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| This tepid reshuffle will do little to revitalise the Tory rank-and-file | This tepid reshuffle will do little to revitalise the Tory rank-and-file |
| (7 days later) | |
| Tue 9 Jan 2018 10.55 GMT | |
| Last modified on Tue 9 Jan 2018 12.30 GMT | |
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| The Conservative party has declined in a frightening manner. That remark was made last night to me by a shire Tory who for many years has noted with dismay the barely concealed contempt of the high command for the few ordinary members who are left. | The Conservative party has declined in a frightening manner. That remark was made last night to me by a shire Tory who for many years has noted with dismay the barely concealed contempt of the high command for the few ordinary members who are left. |
| Will the cabinet reshuffle do anything to reassure what remains of the rank-and-file? In particular, will Theresa May’s appointment of Brandon Lewis as chairman help to reverse the collapse in membership, and the hollowing out of the Conservatives’ professional organisation? | Will the cabinet reshuffle do anything to reassure what remains of the rank-and-file? In particular, will Theresa May’s appointment of Brandon Lewis as chairman help to reverse the collapse in membership, and the hollowing out of the Conservatives’ professional organisation? |
| May’s appointment of no fewer than 13 vice-chairs – many of them estimable individuals – amounts to an admission that all is not well with the party. But will Lewis have the clout to use these gifted colleagues to inspire what is left of the poor bloody infantry, and indeed to recruit hundreds of thousands more of them so the Conservatives can compete on the ground with the half a million people who have flocked to Jeremy Corbyn’s banner? | May’s appointment of no fewer than 13 vice-chairs – many of them estimable individuals – amounts to an admission that all is not well with the party. But will Lewis have the clout to use these gifted colleagues to inspire what is left of the poor bloody infantry, and indeed to recruit hundreds of thousands more of them so the Conservatives can compete on the ground with the half a million people who have flocked to Jeremy Corbyn’s banner? |
| Corbyn ought to act as a recruiting sergeant for the Conservatives. The fear, indeed the reality, of socialism helped Tory membership to rise to three million in the late 1940s. | Corbyn ought to act as a recruiting sergeant for the Conservatives. The fear, indeed the reality, of socialism helped Tory membership to rise to three million in the late 1940s. |
| But when Labour lowered the price of becoming a supporter to only £3, loud was the Conservative mockery. How absurd to allow anyone prepared to pay that derisory sum to help choose the future leader. Labour was just allowing a bunch of out-of-date leftwing lunatics to wreck the party. | But when Labour lowered the price of becoming a supporter to only £3, loud was the Conservative mockery. How absurd to allow anyone prepared to pay that derisory sum to help choose the future leader. Labour was just allowing a bunch of out-of-date leftwing lunatics to wreck the party. |
| A slightly longer view enables us to see that these new members have reinvigorated Labour. For it turns out that the party was not quite so out of touch with wider public opinion as the Conservatives assumed. At the general election of 2017, the Labour vote rose by 9.6 percentage points. | A slightly longer view enables us to see that these new members have reinvigorated Labour. For it turns out that the party was not quite so out of touch with wider public opinion as the Conservatives assumed. At the general election of 2017, the Labour vote rose by 9.6 percentage points. |
| It is true that at the same time, the Conservative vote increased by 5.5 percentage points. All was not lost, either for May or for her party. She managed to stagger on as prime minister. | It is true that at the same time, the Conservative vote increased by 5.5 percentage points. All was not lost, either for May or for her party. She managed to stagger on as prime minister. |
| But that election did not just expose her limitations as a campaigner. It also exposed the pitiful unpreparedness of the Conservative machine, which had to be rebuilt while also taking the fight to Labour. As my colleague Mark Wallace has chronicled on ConservativeHome, the expert staff who had helped win an unexpected victory for David Cameron in 2015 had been scattered to the four winds. | But that election did not just expose her limitations as a campaigner. It also exposed the pitiful unpreparedness of the Conservative machine, which had to be rebuilt while also taking the fight to Labour. As my colleague Mark Wallace has chronicled on ConservativeHome, the expert staff who had helped win an unexpected victory for David Cameron in 2015 had been scattered to the four winds. |
| The election campaign consisted of barking the wrong orders from the centre to troops on the ground who did not in fact exist. | The election campaign consisted of barking the wrong orders from the centre to troops on the ground who did not in fact exist. |
| Can Lewis, the new chairman, and his 13 new colleagues change any of this? One must resist, on these occasions, the temptation to imply that if only the politicians were as clever as the pundit who is commenting on their activities, all the problems could be solved overnight. | Can Lewis, the new chairman, and his 13 new colleagues change any of this? One must resist, on these occasions, the temptation to imply that if only the politicians were as clever as the pundit who is commenting on their activities, all the problems could be solved overnight. |
| It is, however, clear that something dramatic needs to be done to reverse the collapse in membership. My shire Tory can remember, only a generation ago, going round collecting subscriptions from elderly ladies who could afford to pay only £2 each, but who felt that the party valued them, and enjoyed belonging to it. | It is, however, clear that something dramatic needs to be done to reverse the collapse in membership. My shire Tory can remember, only a generation ago, going round collecting subscriptions from elderly ladies who could afford to pay only £2 each, but who felt that the party valued them, and enjoyed belonging to it. |
| Events such as coffee mornings were laid on, which cost very little to attend, so were open to the widest range of local people. Nowadays, occasional smart lunches are organised in the local town, which are so expensive that about 90% of the population cannot even consider attending. | Events such as coffee mornings were laid on, which cost very little to attend, so were open to the widest range of local people. Nowadays, occasional smart lunches are organised in the local town, which are so expensive that about 90% of the population cannot even consider attending. |
| The village branches have mostly collapsed, for what normal person wants to pay an annual subscription of £25 to belong to the Conservative party? That just sounds like a rip-off, devised by fancy metropolitan types for whom £25 is small change. | The village branches have mostly collapsed, for what normal person wants to pay an annual subscription of £25 to belong to the Conservative party? That just sounds like a rip-off, devised by fancy metropolitan types for whom £25 is small change. |
| May must know this better than most people do, for she herself started life as a village Conservative from an unmoneyed background. She and Lewis should cut the subscription to £3 with immediate effect. Only by doing so will they demonstrate that they are determined to rebuild a mass party in which all are welcome, and which can carry the fight to Labour at the next election. | May must know this better than most people do, for she herself started life as a village Conservative from an unmoneyed background. She and Lewis should cut the subscription to £3 with immediate effect. Only by doing so will they demonstrate that they are determined to rebuild a mass party in which all are welcome, and which can carry the fight to Labour at the next election. |
| Nothing about this timid and tentative reshuffle suggests the prime minister is in the mood to do anything half so decisive. But among Conservatives, she could still rescue her reputation by starting to rebuild her own party. | Nothing about this timid and tentative reshuffle suggests the prime minister is in the mood to do anything half so decisive. But among Conservatives, she could still rescue her reputation by starting to rebuild her own party. |
| • Andrew Gimson is contributing editor to ConservativeHome | • Andrew Gimson is contributing editor to ConservativeHome |
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