Forum Topic

Eligibility for electing the next leader for the Conservative Party

Good to know, isn't it? Fullfact.org on who can vote in Tory leadership elections (this article is from before the triumph of Truss)."This means that it does appear to be possible for people who are not British citizens and do not live in the UK, and so would not be eligible to vote in a UK general election, to be eligible to vote in the upcoming Conservative leadership contest, provided they became a member on or before 3 June. This means it is not possible for non-UK citizens living abroad to influence the outcome of the vote by joining the party after the leadership contest was called.The Conservative Party confirmed this is the case. We could not confirm how many non-UK citizens are currently registered Conservative Party members. In response to a request to confirm this number, the party told us it does not provide regional breakdowns of members."https://fullfact.org/news/who-can-vote-in-Conservative-leadership-contest/Well, it does lift some of the blame for Truss's victory off the ordinary Tory Party membership, but, of course, any malevolent joiners would still be eligible to vote this time too. Good to see how internationalist the Tory Party can be.

David Ainsworth ● 1199d8 Comments

Ed. If you think the UK has an issue with diversity (and I don't deny we still have a way to go) just consider the new polit bureau in China:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/22/where-are-the-women-at-the-top-of-chinese-politics(Pointer out on LinkedIn by an ex (femail) boss of mine (who is now a CEO).

Michael Ixer ● 1198d

Ed. I'm not denying that there are issues in the Labour as well as the Conservative party. I wonder to what extent this reflects racism and misogeny in the wider community? In earlier decades trade union were overtly racist, in more recent times I've seen more subtle racism in the work place. Again, in the wider community, discrimination against women still exists. (I think evidenced by a recent report about dismissal of pregnant women?) I'd also say there are some business sectors where class descrimination still persists. Cultural change is a slow process and even if one's not being overtly descriminatory it's easy to be swayed by unconscious bias? It would be good to see Sunak leading the Conservative party from a diversity perspective, I'd just rather see Sir Kier as PM from a financial inclusion from the way things are heading :-)

Michael Ixer ● 1198d

Michael,Labour still has a long way to go as this article makes clear but when a Conservative minister has to call out a senior Labour MP you have to wonder if they have gone backwards!https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/02/labour-party-racism-allegations-prejudice-keir-starmer

Ed Robinson ● 1198d

Ed. Yes, it was a flippant comment because my understanding is the Conservative party doesn't publish any statistics regarding demographics so it's based on a report suggestions that was the case:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/08/tory-members-over-60-white-male-choice-of-leader#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16665725921058&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2022%2Fjul%2F08%2Ftory-members-over-60-white-male-choice-of-leader(I didn't just make it up.)The real issue lack of visibility over who is selecting the PM. (As David A points out elsewhere, that may also be an issue with Labour - and other parties?, but they're not selecting the PM at the moment. )As far as I'm aware Thatcher and May weren't selected by the party membership: Thatcher was selected by Tory MPs, as was May. Interestingly if Leadsom hadn't withdrawn then the wider party would have had a choice between two women. Truss is the only PM selected over a man by grassroots members - rumours (polls?) suggest that could be because members thought Sunak stabbed Johnson in the back. I agree, it is good that Tory MPs have selected diverse members of cabinet. Labour have certainly had female MPs - didn't Blair's government set a record with the number elected? There have certainly been high profile Labour women front benches going back to the 60s and 70s: Castle and Williams, and Rayner, Reeves and Nandy are two on the current opposition front bench, as was Abbot in Corbyn's opposition front bench. I'll be honest, I've not done a comparison regarding numbers overall in regards to diversity between the parties.

Michael Ixer ● 1198d

"a few old white men living in the shires"Ignoring the Forde Report or the al jazeera labour files.It does seem odd that the party of a few old men in the shires seems to have several women leaders plus potential leaders from non-white backgrounds.This diversity should be acknowledged and celebrated IMO - the fact that they do not represent my political views makes it even more relevant IMO.Well done the conservative party! We we see such diversity on Labour's front bench??

Ed Robinson ● 1198d

Contrast the vetting of new members by Labour HQ staff in 2015-2016, described in the Forde Report:-"“In our view the intention and effect of both validation exercises was to remove ballots from individuals who would otherwise have voted for Jeremy Corbyn. It does not seem to us credible to suggest that the exercise (in particular the social media component) was not targeted at applicants and members on the Left.“ (C2.25)As part of this exercise social media were trawled for potential words of abuse. Forde says tellingly:“We can see no legitimate non-factional reason why the search tool was apparently designed only to catch abuse aimed at MPs on the centre and Right of the Party, and to ignore the majority of abuse aimed at MPs on the Left (including Jeremy Corbyn).” (C2.24)“In our view, however, this was by and large a factionally slanted exercise, designed and carried out with a startling lack of transparency, which had the goal of undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s chances in the leadership elections. It cemented mistrust of the motives of HQ staff in LOTO.” (C2.31)"And the office staff called it "Trotspotting" allegedly.

David Ainsworth ● 1198d

"Still, are the FSB going to vote differently to (allegedly) a few old white men living in the shires or the expats in Spain?"Probably not, but ..."Revealed: Tories Spending £3.5 Million On Controversial Voter ID Cards"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/revealed-tories-spending-ps35-million-on-controversial-voter-id-cards_uk_62b19f9fe4b04a6173614795And as the Tory government would put it:-"Greater protections for voters as government’s Elections Bill achieves Royal AssentVoters across the UK will benefit from greater protection against election fraud, more support for disabled people at the polling booth, and measures to prevent intimidation at the ballot box."https://www.gov.uk/government/news/greater-protections-for-voters-as-governments-elections-bill-achieves-royal-assent"Greater protection" needed or not?

David Ainsworth ● 1198d

I seem to remember a discussion about this during the previous Conservative leadership election when Truss won. Stil, are the FSB going to vote differently to (allegedly) a few old white men living in the shires or the expats in Spain?

Michael Ixer ● 1198d