Claire Palmer

New Blog

Claire Palmer — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:00:16 +0000

I have got a new blog - in the same programme (Blogger) as everyone else, which now I've done it seems eminently sensible.

I am in the process of transferring all the old posts, but the new one is now up and running. Anyone who is good on blogs / has any suggestions for improvements, do comment or send me an e-mail.

The new blog is http://clairepalmer.blogspot.com.

18 Doughty Street Debut

Claire Palmer — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:06:16 +0000

I am delighted to have been invited onto 18 Doughty Street tonight with Iain Dale. I will be on air from 10pm - midnight and understand that we will be discussing the news and politics in general at first, and then reviewing tomorrow's papers.

I am looking forward to seeing the facilities at 18 Doughty Street and meet some of the team who have pulled it together. It is a great idea, although I have to admit that I am not a regular viewer - when I am at a computer I tend to be working, e-mailing or blogging, but not necessarily progressed onto internet TV. It is fantastic that someone else has tapped into this expanding new technology.

Casino Royale - Croydon CF

Claire Palmer — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 13:51:12 +0000

On Friday night I joined several other secret agents for the Croydon Casino Royale ball. Everyone had made a real effort, with a number of 007 lookalikes! Clare Hilly and her team had done a fabulous job and had over 100 guests attending the Hilton Hotel in Croydon, where all of the tables were named after Bond films. Notable CF guests included Karen Allen from the Exec, and former CCHQ staff member, Richard Action Jackson. A number of students from Exeter university had also travelled to the dinner, after a day of training with Mark Clarke, CF Chairman.

Later on in the evening guests headed across to the casino to try their luck on the roulette and with poker - thankfully it wasn't strip poker! The jazz band kept us entertained, and the two professional dancer guests outshone everyone else on the dancefloor - Strictly Come Dancing, CF style!

Amazingly trains run through the night from East Croydon and I headed back into town on the 2.28am train!

Conservative Home Awards

Claire Palmer — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 07:02:47 +0000

Last night I attended the inaugaral Conservative Home Awards held at the offices of Policy Exchange. A night to rival the Oscars, the purpose was to reward a number of Conservatives (and non-Conservatives) as voted for by Conservative Home, with input from its members.

A full list of award winners is available from Conservative Home. An amusing night, with a mix of useful and entirely useless information! My favourite parts include Matthew Parris, on accepting the award for Best Writing, showing the audience his rat bitten shirt that formerly belonged to Alan Duncan MP, and Jonathan Isaby's very good attempt at a William Hague voice in awarding the Taxcutters Award to Wandsworth Council, and finally Iain Duncan Smith's story of a recent encounter with a member of the public who wasn't sure if he was Tony Blair, that bloke Smith, or whether Blair was leading the Tories.

Wandsworth Council have done a fantastic job in consistently providing low council tax (14 consecutive years - lowest council tax in the country) but still offering fantastic services. Russell King who accepted the award on behalf of the Council was not slow in pointing out to the audience (including George Osborne) the benefits of such a system, and how to implement it through continuous improvement, and getting rid of Sir Humphrey! Other serious notes to take away include the very sensible comment of Richard Bacon MP (who exposed the Home Office's foreign prisoner scandal which led ultimately to Charles Clarke's resignation) that the Goverment makes far too many laws, and not enough scrutiny. Considering the laws in criminal justice (which I deal with every day) that have been introduced recently, this is certainly true. Finally, Iain Duncan-Smith had some very moving words of support and encouragement for the British Armed Forces, and the support that they not only need, but so clearly deserve.

Well done to Conservative Home for what they do - it is a constant source of political news (and gossip). As David Cameron said whilst to him it is sometimes infuriating, it is always good value.

Marginal Seats Update

Claire Palmer — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 13:17:43 +0000

My role on this year's executive aside from my role as Deputy Chairman, is to look after the Marginal Seats initiative. We initially pulled together a list of 11 constituencies through identifying marginal seats ourselves, making sure we had a good geographical split, and discussing with the target seats team. The list of seats that were identified to begin working with were as follows: Harlow, Loughborough, Worcester, Solihull, Pendle, Torbay, Aberconwy, Portsmouth North, Wirral West, Keighley, and Finchley and Golders Green.

So how are we doing...? Well, I am pleased to announce that we have agreed the procedure for over 75% of the seats, and are in the process of agreeing the procedure and timeline in the remaining seats. We have found that where there is no PPC in place, it is much more difficult (a learning point!).

We have dates set for events in four constituencies before Christmas – please add them to your diaries, and come along if you can:

Thursday 23^rd November: TORBAY, PPC Marcus Wood. Venue TBC, 7pm

Thursday 30^th November: HARLOW, PPC Rob Halfon @ Yates Wine Bar, 7pm

WORCESTER, PPC Robin Walker @ VENUE TBC

Tuesday 5^th December: LOUGHBOROUGH, PPC Nicky Morgan @ Venue TBC, 7pm.

If you are a member in any of the target seats that we have selected, or are interested in helping out in anyway, please get in touch by e-mailing me at clairepalmer@conservativefuture.com.

Finally, as you may have seen we are in the process of recruiting for an extra person to be co-opted onto the Executive to assist with the role of building branches in marginal seats. Conor Burns and I will be interviewing the applicants this afternoon, with a decision likely to be made at the next Executive meeting on 20th November.

Saracens Tame Tigers

Claire Palmer — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:02:52 +0000

For those of you that don't know, I am a big fan of Saracens rugby club, and a previous season ticket holder. I also have a lot of friends who are Leicester Tigers fans! I was therefore doubly pleased to see Saracens hold out with a win against Leicester today.

Saracens despite being ahead at half time 19 points to 6, managed to drop the lead to 22-16. When Leon Lloyd was sinbinned, we conceded the 10 points. That being said Leicester are so used to having a player sin binned, that they seem to play much better with 14 men. With Leicester piling on the pressure in the final minutes, Saracens gave away a number of penalties. Leicester's tap and go nearly paid off, but referee Roy Maybank judged that the ball was held up, and blew the final whistle. Relief was probably the best word to describe the Saracens' fans feelings.

Take Me Home !

Claire Palmer — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 12:35:09 +0000

On Saturday I headed to Swindon to join approximately 30 CF activists for a day (and evening) of campaigning in Swindon. This was a great start for Matt Richardson in his role of campaigning, and he had done an excellent job of organising and marshaling the troops.

During the day we canvassed 400 households and delivered approximately 3,500 leaflets. I was joined by four of the applicants for the marginal seats role, in advance of their interviews which will be held tomorrow afternoon (Monday 13th), as well as an applicant for the media and marketing role.

Onto the evening, and after a quick refreshing pint, we were back out with "Take Me Home" leaflets to promote the initiative of the council run night bus. Having left most of our number in the bar folding the leaflets for use later in the evening, Dave Sammels and I headed out to visit 10 bars in 30 minutes to put the leaflets out for those early evening drinkers.

Matt and I headed back to London (a 3 1/2 hour journey thanks to engineering works) at about 9pm, leaving a happy PPC and feeling pleased with a successful campaign day. From Justin's feedback it appears that the leaflets were well received, and many punters were reading them as Justin and his Swindon mob continued to visit the town's many bars later that evening!

Look out on Conservative Home for details of our next campaign day. Many thanks to Justin and Matt for their hard work in pulling Saturday together.

Brokenshire appointed Shadow Minister for Home Affairs

Claire Palmer — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 11:56:40 +0000

I was delighted to see the news that James Brokenshire has been promoted to the Front Benches. James is a fantastic MP, an excellent campaigner, and one of the new intake that has already made a great impression. He is pictured above in Hornchurch Town Centre with David Davis, who visited the Hornchurch seat earlier this year to discuss crime and how it affects the local residents.

As part of the campaign team in Hornchurch that helped get James elected in 2005, I had the privilege to work along side him, and he is now a good friend. I wish James every bit of luck in his search for a new seat, as the Boundary Commission has abolished his seat for the next election. James deserves to be back in Parliament in 2009.

Other promotions are listed on Conservative Home. The new intake have supported a large number of CF events, particularly the New Members New MPs events that I arranged last year. We will be running some more of these next year, and are trying to arrange one outside London. It is great to see the new talent having more opportunities to get involved in important policy areas, and take on greater responsibility.

Victoria Cross Heroes

Claire Palmer — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:01:55 +0000

I was delighted to attend the Book Launch for Lord Aschroft's new book: Victoria Cross Heroes. He was joined by a number of leading players in the Conservative Party: David Davis, William Hague, and even David Cameron. However, more importantly the book has received wide support from families of recipients of the Victoria Cross, and a number of them had attended this evening.

The beauty of the VC is its simplicity and the fact that it is awarded solely on merit and for outstanding bravery in the presence of the enemy. The book is published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the Victoria Cross, having been introduced by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in January 1856. The first awards of the VC were published in the London Gazette on 24 February 1857. Lord Ashcroft now has the world's largest collection of VC's, which have been put into a trust. There are plans to put the whole collection on public display in London.

True courage is something that many aspire to but few achieve. The event, held at the Imperial War Museum, was inspiring, and humbling. VCs are largely given to ordinary people who have performed extraordinary acts of bravery. They are real heroes who more often that not sacrificed their lives in order that others survived. It is at times like these, and particularly with November 11th fast approaching that we remember how many men (and women) have given their lives for the protection of this country, and to protect others from losing their lives, or their liberty.

The book is now on general sale. Also, there will be a three part television series fronted by HRH the Prince of Wales (who also wrote the foreword to the book) starting on 18th or 19th November on Channel 5. Further details are available on www.victoriacrossheroes.com.

Take Your Seat

Claire Palmer — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 23:28:50 +0000

Today, I attended the "Take Your Seat" conference in Millbrook, near Bedford, for an all day conference. Association Chairmen, Regional and Campaign Directors, as well as agents from approximately 200 marginal seats were invited to attend, and over a 1000 people from around the country made the effort to do so. I attended the event with Mark Clarke, CF Chairman, who has also written up the event on his blog.

The event, pulled together by Lord Aschroft, and his marginal seats team (including Simon Jones), was an excellent insight into the direction that the Conservative Party is heading and was an extremely professional affair. Obviously a lot of what was said was confidential but what was clear from what we heard is that the Conservative Party are serious about our target seats, about professionalism, and about supporting our constituencies.

Lord Ashcroft chaired the event. Speakers included Francis Maude, Don Porter, Stephen Gilbert and Gavin Barwell from the Target Seats team, Patrick McLoughlin, the Chief Whip, as well as David Cameron.and has clearly devoted a great deal of thought, as well as time and resources to the strategy for the next election.

Lord Ashcroft is clearly committed to seeing the Conservatives back in Government and does much to support the party. As well as the hard work that he has put into this event, he has consistently supported Conservative Future.

Personally, I made the most use of the great opportunity to meet with most of the Regional Directors and to discuss in more detail our CF marginal seats plan. They were uniformly impressed with the idea, and keen to support it in their areas. I also spoke to a number of delegates and was inundated with requests to add their constituency to wave 2 of marginal seats.

Also at the event, demonstrating what a professional campaign centre might look like were Ranil Jayawardena, Karen Allen, Tanya de Hoedt, and Richard Jackson from CF. It was also great to see some of our CF members as key delegates such as Gavin Maclure, former Area Chairman for Norfolk and Suffolk, and Chris Wales, Area Chairman for West Yorkshire.

As an aside the venue was fantastic - the site, owned by General Motors, is used to test cars from most of the major manufacturers including cruise control banked lanes, and a huge testing site. Needless to say there were stewards to make sure we didn't accidentally end up on the test track!

Nuclear Energy Success

Claire Palmer — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:05:56 +0000

Last night we had the Nuclear Energy debate with an excellent set of speakers both for and against the motion. Two MPs came along to put their case: Robert Goodwill, and Nick Hurd, as well as Miranda Kirschel from the Nuclear Industry Association and Dr David Lowry, an Environmental Policy Consultant.

It was a fascinating discussion and I know that many of the attendees learnt a lot. At the end of the debate we had a vote on whether we need nuclear energy. Perhaps a bit of a loaded question as there was a unanimous vote in favour. What was more interesting was that everyone also agreed that nuclear energy can only be part of the solution, and certainly not the only solution. Under the current sytstem, if we take the decision to use nuclear, it will take approximately 15 years before we have the power stations built and producing nuclear. In the meantime it is vital that we explore renewables, and focus our efforts on increasing the capacity of other energy supplies.

This is not the first CF working life event discussing this issue. At the conference in Loughborough in August, we heard about and discussed the renewables options. It does appear clear that we need to look at different options for our fuel supplies to ensure that we have stable energy supplies, but also those that where possible have lower carbon emissions, to limit client change.

We had some new faces (and some old ones too), and a number of people come on to the pub too for more soicalising! Thank you to Miranda Kirschel for her help in pulling the event together. Well done to Karen Allen for making the event successful including chairing the event very professionally, getting the speakers to stick to their time limits! Excellent job!

Energy Discussion - 2nd November

Claire Palmer — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:30:51 +0100

The energy debate has moved on across all the parties, with the Government stating that nuclear could contribute in the battle against climate change and in securing our energy supplies.

The Conservative Party have run their own energy review as part of the Review for Life, and have concluded that nuclear is necessary as part of a balanced energy mix, but as a 'last resort'. Have the Government got it right? Have the Conservatives got it right? Is nuclear a 'last resort'?

Join us for a debate, and drinks reception, to discuss the issues, ask the questions and tell us your views. We have 2 MPs and 2 leading figures in the energy world offering their views and attempting to persuade you whether or not nuclear is necessary.

Speakers for the motion:
Michael Jack, MP for Fylde
Miranda Kirschel, Nuclear Industry Association

Speakers against the motion:
Nick Hurd MP, MP for Ruislip-Norwood
Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth

The event will be from 6pm – 8pm, with speeches starting at 6:30pm. It will be held in the
Macmillan Room, Portcullis House, Westminster

Complimentary drinks and nibbles.

To register to attend please email sarah.southern@conservatives.com or karenallen2@yahoo.com.

Lithuanian Embassy Success

Claire Palmer — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:52:12 +0100

I've just got back from a fabulous evening at the Lithuanian embassy. The Ambassador hosted over 40 CF working life members and gave a very interesting and eye opening speech about Lithuania in the past, his experiences when growing up, and the future for Lithuania with the UK, the US, and the EU. We also had excellent speeches from Mark Clarke, CF Chairman, and his Lithuanian equivalent, Radvile Morkunaite, who had been flown over for the event, for her first ever visit to London.

We had a number of new faces, and a few old ones too. This is one of the last two events that I helped to organise during my term last year to ensure that whoever took over the role of working life had a platform to start with. Karen has done very well picking up this role, and pulled the final parts of the event together, and got a great crowd there. A great start to the working life events for this year. It's great to see what a bit of continuity and ensuring a seamless handover can do.

Next event is the Energy discussion on Thursday 2nd November in the Macmillan Room, Portcullis House, Westminster.

Lithuanian Embassy Reception - Wed 25th Oct

Claire Palmer — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:37:24 +0100

Our first working life reception from the new Executive is a Conservative Future reception held at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania on Wednesday 25th October with Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas and Radvile Morkunaite, President of Young Lithuanian Conservatives, it will start at 7 p.m. Many thanks to Simon Jones and Richard Stephenson for their help in arranging this event.

Address: 84 Gloucester Place, W1U 6AU London
Nearest Tube: Baker Street / Marble Arch

If you would like to attend, places are limited, please contact karenallen2@yahoo.co.uk.

United at United

Claire Palmer — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:42:14 +0100

Last night I travelled up to Manchester to attend a dinner with George Osborne, and David Cameron, as well as about 900 other guests. There was a great CF attendance with about 100 CF members there, as well as Lord Ashcroft. Members had travelled from all over the north including Sheffield, Durham, Wirral West, and of course some of the Manchester members, including our two area chairman: Stuart and Adele. A number of others had travelled from around the country including an appearance from Richard 'Action' Jackson. As well as that there was a good CF Exec showing as I was joined by Mark and Craig Cox. For some reason the CF tables were closest to the bar!

The main reason for us going was to meet the Pendle Association and make progress on building a CF branch in Pendle, and to assist Andy Stephenson in his quest to win the target seat. Andy has been a great friend to CF, and was previously Deputy Chairman of CF, and we are delighted that he is keen to work with us to set up a CF branch in his constituency.

We had the pleasure of speeches from both David Cameron and George Osborne, both of whom were excellent. What really showed is the immense success that DC has had on the party, by the sheer numbers of attendees, but also by the response of the staff at the venue. A number of the security and waiting staff listened with interest to what David, and George had to say. One of them that I spoke to at the end of the night explained that he had never voted Conservative before, but that with David Cameron as leader, he will be doing so in 2009.

I also met the candidate for the City Centre ward in the local elections, a CF aged candidate, and I very much hope that with hard work and determination we will have a Conservative Councillor in Manchester after May 2007. I know that Adele, and Stuart, our Area Chairmen, will be working hard encouraging our members to campaign, and see that happen.

When the final whistle went at the ground, a number of us headed out to sample the Manchester nightlife.

NME Co-option Deadline Passes

Claire Palmer — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:43:30 +0100

On Friday the deadline passed for both the Marginal Seats and Media and Marketing co-option roles. There is still time to get in your application for social action by sending in your completed form to Mark by Friday 27th October.

Conor Burns and myself will be conducting the interview and selection for the Marginal Seats role, as set out on Conservative Home. We will be going through the applications and conducting interviews over the next couple of weeks. I have received a number of application forms for the role.

I am delighted that we are having a real open and transparent process, and so far it has had great results in encouraging more people to get involved in CF, and finding talented and hardworking members. I wish all of the applicants the best of luck.

Hornchurch Association Farewell Dinner

Claire Palmer — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:07:11 +0100

Last night I went along to the Hornchurch Annual dinner, but what is to be the final Hornchurch association dinner. Thanks to the boundary changes Hornchurch is no longer going to be a consitutency seat at the next election. The changes start formally in terms of associations from 1st January.

It was therefore an emotional night particularly as everybody there had worked so hard to secure Hornchurch back for the Conservatives, and to put James Brokenshire into Westminster, in May 2005.

The Association certainly went out with a bang, with a number of hugely successful Havering CF members there, including GK, one of the newly elected Conservative councillors. As ever, he was on fine form, and seemed to really enjoy winning the last prize in the raffle - a delightful red handbag.

The guest speaker was Michael Gove MP who spoke with humour, intellect, and above all passion for the Conservative Party and everything that David Cameron and his team are doing, but also a few John Prescott jokes. It seems that even the most intellectual of our new MPs cannot resist the odd jibe! Michael also kindly answered a number of questions from the audience including commenting on the work that his office are doing in doing all they can to provide a workable policy on ensuring that our young people have somewhere to live, and considering the options to enable our twenty somethings to get onto the property ladder. This is an enormously interesting and topical issue, particularly to our working life members of CF.

It was a great night, and I wish James Brokenshire the best of luck in finding a new seat and ensuring that he remains in Westminster after the next general election. He has been an excellent MP and has worked incredibly hard for Hornchurch, as well as being a good friend. His wife, Cathy, does a sterling job looking after the three under 5s, including recent addition Ben!

Right Old Balls Up

Claire Palmer — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:14:00 +0100

Last night was the K&C Ball, held in the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington High Street which had Malcolm Rifkind and Chris Patten in attendance among many others. Clem Maddocks, Mark Clarke, Jenni Hibbert, and Anthony Downie all did some superb organising of the event, and had got a number of CF aged attendees to the dinner. All in all a great night with lots of dancefloor classics. Bidding in the auction was way out of our league though!

Unsung Heros

Claire Palmer — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 19:23:05 +0100

Mark Clarke, CF Chairman, has announced a section on his blog for unsung heroes of CF. See http://markclarke.blogspot.com for the posting. The first unsung hero is very deservedly Richard 'Action' Jackson who did a sterling job for CF in CCHQ for 6 months last year. I wish Richard the best of luck with his final year of uni up at Hull University.

First Official Exec Meeting

Claire Palmer — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 21:57:34 +0100

Well - Monday night saw the first official meeting for the new CF executive. We are off to a great start and everybody had updates on what they had already started to achieve, and we had a discussion as to what we wanted to achieve in the year ahead, and how .

The first proper decision we needed to make was the co-option of Area Chairmen. This week the successful, and unsuccessful candidates are being individually contacted to let them know the outcome. I wish all of our Area Chairman the best of luck for the year ahead. We will be making sure they work hard. Please let us know how they are doing, and what improvements you would like to see.

Conference

Claire Palmer — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:17:08 +0100

"How was your week off", asked my colleagues in Chambers when I returned on Thursday! "Week off", I replied, "I've been at Party Conference".

As many of you know, Conference is a great event - debates, speeches, fringe meetings, drinking, partying, and very little sleeping! I headed down to Bournemouth with Karen Allen on Saturday, and caught up with a few other CFers including the former Chairman Justin Tomlinson, and the current CF Chairman, Mark. A great night was had by all and a number of the attendees from the Working Life conference were out, and looking forward to the first day of what was their first Party Conference! Sadly with the pass situation many of them did not get to see the first or even second day of Conference.

Fortunately I had my pass, and managed to help host the CF event on Sunday evening, including ensuring that many of our members had the opportunity to meet our very generous donor, Lord Ashcroft. Unfortunately Mark had not been given his pass, and was sat in accreditation along with Justine Greening, and so it fell to me to give a short welcome. For those people that hate speeches, it was even worse, as Mark arrived ten minutes later and also gave a short speech. It was a great event, and we will have to find a bigger room for the event next year, as we were a little overcrowded.

Monday afternoon saw a group of us CF activists head down to the church, the social action project in Bournemouth. All in all about 40 CFers took part in the project, including our very own National Organiser, Sarah Southern.

I also spent a considerable amount of time meeting with PPCs and candidates and discussing and working on the Marginal Seats project, as well as chatting to CFers and encouraging them to get more involved in their areas and nationally. More details to follow soon.

Great Team, Deputy Chairman and Marginal Seats

Claire Palmer — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:50:04 +0100

Well, no post for a while as I have been focussing on my very exciting and busy new role on the Executive. As you will have seen by now, the

London Hustings and the Final Week

Claire Palmer — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:28:48 +0100

Friday night saw the second hustings of this election take place at CCHQ at 7pm. We had a slightly better turnout this time, with another 3 candidates there: Greg Stafford, Tim Aker, and Patrick Sullivan, who had not made it to Manchester. The four candidates who valiantly made it to Manchester (Jonathan, Karen and Christian, as well as myself) were back for more! It also saw the three contenders for London North West to show off their stuff.

As with Manchester I shall leave those who attended to judge my performance, and invite anyone else with any remaining questions to either post a comment, or drop me an e-mail. There is a report on Conservative Home about the hustings, which if the comments are anything to go by shows how difficult it is to do such a posting. Full marks to Edward Keene for being brave enough to have a go.

Don't forget ballot papers must be received by 12 noon THIS FRIDAY (15th) to be valid and to have your vote counted. If you have not done so already please do vote and get your ballot paper in, and make your vote count.

The results will be announced at CCHQ Friday evening after the count, and should be online that evening, if not by Monday.

Cities of London and Westminster After Work Drinks

Claire Palmer — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:14:13 +0100

Last night I went along to the Duke of York pub in New Cavendish Street for after work drinks organised by Munish Chopra. A number of CF members from other areas who had recently moved to London were also there, and keen to become more involved in their new area. Also in attendance was CF NME candidate Karen Allen. It was great to see how we can keep hold of our university members, if we link them into their new association.

Munish has done an excellent job in Cities of London and Westminster, and is standing for the post of Area Chairman London West. Best of luck Munish.

Mark Clarke attended an event put on by the Area Chairman in Berkshire, Tanya de Hoedt, in Reading which built on the event in Windsor that we attended last week. Tanya has shown what a few drinks event can do and has gained a number of new party activists, and strenghtened the affiliations of others. This just goes to show what can happen when Area Chairman get on and organise events, and are supported by other CF members.

See you on Friday - don't forget to register with richard.jackson@conservatives.com, to reserve your place.

Manchester Hustings - Report

Claire Palmer — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 19:18:45 +0100

Well, on Saturday I made the (what turned out to be) 5 1/2 hour trip to Manchester alongwith three other London based Conservative Future members. Cue much micky taking about the CDs that I had provided for the journey - to be fair they weren't my favourites! We were all rather hungover from the excellent Havering CF dinner the night before. Gary Adams, the CF Chairman, made an excellent tubthumping speech, and was followed by Angela Watkinson who is very supportive of the CF branch. All in all an excellent and very well attended event.

In Manchester, we joined about 50-60 other CF members alongwith Andy Stephenson, who I understand is taking place in an closed primary in Pendle on Thursday (good luck) who Chaired the event. There were 4 of the NME candidates there: Karen, Jonathan, Christian and me, and 2 sent someone to speak on their behalf (Ranil and Matthew), and all 3 Chairman candidates. It's difficult to report back on the speeches without being biased, so I shall leave others to make their comments about it.

The turnout was slightly disappointing for what is supposed to be the hustings for the National CF elections, and clearly we can't have hustings in every constituency around the country. That being said a number of people had travelled from Newcastle, Staffordshire, as well as Manchester and London! After the hustings, we continued on a night out with curry and drinking to the early hours including 2 bus trips - how much disruption can you cause on a Manchester bus? Answers on a postcard.

On Sunday, a team of us went campaigning and delivered leaflets in a development ward just on the outskirts of Manchester, before heading back down to London, and unfortunately for me back to the office!

For those of you that missed the Manchester hustings, don't forget to come along to CCHQ this Friday for the London hustings - you need to register with richard.jackson@conservatives.com to get entry to the building. Hope to see you there.

Manchester - Hustings Part I

Claire Palmer — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:01:45 +0100

Tomorrow I am off to Manchester for the CF Hustings, no doubt with a bit of a hangover from the Havering Dinner. Last year in London was a great experience and as a barrister I am fortunate that I am used to speaking in public. That being said you never know what CF members are going to throw at you - sometimes literally!!

During the afternoon we are off campaigning in Moston, a key ward in Manchester for the local elections in 2007. There are at least 10 of us out leafletting including Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Karen Allen, and Mark Clarke. As a result of liaising with the Campaign Director, I was put in touch with a number of Party members in Manchester including a CF member, who is now hoping to come along to the hustings.

If you want to join us e-mail Mark on mark_clarke@tiscali.co.uk.

There is also a hustings in London on 8th September at CCHQ, 25 Victoria Street from 7pm. If you want to go, then e-mail richard.jackson@conservatives.com to register your name. I look forward to seeing you in Manchester or London.

Havering Dinner

Claire Palmer — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:43:16 +0100

Tonight I am off to the Havering CF dinner at the Coach House in Romford with Angela Watkinson MP and James Brokenshire MP. Havering CF is where I cut my teeth and it is the 3rd anniversary of my getting involved in CF. Three years ago I went along to the President's dinner, which saw me at the AGM the week after, and on the committee as Treasurer and then Deputy Chairman. I had always voted Conservative, but to be honest never found the stall for CF at University. Instead I focussed on being Chairman of SIS (offering networking, communication skills to students with leading employers with approx 300 members), socialising, being the university hooker (in a rugby context of course), and getting my degree. I did go to one event with Liam Fox in my final year, and I soon joined my local CF branch, having returned to my parent's house, as a poor graduate.

HCF does an excellent job delivering leaflets for the 3 constituencies it covers: Hornchurch, Upminster and Romford and made a big difference in Hornchurch which we won by less than 500 votes. They also have a great social side, and we now have 2 CF aged councillors.

Having a CF branch may have made the difference between Hornchurch turning Conservative at the last election and remaining Labour. James Brokenshire MP was a fantastic candidate and is doing an excellent job in Parliament so far. That's why I agree with Mark Clarke that it is important we focus on building branches in our target seats. Incidentally with the help of Jonathon Ash-Edwards and the National CF campaign days organised in our target councils, Havering now has a Conservative Council as well.

London Event - Mark Clarke

Claire Palmer — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:05:46 +0100

Last night I was at an event held by Mark Clarke, in the Pitcher and Piano, Trafalgar Square, which gave members an opportunity to meet Mark and ask him any questions. There were a number of people from the NME candidates there as well, and the event was a great success, with over 75 people attending.

As many of you may know, I am backing Mark Clarke for CF Chairman. I had intended to stand for Chairman myself this year, but decided not to, because I think that Mark is a better candidate. We work very well together as a team, and in fact worked together on the working life conference, alongwith Karen Allen. Together, along with a few others, we pulled together a very successful event.

I have confidence that Mark is easily the best candidate for CF Chairman this year. CF is not an easy organisation to grapple with and many of you have pointed out its weaknesses, and expressed your frustration. Maybe the senior party will never listen to everything we say, but if we demonstrate CF's worth, through supporting and helping to deliver in our target seats, and if with a professional background we can meet with the senior party, and engage on their level, we will have done our best to make the changes, and to improve the respect for CF. Mark has the best chance to do this out of the candidates.

As mentioned I am also supporting Karen Allen, and Jonathon Ash-Edwards for NME, who were both there and on fine form last night. I have been impressed with them, having already worked with them in various team situations. Other candidates bring skills to the table, and seem to have been successful in their areas, such as Craig Cox in Horsham and Crawley, as well as others. What I can say about Jonathon and Karen, having worked with them personally, is that we work well together, and when I have worked with them, the team has delivered.

Ballot Papers Arrived

Claire Palmer — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:58:00 +0100

Well it seems that most people have by now received their ballot papers, and certainly there has been much less discontent from members. This is probably due to the system that if you have not received one, you can contact richard.jackson@conservatives.com who will try to send one out to you. CCHQ will check your membership and whether you are entitled to vote, and if so your returned ballot will be included in the count.

I, in fact, received two - probably one to make up for last year when despite being a candidate I didn't get one. If anyone has any problems with receiving a ballot, please do e-mail me at clairepalmer22@yahoo.co.uk and I will see if I can help.

Support from London Universities

Claire Palmer — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:43:11 +0100

Also coming out in favour of my campaign for re-election are a number of the London University Chairmen. Arleen from King's College London, Jim Hunkin (former Chairman) from UCL, and David McCoy and Blair Metcalf from Queen Mary and Westfield.