Senior MPs, including former prime minister Liz Truss, opposed CCHQ’s plan to expedite candidate selection, while Conservative activists demand local autonomy
The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) abandoned its efforts to expedite the Tory parliamentary candidate selection process yesterday after more than 40 MPs spoke out against its proposals, in a significant victory for the party’s grassroots and backbench MPs.
Over 40 MPs, backed by a public petition by the Conservative Post publication, expressed vehement opposition to CCHQ’s proposed changes, rallying against the perceived threat to local autonomy in national candidate selection.
The proposed plan had aimed to streamline the process from three stages to two, but following protests from MPs, including notable figures like former Prime Minister Liz Truss and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, CCHQ has decided to pull the plug on the expedition.
Currently, associations with over 150 members engage in discussions with CCHQ, followed by the executive narrowing down the long list to a short list of three candidates. The final stage involves a general meeting of the association to select the parliamentary candidate from the shortlist.
To expedite the process, CCHQ proposed skipping the second stage, moving directly from the long list discussion to the final general meeting. However, around 45 MPs, including prominent figures like Liz Truss and Suella Braverman, were reportedly content with this change but advocated for having six candidates in the final rather than three.
CCHQ appears to have pulled the plug on the experiment after concluding that the game of getting more candidates quickly wasn’t worth the fight against so many leading Conservative MPs, including some very senior ones. Neither the Party Board nor its candidates’ committee has considered the proposed expedition.
‘We Want Our Conservative Party Back’
Claire Bullivant, founder and editor of Conservative Post (CP) and CEO of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), spoke about the need to reclaim the Conservative Party and ensure that selections prioritise strong, local, and principled conservatives.Speaking to The Epoch Times she said: “I think we need a leader from the right—Jacob [Rees-Mogg], Suella [Braverman] or Priti [Patel]. But CCHQ will try and get Penny [Mordaunt] or Kemi [Badenoch] of course. However, it should not be up to any of us. It should be the members who decide. I have the biggest database of party members outside CCHQ (as verified by CCHQ last November). I’ll be asking all 14,000 of them soon ...
“Some of the candidate selection processes we’re hearing about have been nothing short of a debacle. All sorts of dubious people are being given top passes by those who pull the strings in CCHQ, whilst long-standing dedicated activists are passed over. We’re working hard to rectify this.
“We want our Conservative Party back and proper conservatives standing. I suspect some of those at CCHQ who are causing all these problems aren’t even conservative. They’ve hijacked our party. We will prevail and they will be outed.”
Ms. Bullivant also added that she believed members wanted to see more local candidates and pointed toward a recent incident in Bromsgrove where a local Tory association overturned CCHQ’s preferred candidate in favour of a local choice.
“This is a win for democracy. Trying to force through rule changes like this smacks of desperation from Rishi and his allies.
“We have seen in Bromsgrove that members want strong, local, and principled conservatives—we don’t want the deck stacked with Rishi’s mates or people just helicoptered in from London who know nothing about the local areas.”
The CDO is a Tory campaign group, founded by Lord Cruddas to reform the constitution of the Conservative Party to give greater power back to members over the selection process of political candidates. It has been at the front of recent debates over the amount of control that CCHQ should be allowed to exert over local associations.
Contrary to claims made in the petition, CCHQ denies any plan to implement by-election rules. Sources from CCHQ assert that such a move would be impractical, especially when a general election is not imminent and would likely face opposition from a significant number of MPs.
Petition Lauded by Tory Peer
The Conservative Post initiated a petition urging party members to support a letter addressed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, chief whip, and chairmen of CCHQ. The petition called for the preservation of local activists’ and associations’ autonomy in selecting parliamentary candidates. It specifically opposed CCHQ’s supposed plan to impose by-election rules in January, a move seen by many as undermining local democratic control over candidate selection.Reportedly more than 40 MPs had already signed a letter to Mr. Sunak, expressing their objection to the proposed changes. Baron Stephen Greenhalgh applauded CCHQ’s decision to halt the proposed changes, considering it a victory both for the MPs and the petition.
Speaking to The Epoch Times, he said: “It was the right decision for CCHQ to pull the plug. Huge win for the 40 Conservative MPs and Conservative Post petition that so many members, including myself, signed.”
The Conservative Post initiated a petition urging party members to support the parliamentary letter addressed to Mr. Sunak, the Tory’s chief whip, and the chairmen of CCHQ. The petition, now signed by over 300 Tory members, calls for the preservation of local activists’ and associations’ autonomy in selecting parliamentary candidates. It specifically opposes CCHQ’s supposed plan to impose by-election rules in January, a move seen by many as undermining local democratic control over candidate selection.
The current deadlock over the candidate selection process is part of a broader and long-standing dispute within the party. It harks back to historical issues surrounding the party’s leadership, the role of CCHQ, and the rights of Tory party members, many of which stem from rule changes under David Cameron’s leadership.
The disagreement centres on whether CCHQ should have a say in the selection of parliamentary candidates or if local associations should have full autonomy. Critics argue that the formation of Mr. Cameron’s so-called “A-list” of preferred candidates in the mid-2000s marked a turning point, contributing to the present challenges in the candidate selection process.
Responses to the developments have been diverse, reflecting ongoing internal divisions within the Conservative Party. Some have expressed concerns about the potential centralisation of candidate selection, fearing it could lead to decisions favouring specific candidates over local preferences.
Prospective Candidate Claims CCHQ Pick ‘Loyalists’
One anonymous prospective candidate highlighted the importance of connections with the central party, suggesting that being close to the centre of power (meaning CCHQ) may be crucial for any electoral success within the party.Speaking to The Epoch Times, the individual said: “Presumably this is because the associations aren’t picking enough of the ‘right sort’ of candidates, i.e. loyalists who'll follow the whip instead of the Association’s opinion. They seem to want to stop local stitch-ups by having centralised stitch-ups.”
They added, “[This petition is] a good outcome, and a relief that the proposals weren’t quite as they were thought to be.”
“I’m also curious about the idea of skipping the long list and going straight to a final of six. I suppose it shakes up the voting dynamics, though a six-candidate final would take a really long time to get through, and imagine being the [candidate] who goes first and then risk being forgotten by the end of it all.”
David Campbell Bannerman, chairman of the CDO, told The Epoch Times that he felt a lead for Conservative members to sign up to the cause of making the party more democratic, anticipating more activity in the new year, including a potential leadership contest.
“CDO has shown how effective it can be over fair selections and allowing members to choose candidates, not allow central office to fix selections, over this campaign to stop the imposition of emergency by-election rules and over allowing Bromsgrove to choose its own candidate. But there will be other attempts to override the membership, and I urge Conservative members to sign up to CDO.”
Tory Think-Tank Calls for ‘Meritocracy’
David Moore, senior political analyst at the Orthodox Conservatives Group, a socially conservative, grassroots Tory think-tank, told The Epoch Times that it was, “Welcoming news to see the Conservative membership, the backbone and blood of the Party, once again successfully protest against undemocratic selections looking to interfere.”He added: “The selection of candidates should be confirmed through a local and grassroot Conservative lens, without pontification from a centralised office. Meritocracy is a key Conservative principle, so we must practice what we preach and select the finest candidates through democratic means by the local Conservatives associations powered by their members.”
