I'm standing for re-election to the Conservative Party Board as one of the Vice Presidents of the National Convention.
The National Convention is the representative body of every member of the Conservative Party, and members of the Convention (Association Chairmen (and Constituency Officers in Federations) and Area and Regional Officers) elect five of its number to be Officers, and to sit on the Party Board. I was elected in 2024 as Vice President, and 2025 as President. In 2026 I am standing again to be Vice President for a further year.
Over two years, it has been a privilege to serve the Party and its members - we have made good progress but there is so much more still to do
Chairing the Party Conference in Manchester in October 2025 was a privilege of a lifetime - I set out to ensure it offered the greatest possible engagement for members, but I took to heart the only instruction I received from Kemi who just said “make it fun”. What we delivered was the basis from which Kemi gave her barnstorming closing speech - that was the point at which the public started listening again and at which our fortunes started to turn.
Over two years, we’ve done a lot to put our Party finances on a more sustainable footing. This is very much a team effort, but sitting on the Finance & Audit Committee I’ve pushed to ensure that we spend as much as possible on campaigning and that our hard-earned income is used where it can have the greatest impact.
I’ve led, with Julian Ellacott, a review of the Party’s constitution and all the associated rules - including ensuring that it is members who will choose their parliamentary candidates from the widest possible field. We all know that that wasn’t respected in the run-up to the 2024 General Election, and whilst our constitution may not be the most exciting topic of discussion it is the framework from which all decisions are made!
If I am re-elected...
I’ll make sure that the work to refresh our technology (what we are calling ‘Project Symphony’) is continued, and members’ voices are at the centre of that. This starts with our officers’ and supporters’ portals - which will massively enhance our ability to communicate and engage - and then on to a new campaigning app and all that goes with it. This project will not be successful if it doesn’t have the support of our most active volunteers - so I will always listen and put your priorities forward.
I’ll lead the push for better learning and development opportunities for volunteers - we’ve made great progress, including through the establishment of our Campaign Leadership Programme, but there is so much more to do to ensure that we are all equipped to have the most impactful conversations on the doorstep, and win elections! Our new Learning Management System, which launches later this year and of which I have been the champion, is critical to this - so I will always ensure that volunteers are given the development opportunities we all need.
I’ll carry on pushing the members’ voice at the Party Board, with CCHQ colleagues, and in the Party more widely. The Party is turning a corner, with great leadership from Kemi, and the National Convention team have always sought to do the right thing - not always the easy thing! If re-elected, I make a simple promise - to work as hard as possible to do everything we can to get a Conservative government back in power!
Why did I stand in the first place?
I wrote about my original motivation for standing in Conservative Home in 2024 and set out the main things I wanted to achieve:
- A fundamental, and comprehensive, review of the reasons for our defeat. The review should take its time lead to a clear action plan setting out what we will do as a result of its findings. It should be led by someone who can get underneath the skin of what went wrong – at every level
- The Party Board then needs to hold to account those responsible for delivery of the action plan, with clear targets and milestones against which to test progress
- As part of that, a whole-scale constitutional and governance review: the bedrock on which the Party is built. My background is in governance – so I know that getting governance right can pay dividends. It determines who has power to take what decisions, and where reference back is required.
- Redraw the balance between the three wings of our Party (voluntary, professional, parliamentary). None exist effectively without the others - volunteers need to be supported, for example, in fulfilling legal obligations that we cannot avoid, but without volunteers the party is nothing.
- We need to value our members, grow their number, significantly increase the proportion who are active in the Party – and focus their efforts effectively against what should be our only purpose: to elect as many Conservatives as possible to every level of government.
- We need to embrace all the potential digital tools that are available to reach voters, identify our audience and bring them back to us. It should be ‘digital first’ not as a secondary.
In the two years that have passed, we've made good progress, but there is a lot more to do - and I want to finish the job.
I've been endorsed by a number of people in our Party, and a selection of these endorsements are available here.
