“Political parties have to think of new ways of engaging the public if we are to represent our communities effectively. In doing so we will need to be prepared to rethink our party structures, rules and some of our traditions to draw in new generations of people who wouldn�t otherwise go anywhere near political parties.”

Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP – from the preface to Broadening Participation

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In this paper the Network looks at the meaning of party membership, and discusses the importance of a large and active party membership for the long term health of the democratic process in Britain. The paper argues that with parties haemorrhaging members and finding themselves forced to campaign with an ever decreasing number of active members, the time has come for parties to reconsider their definition of membership. Parties should consider introducing different, less involved and cheaper, forms of membership. In particular the paper argues that parties should introduce registered supporter schemes to operate alongside membership schemes.

New Politics Network Director, Peter Facey said:

“Registered supporter schemes may sound like a radical departure from the orthodoxies of party membership to many, but it would be really quite simple to operate and be of immense benefit to party campaign managers. Many people find the price tag of membership prohibitive and feel the expectation to attend meetings and to campaign at elections a serious disincentive. They may well, however, be sympathetic with a parties aims, and would like some lower-level of engagement and like to be kept informed with what the local or regional party was doing. The expectation would be that many would eventually be recruited as full members over time.”

The paper contains articles discussing the variations on this theme by Dr Tim Bale (Sussex Uni), Paul Richards (Fabian Chair), Stephen Gilbert (Conservatives Party Campaign Director), Lord McNally (Lib Dems), and Dr Adrian Shepherd (Oxon)