next four days, so keep checking back for updates!

In the meantime, I have kicked-off my contribution with a post on ConHome as we think about the policy announcements we all hope to see.

New TRG website

Well done to Tim C and Victoria who have been working hard with a new web designer to get a refreshed TRG website up.

Good work, both!

Take a look now and let us know what you think.

Little Jig for Government

The move of Alan Duncan away from the Shadow Cabinet-level job of Shadow Leader of the Commons to Prison’s Minister is right in the wake of his comments on camera about MP’s living on “rations”. However, that is not to say that I don’t have some sympathy with Duncan. He just said the wrong thing to the wrong person and had to be demoted for a while as a result.

However, the story this morning is that the very able Sir George Young, a former Cabinet Minister, is to take the job. This is a wise move by David Cameron. Firstly, Sir George is an able man with a huge bank of experience in government from which to draw. He has also been the chairman of the Commons committee that has been looking into expenses and knows the details of the issues better than almost anyone else, so he should be more than able to handle his new role, which will also help compensate for losing out on the Speakership to John Bercow.

What it really says to me, is that Cameron is shaping up his Cabinet for Government. He is addressing the potential criticism that his team lacks enough experience in office and placing someone who is respected by all sides in Parliament.

This little re-jig of positions is preparation for the next Conservative Government and is very welcome.

PS – I can’t see a story about this on ConHome or the BBC, yet, so remember – you read it here first! :0)

Some Teddy Kennedys over here please

The death of Senator Edward Kennedy was a moment when even his most hostile critics sat up and acknowledged the passing of a formidable political figure. Teddy Kennedy was the last in the line of the Kennedy brothers and sons of Joe Kennedy. What ifs are a great game to play in politics and as the TRG Board is composed largely of History graduates, it is a game we are often prone to.

All the newspapers ask the same what if…What if the tragedy at Chappaquidick in July 1969 had never happened? Would there have been a second President Kennedy? Well the truth is that we will never know. Ted Kennedy’s 1980 bid for the Presidency fell flat, largely (but not only) because voters were not satisfied by his explanations for the tragic incident.

But as the world remembers Teddy Kennedy, they remember a great legislator – the champion of civil rights, of voting rights reform, of freedom of information, of a more liberal immigration policy and recently a renewal of his campaign to make health care universal.

The liberal lion’s influence and skill as a legislator made him one of America’s most recognisable and prominent political figures and here there is a lesson for us across the pond.

The past twelve years have seen the emergence of an overly powerful Executive which has showed near contempt for Parliament. This must change. We need Kennedy figures in our legislature as well. Our select committee chairmen should be chosen by Parliament and not by the whips. The position should be given the same pre-eminence as that given to cabinet ministers. Chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Home Affairs Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Liaison Committee etc should be the culmination of a Parliamentary career and a position of huge power and influence. These chairmen (and women) should be household names. In short we need some Teddy Kennedys over here please…!

Transport Matters Matter

Yesterday’s announcement from National Rail of the proposed new high-speed rail link along the West Coast route, is an apt prompt to think about transport policy. This may bore many people senseless, but those that know me well enough will tell you that I have a little propellor on my head that goes round when the subject of transport comes up for debate and have written elsewhere on this before. I should stress that I am not a Lord Adonis-type, train spotting my way around the country for fun. It is just that I believe that as an area of public policy, whether it is about investing in national infrastructure as a key part of being a competitive economy or just at the human level of getting to work and to see family, transport really, really matters.

Read more of this post and join the discussion on ConHome…

Further Vindication for Damian Green

Conservative shadow immigration minister and TRG Vice-President, Damian Green MP, has succeeded in his bid to have the police remove his DNA record following his arrest last year.

Conservatives are campaigning to ensure that all those whose DNA is taken by police but are then not convicted of a crime, will be removed from the record, not just those who, as in Damian’s case, have political clout that allows them to apply pressure that ordinary members of the public cannot utilise.

Well done, Damian, and best of luck in your fight to win equality for everyone under the police!

The NHS

Dan Hannan has done the NHS, its staff and the millions of people who use and rely on it a great disservice. His negative and distorted view of the NHS is misleading. Not to mention that his rose-tinted impression of the US system ignores its massive failings and inequalities. What’s more, Hannan’s comments have undermined the excellent work that has been done by David Cameron, Andrew Lansley and the health team to show that not only can the Conservative Party be trusted with the NHS but that we will improve it. Cameron has said that three letters matter to him: NHS. The Party supports the NHS 100%. Under our proposals, more money will go to patient care, doctors and nurses will be trusted to use their professional judgment and the wasteful, damaging target culture that this Labour Government has imposed will be removed.

Andrew Lansley was excellent on the Today Programme this morning. You can listen to the interview here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8201000/8201011.stm

Congratulations to Chloe Smith

We are all delighted that TRG member Chloe Smith has been elected in Norwich North!

As David Cameron has pointed out, this was an historic win: only our second by-election win in a Labour seat for 27 years! It is clear that the people of Norwich want change and with Chloe they will surely get it. She was an outstanding candidate and thoroughly deserved her decisive victory. Many of us from the TRG have been to Norwich to campaign with Chloe, first on our campaign day in May and at various times since. We saw first hand her dedication and commitment, not only to represent the people of Norwich but also to breathe some fresh air into a discredited House of Commons.

Chloe will no doubt be an excellent MP and the people of Norwich North are fortunate to have her as their voice in Parliament. We look forward to seeing her take up her seat in October.

The TRG are Back in Norwich

As part of the action day in Norwich North to help PPC and TRG member Chloe Smith, the TRG have been back here today.

TRG activists campaigning in Norwich North

We will post again with a delightful (!) photo and more thoughts, but we wanted to keep you entertained with another thought provoking question as we did the last time we were here.

So, today’s theme is the English Civil War as the residential areas we have been delivering today were a collection of closes and cul-de-sacs with names such as Edgehill, Naseby, Marston Moor and Rowton.

Here is the question, then:

Where in London was the site of a skirmish where the King’s march on London was turned back after the battle of Edgehill in 1642? (Clue: there is a tube stop in London and a road in Norwich that shares the name!)

Update – 13 July – Photo added

Speaker Bercow

Congratulations to TRG Patron, John Bercow MP, on his election to the office of Speaker. The TRG were fortunate enough to have two Patrons as front-runners in the race to become Speaker, John Bercow and Sir George Young. Both were outstanding candidates for the Speakership. We wish John every success in the Chair and we urge Conservatives to follow Sir George’s call and give John the support he is entitled to.

John promises to be a breath of fresh air in the House. He is a Parliamentarian to his fingertips, has pledged to support much needed reform of the Commons and, crucially, will be a strong voice for Parliament. Already he has shown himself to be at home in the Speaker’s Chair and put in a commendable performance at his first PMQs. Long may his success continue.

Student TRG special: Tales from Russia (Part 2)

Laura Rose-Saunders, a Student TRG member, concludes her travels in Russia and sends this special report for the TRG blog:

Many a time I have heard it said that it helps to be slightly mad when living in Russia and after spending nine months leaving the customs and manners of Moscow I would heartily agree. Although Russia may be similar to Britain in many ways culturally they are very different.

One of the things that I noticed right away was that in Russia you rarely use ‘Spasibo’ (Thank you), almost never say ‘pozhalsta’ (please) and when wanting to attract someone’s attention ‘izvenitie mnye pozhalsta’ (excuse me please) is replaced with either ‘Devushka!’ (Girl), ‘Molodoi chelovek!’ (Young man) or ‘Babushka!’ (Grandma) depending on the age and gender of the person you are addressing. Oh and you do not simply speak then wait politely the Russian approach is to shout as loud as is physically possible until the person responds.

At first this all seemed very rude to my English ears however I decided that the Russian system was far more effective especially when trying to order in a restaurant. When eating in a Russian restaurant it is very important to remember that your dining experience will be totally different from any you have ever had before. For one thing the waitress will usually appear after you have only just sat down and demand that you order, when you try to explain that you can’t order as you haven’t even opened the menu yet they tend to then storm off in a huff and not return for another hour or so. It is also important to never assume that because the dish you have ordered sounds similar to something you would eat in the UK that it will actually be like something you would eat in the UK. I once ordered a chicken burger with fries feeling that it was a fairly safe option however when it arrived the lettuce was replaced with cabbage, the cheese turned out to be very strong garlic sauce and I’m fairly sure that whatever meat the burger was it was neither chicken nor any other type of winged creature.

Before departing to Russia I had decided to live with a Russian family as to me it seemed a lot easier than trying to find a flat in Moscow. I had also been told by the company who organised my year abroad that if there were any problems they would sort them out. We were also told that the majority of us would be staying with little Old Russian ladies as they were most likely to have a spare room as their children had grown up and left. When I heard the words ‘little old lady’ I thought I would be living with a lovely, white haired old lady who would tell me stories about life in the SSSR while feeding me tea and biscuits. Mine turned out to be a lovely but very bossy, loud, opinionated middle aged woman who insisted on feeding me kasha (porridge) every morning. It was while living with my Khozaika (host) that I learnt that when entering a Russian house you must always take your shoes off, put on your chapotchku (slippers) and then wash your hands or else you would risk offending your host.

Another strange custom I noticed was that Russian people will not take money out of another person’s hand. When buying something in a shop it is usual to pay cash and simply place it on a special tray on the counter. I have heard stories of Russian Babushkas screaming when someone has tried to pay them by placing money into their hands. After regaling a teacher at school with this story she explained that it is because it is thought to be unlucky to pass money from hand to hand. She also explained that it is also considered unlucky to whistle indoors, if a spider runs in front of you then it means you will soon receive some news and that sitting at the corner of a table means that you will not marry for ten years.

Russia may be a strange country but she is far from being a dull and uninteresting one.

European and local council elections

A reminder to all TRG members and supporters that today is polling day – we need your vote! The polls are open until 10pm.

Good luck to all our candidates and friends involved up and down the country.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind: Time to learn the lessons from Iraq

In a new article for the TRG Blog, the Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC MP, the former Foreign and Defence Secretary and TRG Patron, reflects on the Iraq War. In this timely piece, written as Britain’s combat operations in Iraq draw to a close, Sir Malcolm calls the Iraq War “the most serious mistake of American and British foreign policy in the last fifty years”.

The Iraq War was the most serious mistake of American and British foreign policy in the last fifty years. However, the formal end of British combat operations in Iraq represents the appropriate moment to begin a period of reflection. It is true that the UK’s armed forces will continue to be involved in Iraq with regard to the training of local forces and nation building. However, they will no longer be engaged in the kind of combat role that makes a re-evaluation of Britain’s involvement in the entire Iraq venture inappropriate.

There can be no doubt that the five and half years in which British forces have been engaged in combat operations, ranging from intensive operations against Saddam’s Ba’athist regime to low scale counterinsurgency efforts against Shia militias, have take an enormous toll. Yet it is important to note that that toll extends well beyond the troops who gave their lives serving their country in Mesopotamia.

The United Kingdom’s involvement in Iraq has had a detrimental impact upon the entire defence establishment, both in terms of resources and morale, and has weakened public confidence in the political leadership’s ability to employ the use of force in a judicious manner. Many lessons must be learned if we are to avoid a repetition of such consequences in future. At the present time, two stand out as being of paramount importance.

The first regards the use of our armed forces. The last decade has been one in which the military has been employed on a regular basis, with British personnel deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Iraq. No one would question the professionalism of those who have taken part in these campaigns.

However, such missions have too often been underpinned by too vague a rationale. The invasion of Iraq epitomised this trend. Weapons of mass destruction, the desire to inject United Nations’ sanctions with a degree of credibility, the liberation of the Iraqi people and the promotion of democracy were all cited as reasons for the use of force. Yet this abundance of different arguments given to try and justify military action should have been considered a reason against acting, not a sign that operations should proceed. Military ventures initiated by a democratic nation, that has not, itself, been attacked, can only count on the support of the public at large when they are underpinned by a clear and consistent principle unambiguously supported by international law. On this count, Iraq failed the test, and fell short of public support as a result.

The second lesson to be learned from our involvement in Iraq concerns our political decision making process. The benefit of hindsight would lead most to conclude that the decision taken by Parliament in 2003 to declare that the case against Iraq was “proven” was a profound error. Yet more troubling than the de facto authorisation given by Members of Parliament, was the manner in which it was provided. Should a future Parliament choose to support an assertive use of force by a future Prime Minister, they would be well within their rights to do so. Yet they should only do so having cast a much more sceptical eye over the justification for such action, including the underlying rationale, likelihood of success, potential “exit strategy”, and military feasibility of the mission itself.

In 2003, Parliament abdicated this role. It accepted faulty and vague intelligence too readily. It did not ask hard questions about the capacity of an occupying force to apply the principles of western democracy. It failed to ascertain the circumstances in which UK forces would be withdrawn from the theatre of operations. Finally, it failed to ask hard questions about whether the resources of the UK’s armed forces were equal to the mission they were being asked to undertake.

So what lessons must we learn?

In military terms, a key lesson of the Iraq war must be that we employ a much greater degree of caution before resorting to the use of arms. The confused and ambiguous reasoning that sustains the UK’s ongoing mission in Afghanistan, and the strain being placed on the UK’s reserve forces, requires that we adopt such a practice as a matter of urgency. Pursuing desirable goals is an insufficient threshold for the use of our armed forces. Only where our national direct interests are at stake should we, normally, be prepared to expose British soldiers to death or injury. We must also avoid making military commitments that may be out of proportion to the UK’s capabilities.

Britain’s military involvement in Iraq has caused it considerable harm, and weakened its credibility in the eyes of the world. Learning the lessons of that war would be the only way of ensuring that some good comes out of the experience.

From Russia with love; the first report from Student TRG in Russia

Laura Rose-Saunders, a leading Student TRG member, is spending a year of her degree in Moscow and we persuaded her to let us know some of her experiences. Here is her first report:

‘Russia can not be understood by the mind alone’ these words by the poet Tuchev are no truer today than when they were first written. For the last nine months I have been living in Moscow on my year abroad and I can say that I one hundred percent agree with Tuchev, Russia is an enigma.

Studying languages always gives one the chance to travel, experience different cultures and meet new and interesting people, and of all the countries Russia is by far the most interesting and at times the most frustrating place I have ever visited. From the second your plane is landing you are completely aware that while Russia may have borders with European countries it is far from being a European country.

At once I noticed that Russia far outstrips the United Kingdom in its love of forms, formalities, red tape and bureaucracy. During my time in Russia I have come accustom to the fact that all times I must carry my passport, visa, registration slip and migration card as the police have the right to check people’s ‘dokumenty’ and fine them as much as they choose for not having your documents about your person.

Furthermore there is no chance of slipping away for a spontaneous romantic weekend in Petersburg or an unplanned holiday to Far East as in Russia whenever I want to travel I have to give 10 working days notice prior to departure, register in the new place and re-register the next working day in Moscow or face the prospect of a fine or even, in extreme cases, deportation.

Something I’d never thought that I’d hear myself say, but I do miss good old health and safety. Despite being a country so controlling of well everything it is completely non-existent! Resulting in me frequently slips on the ice and nearly landed in a pothole the size of a Lada and no concept of ‘a recommended daily allowance’. Healthwise people are left to their own devices if I chose to not eat fruit but replace it with chain smoking 10 rouble packets of cigarettes and replacing water with 95 rouble bottles of vodka that would be my choice and no one would tell me different.

Having read this you be may starting to get the impression that my year in Russia was some kind of hellish bureaucratic drunken nightmare that I had to endure in order to pass my degree, however this could not be further from the truth. Granted the red tape side did drive me insane but the positive experiences far overshadowed it.

One of the greatest joys I had while in Russia was getting to travel and explore this enormous country. Being formally run by Communists means that the transport network is cheap and effective; it cost me about £20 to get to the Ural Mountains and about £15 to get to Sochi and the Caucasus. While the hotels may have been somewhat interesting, I once stayed in one where the window didn’t shut and the hot water didn’t work, it all added to the Russian experience.

There is one last thing I feel I need to tell you before you decide whether or not to visit this wonderful country- the current hairstyle of choice for the majority of the population is the classic 1980s mullet. However if you can stomach this and all the red tape then a trip to Russia is an experience that, trust me, is worth every kopek.

Speaker Martin Listens to TRG No Confidence Declaration

So, we had only had the new poll up for half a day, but events (“dear boy“) have over taken us already!

Our poll showed passed a motion of no confidence in Speaker Martin by 75% (OK, so only four people had had time to vote, but there you go). He clearly listened to this deafening result, though, and duly resigned yesterday.

New poll coming soon.

TRG President’s Dinner

TRG Chairman Tim Crockford, President Rt Hon Ken Clarke QC MP and Deputy Chair Victoria Roberts with TRG Patrons Lord Trimble, Walker, Hurd, Patten and Heseltine (accompanied by Lady Heseltine)

Just coming to the end of an excellent and well attended President’s Dinner for 2009.

Lord Patten was the guest speaker and his talk covered China, education and a whole host of intelligently discussed issues.

Well done to all of the new board in pulling it together!