There has been a lot of criticism over the last few week of
CF Chairman Ben Howlett and his handling of particular incidents within the
organisation. I have no real interest in attacking Ben or in speaking up in
defence of him. The problem I wish to address is broader.
CF needs to do its part in addressing the serious defections
happening in the party’s grassroots. Whilst defections on Twitter and Facebook
and running commentary regarding them are often portrayed as melodramatic and inconsequential
there is a growing amount of young activists switching side. Youth are most
often portrayed as the most loyal of activists; they’re the ones who deliver
the leaflets, hand out the flyers, canvass the doors and do the ‘grunt’ work
during an election campaign. Whilst this is not always the case and young
people do sometimes switch allegiance, CF is facing a more worrying trend. The members who are defecting are not simply
changing their view. These members are sticking rigidly to their view and are
punishing CF for not doing the same.
I consider myself to be a liberal Conservative but I am
worried by the increasing amount of rhetoric about an alienated right. The
right wing of our group (and I’m talking about CF here, not the main Party)
feel that the current Government do not represent them fully. They’re worried,
rightly so, about the liberalism in cabinet and the One-Nation view conquering
the party. Equally, the libertarian wing of our party see issues such as
privacy and are fleeing for the freedom-loving arms of UKIP and, in some cases,
the Liberal Democrats.
These people should not be ignored and they certainly should
not be criticised. These are the young people who are struggling to see why
their youth grouping is not pushing and pressuring their own Government, who
they help to get elected, to represent their view. Whether on the left of the
party or on the right, they’re worried that CF is not pulling its weight. Hence
the critique of Ben having stepped up a notch.
However the solution to this serious feeling of
disfranchisement is not to attack our Chairman or to publicly call for his
resignation. CF needs to help Ben feel that he can openly challenge the
Government where we feel he is going wrong. CF and its leadership should not be
pushing the cabinet agenda and ought to feel strong enough to declare our
position, as varied as they come, to the upper echelons. If we are serious of
fighting to win in 2015 and we’re serious about having a true Conservative
government, CF needs to be empowered to its part.
So rally around our Chairman
and send the message that we’re giving him the power and voice so say what we’re
all thinking.