I stood for the Chairmanship of the National Convention in an election held late summer of this year. I didn’t win, but I learnt a great deal and enjoyed a thoroughly worthwhile experience. But what is the National Convention, I hear you ask.
Well, you’re not alone in wondering. The National Convention is hardly known to the majority of Party members. Allow me to throw a little light on what the National Convention (NC) is.
In essence, the NC is the organisation and authority structure of the Party members, sometimes known as the ‘Voluntary Party’, including the local Associations and Federations, Area and Regional teams and some other groups, discussed below. Like an Association, it has Officers and a President, who all sit on the Party Board.
Five Officers represent the National Convention on the Party Board. The Chair of the National Convention is a Deputy Chair of the Party Board and chairs the Board when both the Party Leader and the Party Chair are absent. Four further elected officers of the NC sit on the Party Board: the NC President and the three Vice-Presidents. These officers of the National convention are elected annually. The Chair and Vice-Presidents can serve for three years in one position if re-elected. If they are unopposed, there is no election. The President may serve for one year only. National Convention Officers make up around one third of the Party Board, as specified in Part IV of the Party Constitution.
So, what does the NC do? Well, according to the Party Constitution,
24 The functions of the National Conservative Convention shall be to
24.1 support and promote the objects and values of the Party;
24.2 elect representatives to the Board;
24.3 oversee and receive reports from the Board, the Area Management Executives and Recognised Organisations;
24.4 provide a focus for views of Party Members and act as a link between the Party Leader and Party Members;
24.5 keep under review, and from time to time propose to the Constitutional College, in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 9, amendments to this Constitution;
24.6 recommend to the Board action that ensures the maintenance of an effective organisation throughout the Country.
Addressing the NC at the meeting at Conference on 29th Sept 2024, Fleur Butler, a current Vice President, characterised the NC as a ‘trade union’ of the party members and that the VPs were the shop stewards. This corresponds with the widely held view of its members that the NC is, at least in part, a body representing the views and interests of the Party membership and grassroots to the Parliamentary and professional branches of the Party. However, there is no specific allowance for this in the Party constitution, although there is arguably room for it in 24.4 and 24.6 above, should the NC officers see it that way.
The Chair of the NC plays a significant role in candidate selection. The Candidates Committee controls the approved list of candidates and the selection process, so the Chairmanship of the Candidates Committee is a key role. He or she is appointed by the Chair of the NC, who also serves on the committee himself and, furthermore, appoints five other members of that committee, making seven in total including himself. When asked on his eponymous WhatsApp group who serves on the candidates committee, the current NC chair, Julian Ellacott, stated
‘Under the current rules: Chairman of the Committee, 2x Vice Chairmen, Party Chairman, Chief Whip, 1922 Rep, Chairman of the NC, plus 5 others nominated by Chairman of the NC.’ There are therefore twelve members of this committee. The criteria for the appointed roles are not published, to my knowledge.
So how do you become a member of the National Convention, and therefore the right to vote in NC elections? Well, membership of the NC is attached to certain roles within the voluntary party. Association Chairs are members, as are the Chairs and elected officers of federations or groupings (ie where Associations have formally joined up to make a larger organisation). Then we have Area Chairs and their whole elected executives, and Regional Chairs and their Deputies, plus the past three Presidents of the NC and the past two Chairs of the NC.
Beyond that, membership of the NC becomes less clear. Further members are defined in the Party Constitution as
‘such further representation from each Recognised Organisation, Specialist Group, or Other Body as the Board shall from time to time determine, having regard to the membership of the individual Recognised Organisation, Specialist Group or Other Body (not exceeding 100 such representatives for all Recognised Organisations, Specialist Groups or Other Bodies), who shall be elected by the members of each Recognised Organisation Specialist Group or Other Body in accordance with their respective constitutions.’
For the election I took part in, it was decided not to give the candidates access to who the electors were, aside from what is stated in the Party Constitution (although some candidates may have had this due to roles already held). Neither was there any form of hustings. What the Party did do, however, was to include in one email a link to a leaflet and a video for each candidate. It is hard to ascertain from the Party Constitution exactly how large the pool of electors was, but it is thought to be around 850.
I hope that by standing in this election and entering a vigorous campaign, I shone a light onto what the NC is and onto the duties and powers of the Chair. And as Conservatives, we all agree that competition makes everyone better, so I hope I did my bit in moving the Party on from the woeful general election of 2024; and in showing that no one need wait to be asked to stand. Find out more about my campaign here.