Tory party faces meltdown as its grassroots troops desert or die

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The Times
December 05, 2005Tory party faces meltdown as its grassroots troops desert or die
By Andrew Pierce

THE new Tory leader will tomorrow inherit a Conservative Party organisation that is in danger of collapsing in large swathes of the country, with many constituency associations verging on the brink of extinction.
The new leader, expected to be David Cameron, will head a party where almost half of the 450 active associations have fewer than 100 members and 170 have income that has slumped below £1,000-a-year, according to an internal report commissioned by Francis Maude, the party chairman. The situation is so dire that the party leadership has put 200 associations on an “at risk” list.
The collapse in grassroots support, after three consecutive general election defeats, is one of the many headaches that faces Mr Cameron when, as expected, he is declared leader in succession to Michael Howard tomorrow afternoon.
The report, A 21st Century Party, ordered by the Conservative Party high command, is a devastating indictment of the state of the party. As recently as the 1960s it was one of the biggest mass political movements in the world, with three million members.
Today the figure is closer to 280,000, with the majority of members in receipt of their old age pensions.
“Today, a significant number of associations have fallen below the size required to function effectively. Like the divisions of a battle weary army, they exist on paper but not in practice,” the report states.
“Having fallen below the size required to function effectively they have not recovered as our political fortunes have recovered. Some have ceased to function at all. Others survive thanks to the dedication of a handful of people.”
The number of full-time agents, political organisers who manage associations, has fallen to a post-war low of 110 compared with the 280 who were employed at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s power in the 1980s. The majority are in safe seats with rich associations, which diverts resources and expertise from the marginals where they are badly needed.
While the vast majority of associations have embraced the computer era, that has not necessarily translated into effective campaign gains. The report states that “118 of those [associations] who store their data on a computer canvassed fewer than 1,000 electors in the last 16 months”. A further 120 still stored their data on paper, “and it is likely that many of these canvassed fewer than 1,000 electors”.
In a sign that the party leadership has recognised that there is an urgent need for change, the first merger of two neighbouring associations took place last week. Horsham, the constituency of Francis Maude, who has a majority of 13,000, combined with Crawley, a former Tory seat, which Labour clung on to by 37 votes in May. A further 58 mergers are in the pipeline.
The uncertainty over the leadership has meant that donations fell in the last quarter to a low of below £2 million; but there are signs for optimism in fundraising. The £240,000 costs of the leadership election has been offset by more than £500,000 that has been returned with the completed ballot papers. Two £50,000 donations arrived at party headquarters last week.
Jonathan Marland, the party treasurer, expects to deliver a break-even financial report by the end of the year and a nationwide fundraising appeal is to be launched on the back of Mr Cameron’s installation. The party is expecting a huge surge in donations when Mr Cameron takes over. Lord Harris of Queensway, the carpet magnate who bankrolled John Major’s Tory Party, was treasurer of Mr Cameron’s campaign.
Raymond Monbiot, the chairman of the National Convention, the voluntary wing of the party, admitted the state of the party was desperate in some parts of the country. He said that improvements were already on the way which would accelerate with the confirmation of the new leader.
“The recruitment of more agents will be a major step in the professionalisation of the organisation,” Mr Monbiot said. “There will be more mergers, but only when it is the wishes of the grassroots.
“When you have lost three elections, and we are moving to the fifth leader in eight years, it is not the most inspiring way to to make the wheel start rolling again; but there is a new mood out there. We are rebuilding,and modernising. We have to.”