As a long standing member of the Party and
one who had an active involvement in the voluntary side of the Party before
being elected to Parliament, a background which is not typical of many of my
Parliamentary colleagues, I am determined to make my voice heard in all matters
affecting Party reform. The Party is intent upon setting a minimum membership
fee which it has never had before and at a meeting in CCO on 3rd December I try
to interest Vice Chairman, Archie Norman, in the idea that it would be better
to create two classes of membership with Full members paying the agreed minimum
subscription or more and Associate members paying whatever they can afford, the
reality being that many existing members regard their subscription more as a
donation to a cause that they wish to support than as a means of obtaining the
privileges that go with full membership.
Similarly, I ask Party Chairman, Cecil
Parkinson, to consider whether the cause of Party democracy would not be better
served by allowing the voluntary side of the Party to elect the Party Chairman,
Deputy Chairman, Treasurer and a majority on the proposed Board and to leave
the election of Leader in the hands of the duly elected MPs. In reply Cecil
tells the meeting that he is absolutely on side with Wm. Hague on these matters
and that there would be enormous risks in allowing the voluntary side of the
Party to elect the Party Chairman – we shall see!
There is encouragement from Paul Sykes when
he telephones on 10th December to say that he has finished meeting all the
people that he felt he wanted to see and that in future there is only one
person that he will want to meet when he comes to London and that that person
is myself!
The last word as far as 1997 is concerned
must however be reserved for our erstwhile Leader, the Member of Parliament for
Huntingdon. On 17th November, at the Parliamentary Party’s weekly ‘Forward Look
Group’ meeting at which the week’s business of the House and other matters are
discussed, I raise the question of a replacement for the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA.
There is no support forthcoming from those present and the Chief Whip suggests
that I leave matters as they are for a while, not least because we don’t know
what the Royal family themselves think and in the meantime to talk to Shadow
Defence Secretary, George Young (Hampshire NW). The following day I am able to
introduce the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Royal Yacht Group, Lord
Ashbourne, to George Young as we travel back to Westminster by river ferry
after attending an event onboard HMY BRITANNIA laid on by the Royal Navy
Presentation Team. George appears to be only moderately interested in the
question of a replacement Royal Yacht and seems to be more focussed on settling
the fate of the existing one before giving any consideration to the provision
of a new one. He says that opinion polls carried out by the last Government
demonstrated that the idea was not a sure-fire vote winner, to which I feel
bound to point out that had the survey been taken of exclusively Conservative
voters it might well have told a very different story.
Be that as it may I am not inclined to let
the matter drop and a few weeks later I table an Early Day Motion (EDM) to mark
the end of BRITANNIA’s illustrious service. No less than 81 MPs sign my EDM but
when I invite John Major to add his signature he dithers and then declines,
saying that if it hadn’t been for one or two in the Cabinet “I would have done
something about this”!
The EDM read ”That this House, whilst much
regretting the decommissioning of HMY BRITANNIA, wishes to place on record its
sincere thanks to all past and present members of her ship’s company, several
of whom have served aboard the Royal Yacht for very many years; pays tribute on
this her final decommissioning date, to all Royal Navy and Royal Marine
personnel who have served aboard ‘BRITANNIA’ during the past 44 years; and
commends them for their service and dedication to a much loved British
institution”.
Buy your copy HERE
Buy your ebook HERE
Book Description
Fast-paced political memoir by a former Conservative MP
charting the infiltration of the Conservative Party by non-conservative
elements and the subversion of a once-great political party. On 1st May
1997 the Conservative Party suffered a most humiliating defeat at the
hands of the British electorate and found itself in Opposition for the
first time since Margaret Thatcher swept to power in 1979. In this book
Christopher Gill follows the path taken by the Conservative Party after
that defeat. Many Conservatives, both in Parliament and outside it,
hoped that the spell in opposition would be spent analysing the reasons
for defeat, replacing those responsible and rejuvenating the party
machine for the battle to come. Instead those responsible for failure
secured their grip on power and moved ruthlessly to dominate the Party,
pushing aside those who objected and destroying all opposition. The
author traces the way this was achieved out of sight of the media - all
too enraptured with reporting the doings of the shiny new Labour
government. He explains how the decisions made then led inexorably to
the failure of the Conservative Party to achieve victory in 2010 and to
the dithering responses of a hamstrung coalition goverment. At what
point in time the Conservative Party ceased to be a truly 'conservative'
Party is a matter which might engage the attention of future historians
but the author clearly points the finger at those to blame and explains
how they achieved a spectacularly successful coup for the
'collectivist' infiltration which has left the Tory Party paralysed.
No comments:
Post a Comment