Category Archives: Conservative Future

Jan 10 2009 0 comments

The Young and the Politically Active

lewis-mccannmatt-lewis

Three CF activists have been expelled from the party after one of them, Matt Lewis, boasted about dressing up as Madeleine McCann for a fancy dress party on his Facebook profile, and the others commented on it without condemning. This has, of course, caused a tabloid storm after it was broken by Tory Bear.

Whether or not expelling on them from the party was really appropriate or not, this raises the question of the use of Facebook - and other ‘new media’, including blogs - in a political context. Especially if you’re young and enthusiastic.

What this shows is that new media and politics have a sensitive and precarious relationship. If you are in politics and use Facebook or blog or tweet or use any other form of new media, you now have to be extremely careful with what you write. More than ever a foolish comment made in the heat of the moment could ruin a political career or destroy a reputation. And through social networking, any embarassing pictures could get out as well.

As useful as new media is for politics, polticians and activists, it is just as dangerous. Those who use it have to be careful, especially if they use something like Facebook for personal as well as political activities. After all, this is what has caused this incident.

CF activists have to be very careful with how they use their Facebook profiles, blogs etc. If they use it for political networking or it can even be connected to them as a party activist, they must ensure that they think before they post. If they don’t, they risk the same fate as befell these.

Which is why I’m always careful about what I write both on this blog and on Facebook. Also, because I’m not an idiot.

Blogging, Conservative Future, Facebook, Madeleine McCann, Politics
Oct 10 2008 3 comments

Media Training for Young Politicos, Tory Style

20080508-q-lolcat-gorgeous-george-wiseguyOne of my interests (and aims of my blog) is to encourage participation in politics as widely as possible. At least two of the three main parties have been talking about training, including media training, for younger members. The Liberal Democrats are talking about why their Leadership Academy should train everyone as they are all potential leaders.

Meanwhile, the Young Britons’ Foundation ran a training day at the Conservative Party Conference for young activists. Mike Rouse has kindly written an account for the Wardman Wire, which I have also crossposted to the Thunderdragon’s blog.

Conservative Conference Activists’ Training Day

At the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham recently the youth wing of the Conservatives teamed up with The Young Britons’ Foundation to provide activists with the opportunity to learn some media handling skills. There were around 100 attendees, including Torybear.

Vox Pop

This course taught how to handle being “vox popped” and how best to convey a message through a medium like TV.

Experience

The morning started with some presentations and sharing of experiences. Donal Blaney, from the Foundation, shared a particularly amusing tale of an appearance he made once where he discovered via his father who was watching that he had developed a hole in his shoe. From the basics of appearance to handling tough questions the course offered it all.

Attitude

There’s a thirst within Conservative Future for training and skills development. Many young people join the organisation without any previous experience of politics or the media and will have previously had to learn from experience or guidance by peers. This course enables everybody to be prepared for the cameras, the journalists and understand how to shape their communication for their audience. There’s no voodoo or dark arts, just simple training and advice that seems to really work wonders. The activists at conference started nervous but left confident.

Practical

The practical workshop came in the form of pretend “vox pops” where each delegate appeared in front of a camera and was asked a few quetsions: about the conference, about policies or about a made-up event. It’s a tough slog going through everybody that attended, so much so that all that camera handling and movement I was responsible for caused me to pull something in my foot causing days of agony.

Wrapping Up

It was worth it though, because Conservative Future now has a large group of people with much more savvy media skills out there.

Conservative Future, Media, Technology, Yoofs
Sep 12 2008 0 comments

Conservative Future “Social” Action

social-action

Via the excellent, amusing, and ever-entertaining Tory Bear, I’ve come across what CF seems to regard as social action:

As part of the National Social Action day in Richmond, kindly being hosted by the Richmond Borough Conservatives, one of the many projects you can visit on the 20th is the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in Barnes. On arrival you will be treated to a free guided tour of the centre, including a talk about the work and wildlife within the area, and then taken to an area of marshland where we will be helping to carry out essential conservation work to protect the land and the birds and wildlife which inhabit the area.

So if you fancy meeting some endangered ducks and getting to grips with some conservation work at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in Barnes - you know where we are.

Yes, this really is social action. Not.

If Conservative Future wishes to do social action, it should actually do social action, not a bit of stuff to ‘help the environment’. Social action doesn’t have to be hard or individual. There are more than enough charities and other organisations out there that do social action and just need more volunteers to help them.

CF should set up relationships with charities which provide these sort of services to those who need them - both national and local. And Conservatives of all ages should make an effort to get involved as well, wherever and whenever they can.

If we don’t, how can we possibly make any claims to be the party of society? We should do, not just say.

[FYI: At the time this post is published, I will be out doing my bit for society, as a Scout Leader.]

Conservative Future, Volunteering
Jul 13 2008 0 comments

No More CF Democracy?

CF logoAccording to Tory Bear [the Guido Fawkes of Conservative Future]:

[The CF Steering Committee] have discussed in depth the prospect of removing the entire elections process from CF. Elections are apparently a) messy and dirty, b) cost too much - the ERS charge a hell of a lot and of the thousands of ballot papers sent out, only a fraction of them are returned and c) at the end of the day the big people’s Party don’t get the candidate they want.

TB has now heard this from two trusted and well wired sources.

If that has even the slightest inkling of truth, it is utterly reprehensible. What is the point of having a separate “youth” organisation within the party if its leaders are not to be chosen by its members?

The country is a democracy and the party is a democracy [well, pretty much] so why shouldn’t CF be one as well? Especially since it is already democratic, to remove the democratic element would be a huge step backwards - and rightly garner negative publicity.

Whilst all of their points are relatively valid, (a) and (c) can’t be helped and are an inevitable outcome of elections. They are unavoidable, and this argument is an argument against all democracy. However, (b) can be minimised at least - move the CF elections online and/or extend the term. Then not only is it saving money, but making the party look “innovative” and “forward moving” and other such phrases.

Very simply, removing the elections from CF would make it into a laughing stock, and be a travesty for a party that claims to support democracy.

Conservative Future, Democracy
May 17 2008 3 comments

Brownisms

gordon-brown

Everyone has heard of “Bushisms“, the often stupid remarks made by George W Bush - such gems as “It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it” - but, until now, Brownisms have been missed. What is a Brownism?

Definition of Brownism: (braun’i(z’?m)

1. (verb) The subtle art of combining of words into sentences that are meant to deliberately mislead or confuse the general public.

Origins: A term coined to categorize all of Prime Minister Brown’s eccentric speech.

Example: A sample Brownism: “This will be a government of no spin.”

Notes: See also: Spin doctor; Machiavellian; dishonest.

And below, courtesy of Hertfordshire CF, is a list of the 20 best Brownisms:

20. “I will not allow house prices to get out of control and put at risk the sustainability of the future… the UK should not return to the instability, speculation and negative equity of the 1980s and 1990s” Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, November 1997

- Strangely enough, the UK housing market now faces years of instability and negative equity after the former Chancellor allowed rampant speculation to cause house prices to spiral out of control for 10 yrs.

19. “I am happy for there to be a leadership contest. I think there should be.” Gordon Brown, Interview with BBC’s Sunday AM, 10th Sept 2006.

- As everyone knows there was of course no leadership contest. The Prime Minister should be careful what he wishes for though, as he may well get his leadership contest over the next few months.

18. “I did maths for a year at university. I don’t think I was very good at it. And some people would say it shows.” Gordon Brown, April 2007

- It certainly does Prime Minister. A surprisingly candid admission from a man who lost $9 billion on his gold sales and then ran our economy for ten years, leaving just before the banking and housing sectors collapsed.

17. “The failure to support the reform treaty will leave the Czechoslovakian people isolated in Europe.” Gordon Brown, March 2008

- Looks like Geography wasn’t Gordon Brown’s strong point either. Our Prime Minister states his fears in Parliament for Czechoslovakia, a country that ceased to exist 15 years ago.

16. “There is nothing that you could say to me now that I could ever believe.” Gordon Brown to Tony Blair in October 2004, after British Prime Minister appeared to renege on a guarantee not to fight a third term of government.

- Prime Minister, trusts us we know how you feel. That’s how we feel about you both.

15. “The Arctic Monkeys really wake you up in the morning.” Gordon Brown on the Sheffield band, quoted in 2006 summer issue of New Woman magazine.

- Our Prime Minister’s reply when asked about his favourite music band. He was then embarrassingly unable to name a single track from their debut album beyond insisting that ‘they are very loud’.

Get the whole story »

Conservative Future, Gordon Brown, Humour
Mar 05 2008 1 comments

CF National Elections: Results

The Conservative Future national elections are over, and the results are known.

Chairman
Michael David Rock

National Management Executive
Beaumont-Bott, Anastasia
Douglas, Adele
May, Christian
Meredith, Owen
Ricketts, Cllr Steve
Sullivan, Patrick

Congratulations to everyone who has been elected and good luck with running CF over the next year, and commiserations to those who weren’t elected.

But was it really the monkey wot won it?

Conservative Future, Election