NationalJUNE 2013 Convention News CONVENTION OFFICER THE ROAD TO CONTACTS WINNING IN 2015 ■ With fewer than 700 days to go until the General Election the Voluntary Party is ramping up its campaigning activity throughout the country, writes Emma Pidding. We have now selected candidates in 40 of our target seats, and more selections are likely to take place in Emma Pidding the early Autumn. We are starting to build our campaign Chairman of the National teams, making sure that our volunteers and professional Conservative Convention colleagues are working closely together. The recruitment of emma.pidding@ Campaign Managers is a vital part of these teams, and we introduced last year, has proved to be a great success with btinternet.com are seeing talented individuals being placed in our most more than 500 volunteers attending from right across the 07808 366613 critical seats. The relationship that our Associations and the UK. The day included the AGM of the National Convention. campaign teams have is going to be pivotal to our success. I am delighted that we welcome Gerry Yates, as the new The importance of our Volunteer network was highlighted member of our Convention Officer Team, joining myself, at a recent ‘Road to 2015’ Campaign Plan Briefing in CCHQ Charles Heslop, Rob Semple & Steve Bell. Whilst writing, attended by Area Chairmen. I would also like to place on record my thanks to our out- going Officer, Paul Swaddle, for all the work that he has On May 2nd, we defended 1116 seats across 34 County undertaken over the past 4 years, and in particular for the Charles Heslop Councils in Local Government elections. These were success that he made in the organisation and changes President tough elections to fight mid-term: defending a high local to last year’s Party Conference, ensuring greater member 07763 347401 government base in those seats that we last fought in involvement. charles.heslop@ 2009. We did see the loss a number of very hard working gmail.com Councillors across the country. I would like to take this I hope that you will enjoy reading this newsletter. You will see opportunity to thank these Councillors for their service to from the contents that it has been a busy time. their local communities and hope that we will see them back in Local Government before too long. Thank you as ever for all that you continue to do for the Party. We are now looking ahead to next year’s European Elections, and the Voluntary Party is currently undertaking With very best wishes, Rob Semple the important process of selecting our candidates. Vice-President 07984 867945 Since our last Newsletter, we held a very successful Spring rmg.semple@ Forum in London. The new one day format, that was googlemail.com North Devon Rowena Holland Nottingham South CANDIDATES IN PLACE Mark Isherwood Delyn Andrea Jenkyns Morley and Outwood Julian Knight Solihull ■Congratulations to all of our candidates who have Rob Loughenbury Chorley Rachel Maclean been selected so far. Birmingham Northfield Scott Mann North Cornwall Steve Bell Simon Marcus Hampstead and Kilburn Lucy Allan Telford Philip Allott Halifax Vice-President Thomas Pursglove Corby Will Quince Colchester Afzal Amin Dudley North Caroline Ansell 07885 200985 Mary Robinson Cheadle Lee Rowley North East Eastbourne John Bell Wirral South Alex Chalk [email protected] Derbyshire Paul Scully Sutton and Cheam Cheltenham Anthony Cox Newcastle-under-Lyme Royston Smith Southampton Itchen Hannah David Harrow West Byron Davies Amanda Solloway Derby North Derek Thomas Gower Chris Davies Brecon and Radnorshire St Ives Anne-Marie Trevelyan Berwick upon Tweed James Davies Vale of Clwyd Michelle Donelan Michael Tomlinson Mid Dorset and North Poole Chippenham Stephen Double St Austell and David Warburton Somerton and Frome Newquay Flick Drummond Portsmouth South Craig Williams Cardiff North William Wragg Kevin Foster Torbay Will Goodhand Middlesbrough Gerry Yates Hazel Grove South and East Cleveland Chris Green Bolton Vice-President West Douglas Hansen-Luke Walsall North Gerry Yates ■We would also like to thank all those who applied James Heappey Wells Peter Heaton-Jones gerry@geraldyates. for these seats. wanadoo.co.uk MANCHESTER 2013 – SEE PAGE 3 1 National Convention News VOLUNTEER TEAM CAMS ADDS 10,000 MEMBERS CONTACTS Rob Semple on the Conservative Association Membership Service Cllr Jeff James What is the aim of CAMS? association’s bank account e.g. Subscription paid £25 - Chairman of the Party in To assist those associations who would like help with £5 (PML) - £4 (CAMS fee) = £16 paid to association. Wales their membership administration such as renewals. In Contact via national. the longer term CAMS will also aim to be a conduit for Why is there a fee of £4? convention@ recruiting new members to the Party. CAMS needs to cover its cost and make a small profit to Conservatives.com The second biggest reason we lose members is they re-invest in long-term recruitment of new members. are not asked to renew. Pat McPhee Why has CAMS written to our lapsed members? Is it part of CCHQ? The Party has asked CAMS to write to all our lapsed Scottish Conservative No. It is a privately run outsourcing agency completely members every so often. It is therefore important that & Unionist Party separate from CCHQ. It deals directly with associations. associations keep up to date membership records on Conference Convener Nor is it central membership as any new member re- MERLIN. Associations are informed in advance of any 07920 700664 cruited by CAMS is uploaded onto MERLIN, then passed CAMS lapsed members mailing. patmcphee40@ back to their local association. CAMS deals solely with yahoo.co.uk membership administration, so communicating to your So has the CAMS initiative been a success? members still remains the job of your local association. • Approximately 10,000 new members, included both Niki Molnar lapsed and entirely new members to the Party, have Chairman of Who runs CAMS? joined through CAMS, so far. The National Conservative Draw Society (NCDS) are the • 50 Associations already signed up to the CAMS Conservative Women’s principle stakeholders in CAMS. The NCDS set up and renewals service. Organisation run the weekly draw and is a major donor to the Party. • Circa 40% of members who joined through CAMS are Niki@ on direct debit. conservativewomen. What is the key target for CAMS? • £150,000 has been paid direct to Constituency org.uk CAMS aims to provide a membership renewals service Conservative Associations. for associations to opt in, if they so wish, it is a purely CAMS is dedicated to developing a successful member- Cllr Gary Porter voluntary service. ship renewals service which will mean we no longer Chairman of the lose members through failing to renew them, it also Conservative Councillors What will CAMS renewal service do? means associations can concentrate on what’s most Association • Write to your members and ask them to go onto a important – campaigning ahead of the 2015 election. direct debit. It is a small but significant step towards bringing about Contact via national. • Renew your members when their subscription is due. a real improvement in our recruitment and retention of convention@ • Upload the renewed member onto MERLIN. our members. Conservatives.com • Send a membership card to the renewed member. • Pay at source the Per Member levy (PML) of £5 direct For more on CAMS, contact Philip Dumville on Oliver Cooper to CCHQ, and a £4 per member CAMS fee. 01494 673745 or at Philip.Dumville@ Chairman of • Transfer the remaining subscription direct to your beaconsfieldconservatives.co.uk Conservative Future Oliver.Cooper@ conservativefuture.com Lord Prescott. Currently, Gerry is overseeing the GERRY YATES STEPS UP selection of the List for the European Elections in 2014 with a strong field of good candidates, prior Gerry Yates has joined the National Convention ■ to handing over responsibility for Yorkshire and the officer team, elected unopposed at Spring Forum. Humber to his successor. Gerry was elected as a Vice President of the In his new role Gerry has been asked by Emma National Convention at the Spring Forum in London Pidding to be the Voluntary Party’s Board contact in 2013 and now represents the Voluntary for Eastern Region, South East Region and London Party on the main Board. He has served as Region. He will try to visit as much as he can and an Association Chairman, West Yorkshire has already campaigned in Portsmouth. During the Area Chairman and Regional Chairman for summer he hopes to visit all Areas in ‘his’ Regions. Yorkshire & The Humber. He has always stressed the need for the Party to focus A Lancastrian by birth, Gerry lives in Keighley, on its attention on this region and the north in the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, with his wife, Joyce. general. We need to ensure that seats won in They have three children and six grandchildren. 2010 are held and, in 2015, that more are won, Gerry returned to politics after his management to enable us to govern alone. career, when he volunteered to deliver a leaflets for the 1992 Election – oh, how one can be sucked in! He is a keen supporter of the Campaign Centre concept, as demonstrated in South Yorkshire, to The Volunteer Team is Gerry says, “It’s an honour to serve the Voluntary make the best use of scarce resources. ■ supported at CCHQ by Party. I have heard the Prime Minister say, ‘The Stephen Phillips, the Voluntary Party is the head, heart and soul of the A highlight of 2012 was the election of our Secretary to the National Conservative Party.’ I hope I can ensure that the candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner in Convention work of the volunteers is recognised by them having Humberside with the added piquancy of defeating a real input to all the Party’s activities.” 2 National Convention News STAFF IN PLACE FOR PLANNING FOR 2015 CONFERENCE Stephen Phillips has ■It is a great privilege and honour to be chairing been made a Director the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, of the Party.