The voluntary wing of the Conservative Party works across the country to help the Party win elections. Its members run their local Associations and freely donate tens of thousands of hours of their time every year to help the Party. They campaign - delivering leaflets or canvassing voters during election campaigns - and they are also the people who raise the money to run the Party across the country, through membership subscriptions and holding events, sometimes hosting these in their own homes. Almost all the Conservatives who work for the Party do so on a voluntary basis because they believe that the achievements of the Party's aims will make Britain a better place.
Many people who offer their time to the Conservative Party are not members of the Party itself. But being a member allows you to stand for elected office and to be closely involved in the selection of candidates at all levels, including the selection of the Leader of the Party.
Every member of the Conservative Party is a member of a local Association, which corresponds to a parliamentary constituency. While Associations vary in size, almost all follow the same structure. Officers of the Association are elected annually to positions that include President, Chairman, and two Deputy Chairmen – a Deputy Chairman Membership and a Deputy Chairman Political. Each Association also has an Executive Council, which draws representatives from the Wards or Divisions that make up constituencies.
Some constituencies have now joined groupings, which will mean that they have one administrative organisation to service the constituency Associations in that group.
At Association level, volunteers will be responsible for holding fundraising and social events, and also for campaigning at elections.
For organisational purposes, the country is broken up into Regions, with each Region containing a number of Areas. The regions are:
- North East
- North West
- Yorkshire & The Humber
- East Midlands
- West Midlands
- Eastern
- South East
- South West
- London
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
Both Regions and Areas also have a similar structure to constituencies – namely Regional and Area Chairman, and Deputy Chairmen for Membership and Political.
The National Convention is effectively the parliament of the Voluntary Party. It is comprised of all Association Chairmen, officers from Areas and Regions as well as 42 representatives from Conservative Future and the Conservative Women's Organisation. The Convention meets twice a year – its Annual General Meeting is usually held at Spring Forum, with another meeting usually held at Party Conference. Its purpose is to receive the Annual Report, elect the Convention's new officers and to set the Voluntary Party's direction.
Officers of the National Convention
The most senior volunteers within the Conservative Party are the Officers of the National Convention; led by the Chairman, they represent the views of the Voluntary Party to the leadership of the main Party. The Chairman of the Convention is also Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Board. The President is the Chairman of the Party Conference and there are also three Vice Presidents. All of these five senior volunteers are elected at Spring Forum, and also sit on the main Board of the Party.
The Officers of the National Convention along with Chairmen of each Region, the Chairmen of Conservative Future, the Conservative Women's Organisation and the Conservative Councillor's Association make up the Strategy Team. This is responsible for planning the development of the Voluntary Party and helping to set its aims.
Conservative Policy Forum (CPF)
Many people join political parties because they feel passionately about issues and want to make a difference. The Conservative Policy Forum gives them the chance to have their voices heard. Many constituencies have CPF groups and there are now co-ordinators for the CPF at constituency, area and regional levels.
Many Conservatives across the country are already involved in Social Action and community projects in their own local areas. The Voluntary Party is keen to encourage more members to get involved in Social Action projects. To assist with this, there are now regional Social Action co-ordinators.
Conservative Women's Organisation (CWO)
The Conservative Women's Organisation is the grassroots network that provides support and focus for women in the Conservative Party. It works to reach out to women in all parts of the community, campaigning on issues of particular concern to women both nationally and internationally. The organisation encourages women to be politically active and to get elected at all levels, and to help the Conservative Party capture the women's vote.
Conservative Future is the movement for under 30s, including all members of the Conservative Party of this age. CF is the largest youth political organisation in the UK, with more than 15,000 members. The organisation is all about involving young people in politics and addressing the issues that matter to them.
If you would like to get involved in the Voluntary Party at any level, please contact me.