Party Democracy and Participation (Media Watch)
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Media Watch: Reform of Public Institutions | Citizenship and Participation | Political Parties | Rights and Freedoms
IMPORTANT: Please add most recent articles from the top down. Thanks!
| Source | Date | Author | Headline (Link) | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Times | 27 September 2005 | Rosemary Bennett | Tories face challenge to leadership rules change | Francis Maude, party chairman, decided to let the party run the ballot itself without the oversight of the official watchdog, the Electoral Reform Society. That could form the basis of a legal challenge, opponents of the changes believe.
A Better Choice, the group that has campaigned to protect the voting rights of the grassroots members, also believes that the way the rules were drawn up broke the party’s constitution. |
| The Telegraph | 27 September 2005 | Brendan Carlin | Ballot 'will bring new Tory leader by Christmas' | Party managers will today unveil the result of a hotly contested internal party referendum on stripping the 300,000 grassroots members of a vote in the leadership contest and returning the choice exclusively to MPs. The outcome, which is likely to be close, will have a huge impact not just on the timing of the future contest but on individual candidates. |
| BBC News | 8 September 2005 | Inquiry begun on Labour democracy | An investigation is being launched into whether the state of democracy inside the Labour Party has prompted 200,000 members to leave. | |
| The Guardian | 28 July 2005 | Jackie Ashley | Let's have a parliament of teachers and shopkeepers | What is an MP for? The question is not only topical, as the Commons disperses for a break that will last - unless there's an emergency recall - until October 10. It also underlies one of the most refreshingly radical suggestions about recruiting MPs for years: Simon Hughes's plan for the Liberal Democrats to advertise in newspapers, women's magazines and on the radio for new parliamentary candidates.
Mr Hughes is entirely serious and says that the party needs to find people "liberal by persuasion" who had not necessarily been involved in politics before. Why should it be only councillors and activists? Why not spread the net wider, to Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping readers, or Radio 1 listeners, and get a more diverse crowd of MPs, people who've been busy doing other things entirely ... people who've never stuffed an envelope or rapped on a door? What makes the proposal radical is that it goes entirely against the trend in British parliamentary recruiting for the past 30 years at least. On all sides, the political lot have become a narrow, professional caste - not just the councillors and the shrunken activist base, but the party researchers, special advisers and media names who form the recruiting ground for parliament. And, as Hughes has noticed, the Commons is becoming a timid, unambitious and unrepresentative place as a result. |
| BBC News | 28 July 2005 | ??? | Legg challenges Tory leader rules | Ex-Conservative chief executive Barry Legg is mounting a fightback against plans to change leader election rules.
Based along the road from Conservative HQ in London, the Better Choice campaign wants the party membership to decide Michael Howard's successor. |
| ePolitix | 28 July 2005 | Daniel Forman | Tory members fight to retain voting rights | "Conservative activists have claimed they are confident of blocking moves to deprive them of a vote in future party leadership elections.
"A campaign launched this week is set to spearhead the fightback on behalf of members against the plan being pushed by Tory headquarters." |
| The Times | 28 July 2005 | Helen Rumbelow | Tory activists campaign for grassroots vote on leadership | "ACTIVISTS in the Conservative Party launched a slick, aggressive, and well-funded attempt to hang on to their vote on the Tory leadership yesterday.
"The campaign has been planned secretly for months and finally swung into action from offices cheekily located only doors from the Tory party headquarters. Its aim is to prevent the party executive from removing the vote from grassroots Tories as they choose a new leader. It claims the active support of more than 100 constituency chairman, as well as about £50,000 from backers." |
| The Telegraph | 28 July 2005 | Brendan Carlin | Tory grassroots fight for vote on leader | "Tory plans to have a new leader within months are under threat from a grassroots revolt to prevent party members from losing their right to vote in the contest.
"In a move that will worry Francis Maude, the party chairman, the campaigners say they already have the firm backing of 100 Conservative constituency chairmen and other key figures." |
