Last year, Lord Feldman’s Conservative Party Review found, “A general theme was that the Party does not tend to talk enough about values or use these to encourage membership.” This paper is a direct response to this feedback and a part of all that is now going on following the General Election:
- Sir Eric Pickles is leading a formal review, together with Graham Brady, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, and Rob Semple, the Chairman of the National Convention, into the Party’s General Election campaign to see what lessons can be learned.
- The Prime Minister has asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to undertake a review of intimidation experienced by Parliamentary candidates and to report back with recommendations on ways to tackle abuse in the future.
- Following the evident success of the opposition to motivate the younger generation of voters to support them, the CPF has also announced a summer project of Renewal ahead of the Party Conference.
Rather than plunging back in with discussions on specific issues, this CPF discussion paper considers the longer view towards 2022. It encourages members to reflect on the values and assumptions that we will all be bringing to our discussion of future policy areas. This paper, therefore, is not so much about shaping the development of future Government policy as about shaping the Party and future CPF discussions.
We want to ensure that as many associations and as many members are able to engage in this wide-ranging discussion. So, the closing date for this brief is 8 October, after the Party conference. We look forward to receiving your responses to the paper in due course, using the response form published below, via [email protected]. A summary of responses to this paper will be sent to both the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Policy Board and the Party’s Chief Executive within a month of the closing date for submissions and a response will be due by the end of the year.