The Renewal of the Local Conservative Party Campaign Capability: An Organizational Insight into Central Co-ordination

Abstract

The importance of local campaigning for general election success is widely accepted. By focusing on the British Conservative Party, this article offers qualitative support through a research design in which interviews were conducted with local activists in four target constituencies and with regional officials; as a result, some understanding of the long campaign was also obtained. Embracing the contemporary view that campaigning effectiveness is a function of the party centre's ability to direct local parties, this study provides an organizational insight into how the centre was able to enhance its control, but also discusses the implications of this for local activists and for the local party organizational structure. The findings reveal that activist de-politicization and de-skilling, and a more formal and dismissive approach to party management, have undermined the local effort with the result that the party's local campaigning effort remains organizationally sub-optimal. The engagement of outside expertise and supporter networks has also changed the nature of the local party, so that it is moving towards a network of local political capabilities.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to acknowledge Professor Andrew Taylor, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, for the preparation of this article.

Notes

1. The A 21st Century Party document contained proposals to amend the process for electing the party leader as well as for organizational renewal. The political pressure that resulted eventually led to the Constitutional College, comprising MPs/MEPs, peers, members of the party board, association chairmen, area and regional officers, and other senior voluntary officers, voting upon, and rejecting, the changes to the leadership rules only; the organizational reforms were decoupled from it (Bale, 2010: 266–267).

2. Kite (2007).

3. Lord Ashcroft “Take-Your-Seat” letter to constituency chairmen of target seats, 11 December 2006.

4. “Candidates Association holds annual conference on 10th November”, ConservativeHome, 15 October 2007.

5. Michael Ashcroft, 9 June 2006. ConservativeHome question and answer exercise.

6. Cheltenham's campaign team largely comprised association officers, whilst that of High Peak contained several outsiders.

7. Conversations in 2011 with local officers support the activists' view: the total membership now appears to be less than 180,000.

8. The author conducted an analysis of constituency financial accounts for the general election year 2005. The sample consisted of 120 constituency associations and included those which did not generate sufficient income to meet the Electoral Commission's £25,000 threshold, as well as those which did. In addition, care was exercised to obtain a balanced number of safe Conservative, marginal and safe opposition seats.

9. The Somerton and Frome Constituency General and Political Report 5 March 2005 to 3 March 2006. The report attributed the low number of agents to the financial position of the local parties after the 2005 general election and to constituency grouping. Somerton and Frome complained that finding an effective agent, should they have the money, would be difficult because of the shortage. The accuracy of the figure of 82 agents is given some credibility by a steering committee briefing in January 2006 which stated that “we expect to have 200 agents in the field by summer 2007, double our present number”; this suggests a figure of no more than 110: “Briefing about FRAC (Farming and Rural Affairs Committee) meeting on 12 January 2006”. Known to have been in attendance were: Party Leader David Cameron, Party Chairman Francis Maude and other senior national party organizational people.

10. A survey of 40 constituency association websites was undertaken in June 2007. They were selected randomly from the constituency finance sample (see note 8 above). Some target seat associations did not have a website at all.

11. Constituency report on Derby North.

12. The pre-1998 Model Rules were advisory and for guidance; although most officers followed them closely. However, the rules introduced in the 1998 party constitution were largely mandatory and covered structural and campaign issues such as membership, finance, officer appointments, committees, agents and disputes.