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……………..

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.

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…!

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.

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!

William Hague on the TRG Website

For sometime now, we have been working to help TRG members outside of London and the South-East access more of what the TRG provides. We have begun the process of recording some of our more important events and making them available online.

This lecture was given by William Hague in November 2008 and represents the TRG’s Foreign Affairs Lecture 2008. 

Please comment here!

Is it time for the Speaker to go?

As the Observer commented a few weeks ago, a fish rots from the head down. Michael Martin’s job is to protect the House. He has singularly failed to do so.

On his watch, the reputation of MPs has slid ever further into the gutter. He led by example and many MPs have followed him in observing the letter of the rules but not their spirit. According to newspaper reports last week, he actively prevented Commons staff from investigating expenses properly. Rather than acknowledging mistakes and the genuine concerns of the public, he instead responded to newspaper reports about his expenses by spending yet more thousands of our taxes employing Carter Ruck. Yesterday, in one of his worst displays in the House (and there have been many examples of his incompetence in the Chamber over the years), he attacked MPs who asked sensible and reasonable questions. Kate Hoey MP rightly observed that he has lost it.

Regardless of how the parties respond to the scandal, and the leaders must, it is time for a new Speaker. One who can oversee the modernisation of Parliament and the restoration of some sense of public confidence in our system. One who has the respect of the House but is also able to earn the respect of the public. A man who has shown himself to be both impervious to the concerns of the public and unable to protect the House (not forgetting it was he who allowed the police to raid an MP’s office), cannot take the Commons forward.

Is the expenses scandal just distracting us from the real issues?

Stephen Fry made a good point, shown on Newsnight, yesterday. Daft gossip about moats should not distract us from focusing on what politicians really get wrong. We should be challenging them on the state of the economy and the fact that we found billions to bail out various bank but cannot afford for people with cancer or Alzheimer’s to get the drugs they need on the NHS.

Stephen pointed out that few were beyond reproach, and certainly not journalists, when it came to the filling in of expenses forms. However, it is one thing to nick some post-its out of the stationery cupboard or claim an extra taxi journey when it is a company reimbursing you and that same company can fire you. It is quite another for the MPs who have shown themselves to be unaccountable and frivolous with the taxpayer’s money.

Most MPs are not corrupt but the system is flawed and it has been abused. The principle behind the second homes allowance was a good one but there are precious few safeguards on it. Anyone who has been through a revenue inspection, having frantically to account for every 50p spent on a cup of tea for a member of staff, must be appalled at what the Commons gets away with.

During an economic crisis, when most people are feeling desperately insecure about their finances, it is galling to discover that your elected representatives are busy getting new kitchens for free. What is worse, are those who are guilty of what essentially boils down to tax evasion.

Of course, compared to the overall budget of government, the expenses amount to peanuts. But that is not the point. People have every right to be perturbed and angry at this latest episode. Politicians have a battle ahead of them if they are to restore public confidence. It will be interesting to see how they attempt this, not least with the threat of minority parties hoping to take advantage at the local elections next month.

Twitter

The TRG is now on Twitter. Follow us at – http://twitter.com/ToryReformGroup

Connections

The TRG had a campaigning day in Norwich, today. Not so long ago, we were in Lewes. Can anyone connect these two great places by their association with a great American constitutional figure?

The TRG goes to Norwich

The TRG will be travelling to Norwich this Saturday (9th May) morning to assist the Norwich North candidate Chloe Smith. Chloe is one of the youngest candidates in the country and is fighting the old leftwinger Ian Gibson.

At the Annual General Meeting the TRG Chairman Tim Crockford committed the TRG to playing a role in campaigning ahead of the General Election and tomorrow’s campaign trip marks the second trip of the TRG to assist in this manner. The first took place in 2008 and saw TRG travel to Lewes in East Sussex to assist Jason Sugarman.

If you would like to join the TRG Action Team please email chairman@trg.org.uk
If you are reading this blog and would like to join us in Norwich please call 07743859924 – we will be campaigning all day and so it is never too late in the day to join us………..

An economy in crisis, a government out of steam and a Prime Minister at the end – Ring any bells?

BBC Parliament is today replaying the 1979 general election. 30 years since the Conservative victory, it must be an anniversary Gordon Brown would like to forget.

Listening to election night coverage is a bit of a sad hobby of all election anoraks. It is however something that whilst none of us would admit to our non-political friends and colleagues when asked what we did on Bank Holiday Monday, is just irresistible.

It is fascinating most of all to watch the people – the presenters, the voters and the politicians. The fresh-faced David Dimbleby presents the coverage and Robin Day smokes (in the studio) the most enormous cigar! The interviews with voters reveal a desire for change – not a dislike for Jim Callaghan but a sense that his Government had had its chance and had failed. What was needed was a change. …………….

One of the first results of the night is that of Cheltenham (where last week Conservatives gathered for the Spring Conference) where the vote saw a 5% swing to the Conservatives which would be good news for Mark Coote if repeated in 2010. (http://www.markcoote.co.uk/page/440)

The issues in 1979 are of course different in many ways to those of 2009 but there are the occasional similarities –economic turmoil, a feeling that Labour had mismanaged the public finances and a sense that a stronger and different approach was needed.

The polls predicted a swing to the Conservatives but there was nothing certain. The polls had called the 1970 election for Labour and Ted Heath squeezed victory. The fascinating seat of Leeds where the Chancellor Denis Healey stood at one end and at the other side of the City Sir Keith Joseph was returned comfortably.

One of my favourite moments is the interview Robin Day carries out with Lord Hailsham in which Hailsham reveals that he had spoken at every election since 1924!

Enjoy http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlive/bbc_parliament/

The Beginning of the End?

“It has not been the best week and it’s only Thursday” Peter Mandelson declared on the Today programme. It was an understatement from the architect of New Labour. There is a growing feeling now in Westminster that Gordon Brown’s authority is collapsing.

It began with a bungled attempt by the Prime Minister to seize back control of the agenda after the Damian McBride fiasco and gloomy opinion polls. No.10 decided to jump into the row over MPs expenses. Gordon Brown went on YouTube (the forum incidentally which saw over 2 million hits for Daniel Hannan’s passionate and articulate attack on the PM) to announce his plans for a daily attendance allowance for MPs, not dissimilar to that used by the European Parliament (which has been criticised for its potential for abuse).

At first it seemed a success but it soon became clear that the proposal had not been thought through. MPs of all colours pointed out the holes in such a system. In addition more and more MPs began to speak out for Parliament – an institution treated so appallingly and with such little regard by the Government (see story below on the Damian Green affair). Surely what is needed is for an independent commission to address this issue and present its findings and recommendations for the whole House (on a non-party basis) to consider rather than the Government to simply lay down legislation.

It became clear that neither Nick Clegg nor David Cameron (nor indeed anyone else really) thought the Government’s proposal was a good idea and an embarrassing withdrawal of the proposal was forced in order to avert a crippling Commons defeat. To try and salvage some face, Gordon Brown called upon Sir Christopher Kelly to ensure that his committee rushed its report in order for it to be ready for the Summer. But the total mis-management of the affair and the Government’s interference had annoyed the Chairman of the Standards in Public Life Committee who simply refused! Can any one imagine an official publicly refusing a “request” from Tony Blair’s 10 Downing Street?!

At least, No.10 hoped, a Commons defeat had been averted but not so. The issue of the Ghurkhas’ right to come and live in Britain had slipped under the Chief Whip’s radar. The British public have a profound sense of fairplay. The Government’s treatment of the Ghurkhas has been appalling and it assaulted that very sense of fairness. Joanna Lumley (a British institution) articulated and encapsulated public anger that the sacrifices made by the Ghurkhas for Britain are not being properly recognised. The House of Commons sensed the mood of the nation and MPs of all parties joined to reject the Government’s motion. David Cameron and Nick Clegg joined the Ghurkhas and Joanna Lumley on the streets outside Westminster in celebration of this triumph for justice. For Gordon Brown it just couldn’t be worse.

This chronic mis-management of events comes with a cost for a government and that is the loss of authority of No.10. Richard Nixon famously referred to a “smell of decay” about a government ebbing authority and power and trying in vain to seize back control of the agenda only for another devastating revelation to come out and add to its woes. Once the feeling that the Government is adrift and lost, discipline collapses and past enemies long since vanquished and silenced will return from the grave to attack it (witness Charles Clarke and Stephen Byers).

Tonight another former Cabinet Minister and Blair ally David Blunkett (in my view one of the worst Home Secretaries in recent times) will deliver a thinly veiled attack on Gordon Brown and his Government for losing its political antenna. Charles Clarke and the Blairite circle smell blood……is it the beginning of the end?

Spring in the Air in Cheltenham

The first day of the Conservative Spring Cheltenham was a positive one helped along by glorious spring sunshine and a wonderful view from the racecourse venue over rolling countryside.

The town is awash with Tories, much to the joy of local hotel and restaurant owners, who can only just cope with the volume.

The conference itself is quite buzzy with everone talking seriously, and positively, about the upcoming elections this year and (it is suppossed) next.

If there is a gripe, it is that the first day’s programme was too short, but the sessions were certainly impressive with Lansley and Gove being generally thought to have performed very well and William Hague to have given one of the strongest attacks on Labour in the DC era.

We shall see what today brings!