Despite obvious points of disagreement, the AGM remained a “civilised and constructive” affair in which the Business Secretary sought to reassure his activists.
The Attorney General did not vote on the proposal, but also told assembled members he was “happy to commend it to his colleagues”.
The Party has sent out restrictive advice on the rules to all local officers – “strange” advice which some Associations, at least, are ignoring.
As Number Ten mulls extending Article 50, local activists should follow the lead of the National Convention.
I welcome the suggestion that local Associations should follow the lead that the National Convention took last weekend.
“I have to say, we have been working very hard over the past year to increase our membership.”
When asked for it, the three MPs presented none. The reason is simple: this supposedly sinister entryist army does not exist.
The next leader must be someone able to woo the unconverted and broaden the Tory tent. As Mayor, he was that candidate. But is he still?
His association executive is expected to demand tonight that he makes his intentions clear. But the constitution allows him to simply refuse to answer.
Losing 150,000 members, and the money that comes with them, has knock-on effects for the Opposition and for the Conservative Party.
The latest email to local members confirms ConservativeHome’s recent report.
Our party will not be able to speak for Britain as it really is, and as it will increasingly come to be, unless we make some efforts to reflect this in our membership.
He would have the right to a full ballot of the local membership. But an already strained local relationship, combined with Brexit, makes it an uphill struggle.
The more one thinks about it, the more problematic it becomes.
That way we would have a proper contest, focused on the future and the full range of issues. And our hardworking members would have a real choice.