Caption Contest:
Nick Clegg is getting his morning update from his Liberal Youth monitor, but what's the news?
Answers below, standard rules apply.Nick Clegg is getting his morning update from his Liberal Youth monitor, but what's the news?
Answers below, standard rules apply.If you haven't already got involved with
Continuing with the current series of guest posts Reeves Eggton, from Skegness Conservative Future tells us why computers will never win an election:
Few will have failed to notice the tragic rehabilitation of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott from seasoned campaigner into Internet whiz kid. There is something fundamentally disturbing about the self-styled ‘working class and proud’ veteran swapping his roots for wires to take the political battle from the walkways to the web.
Already, in the information age political organisations have in many cases wisely made use of social networking applications to get the Party message across to the public and more importantly, younger voters. But the launch of Prezza 2.0 reveals the unhealthy obsession with Compolitics (computer-politics) whereby the doorstep is switched for they keyboard with little consideration for the long-term impact on prospective voters.
When comparing the time it takes to canvass a street to the time it takes to message the exact same number of people over Facebook, it’s easy to see why Compolitics is capturing the agenda for many seasoned campaigners. Thanks to Labour, money is tight, taxes are high and crime is soaring, voters need support and dialogue on the doorstep - and they need it now.
Organisations like Conservative Future avoid providing Second Life avatars for the campaign trail and instead concentrate on providing real activists in real areas of need. By supporting critical campaigns with hardworking volunteers, the team has already made a huge impact on marginal seats across the
Make no mistake, Compolitics is without doubt an essential tool in any campaign, but it must never be a substitute for activism on the ground. With Labour support crumbling and once loyal activists de-motivated and feeling let down, this is the moment for Conservative Future activists to steal the show.
With an election just around the corner, don’t be fooled by Labour’s desperate attempts to dominate the Internet with online gimmicks. Simply peel back the 2.0 gloss and you’ll see a tired organisation desperate for innovation, but stuck with Gordon Brown.
With the public seeking real change, it’s essential that Conservative Future demonstrates that its activists are committed & dedicated as well as Internet savvy.
Only by convincing voters we are ready for Government both online and in the real world will we seriously be considered to run the country once again.
On that note, to avoid hypocrisy, I’d better get out there now!
In case you were interested in the formalities of Owen Meredith's resignation from the Conservative Future Executive:
Dear CF Members,
I have today written to Michael Rock as Chairman of Conservative Future to tender my resignation from the National Management Executive.
A year after taking office in March 2008, I have reached the end of my elected term, and believe now is the right time to step down.
In leaving the NME today, I want to make clear that I am not leaving CF or retiring to the shadows. I am 100% committed to supporting CF and helping the continued growth and success of the organisation.
I would like to thank CF members for their support and encouragement over the past year. There have been many challenges and difficult decisions, but I have enjoyed my time on the NME immensely and encourage CF members to get involved and stay involved. CF can and indeed must keep going from strength-to-strength, and I look forward to it playing a vital role in removing this disastrous Labour Government from office whenever the General Election is called.
Kindest Regards,
Owen Meredith
This just pinged up in TB's Google reader:
"FROM ROBBIE GIBB, EDITOR OF THE DAILY POLITICS:
They have had a go at each other online and now two rival bloggers will face each other for the first time in the Daily Politics studio.
The Battle of the Blogs will see
And we want your help - what questions would you like us to answer this pair?
Draper threatened to sue after his professional qualifications were called into question by his online rival. And the Labour man has accused Guido of peddling racism and sexism, something that Guido - who rarely appears as himself with his real name - vehemently denied.
We will have the pair in our studio, with
Tory Bear has a hectic week so he will be throwing in the odd guest post over the next few days. Daniel O'Doherty is the Chairman of Birmingham University CF and talks here about how to regenerate a branch and build better communications with student unions. Always somewhere to cause some amusing mischief...
First of all may I say what a delight and privilege it is to have been invited by TB to write for this fantastic blog. The topic I have been asked to speak on is one that is never far away from a young Conservatives thought: student politics. When I took over as President of Birmingham University Conservative Future our relations with our Guild and the conservative associations in our local area were close to collapse after a series of mistakes and bad fortune. Within just 2 days of taking over I was told we were facing derecognising from the Guild and to add to our woes the incoming committee found that our membership was largely demoralised and inactive which made our task to fight back against this derecognition all the more difficult.
Faced with the prospect of our humiliating forced removal from the Guild I had to take the immediate decision to ‘jump before pushed’ in order to save what remained of the society’s face. I therefore held a referendum of our members which voted for severing all ties with the Guild. However over the summer period I had time and course to reflect on this decision. Having thought long and hard I realised that despite my own distaste for guild/student politics, which incidentally I see as one Scargill short of the NUM, the long term interests of the society would not be advanced by derecognition or distancing from the guild… as much as we might have liked to believe otherwise.
I wholeheartedly sympathise with our young conservative counterparts across the country who are facing similar dilemmas within their own student’s unions and suffer from similar temptations to ‘cut and run’. As most of us will agree these places are more often than not bastions of self seeking, self righteous individuals who use their morally superior twoddle to devalue and demoralise us conservatives. They seem at times to have little if any grasp of the real world and instead prefer to shield themselves between the sheets of their Guardian newspapers. Therefore a conservative would naturally be inclined to ask; why should we want to be part of such a grouping? The truth is we have to be a part of it.
In order to reassert BUCF’s rightful place in the Guild I had to take some often unpleasant and unpopular actions which required a large degree of humility and yes, tongue biting. By far the hardest was having to address Guild Council against a pretty damn hostile backdrop however their anger and hostility toward me only made me more resolute and forceful, yet at the same time humble and reconciliatory, in my arguments. In the end it worked in our favour and we survived our derecognition procedure with a margin of 69% - 30% with 1% abstention.
From then on, our position within the Guild has been strengthened and secured. We created the new role of ‘Guild officer’ on our committee to emphasise our commitment to student politics and I am delighted to announce that one of our members has stood for Guild Council in the Guild Elections that have been taking place all this week. The results are due soon and with a bit of luck we could have our first elected Conservative on Guild Council in a number of years. This marks a massive turn around in our fortunes from last year. The fundamental point of all this is that assuming Timm is elected, the Conservatives could have a real chance to influence change on our Guild that would never have been possible in ‘political exile’.
The second pillar of our move toward reform has been in our local area. Leading figures of the Conservative party in our local area, Edgbaston, have told me over the years how frustrated they have been at some committee’s attitude toward the local area and associations. It was the belief of some BUCF committees that we, as students, had no place getting involved in local politics and our role must be confined to the student body. Utter tosh. Every Conservative Future society has a vital role to play in the future of the part as a whole and this has always been a potent part of my wider agenda for the society. This ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality which I know is practised by many in CF must end. We are all in this for the same purpose and we must remember that.
In this light, having previously had a good personal relationship with members of Edgbaston Conservative Association which incidentally is a crucial swing seat, I made it my mission to reaffirm our links with them and attend more of their socials/campaign days with our members. After a slow start our effort was rewarded when we were enshrined on their committee in a permanent role with voting rights on matters affecting the Edgbaston constituency and association. Furthermore our members now take regular and active involvement of our local associations much to their delight.
All of these reforms which have not always been easy have ensured BUCF remains in a strong position in both our local area and on our campus. It has not always been easy and as ever there is a hell of a lot more to do. However the reforms we have pushed through, which at times have gone against our natural instincts, have ensured the society’s longevity. We have made it our mission to strike that most careful and crucial of balances by remembering that we are both a Conservative and student society. For too long have the two been seen as separate even conflicting entities. The truth is we can achieve more from within than on the periphery.
Instead of retreating from our unions or our local areas or believing we have to prioritise one over the other as we have been so tempted to do in the past, we must embrace both and where we face opposition we must, in the words of Mrs Thatcher, “win the battle of ideas”. Embrace your union, engage with your local area and energise your members with a string of political and, most crucially, social events in tune with the student body. That is how to make a strong society worthy of the Conservative cause.
Having slept on it, it is clear to see just how damaging this election will be to Liberal Youth. The briefing and counter briefing, leaks and bitchiness has not only been directed at the candidates but at the Liberal Democrat party in general. The party machine at Cowley Street has taken a particularly brutal kicking. Both candidates have called for the organisation to be closed down, either publically or privately, and Tory Bear wouldn't be surprised if the re-open nominations box has got a lot of ticks once the votes have been counted.
The Downfall video that appeared anonymously, and then disappeared, caused a fair amount of controversy. Sadly due to one libellous line the argument moved away from the organisational tactics and people skills of the current Chairman Elaine Bagshaw, and instead focussed on the laughable suggestion she might be the Lib Dems Lewinsky. Tory Bear understands Bagshaw has been summonded to Cleggs office for a bollocking first thing Monday morning.
Well luckily TB has got hold of a copy of the video, and with some slight editing, has brought it back for your viewing pleasure:
If there is one person who knows their stuff on youth elections, it's the strange yet distinctly fascinating John Moorcraft. He has been keeping an eye on this election and offers comment over at the
Leaving seriousness aside and getting back to taking the p**s...To be challenging the big boys at the top of the leaderboard (some of the old Young Labour elections...FCS in the 1980's, YC late 80's and the odd CF election) we need some of the following...
More leaks to Tory Bear.
More leaks to me
More leaks to any other non-Lib Dem
Lots more Facebook bitching
Mass party resignations in protest
RON to win
For the election to be so bad the party decides to reform or abolish you
For the election to be so bad the party launches an internal investigation into what went wrong
For mediators to be called into the first exec meeting (Edit – i see this may happen!)
Allegations of email, blog and website hacking from the rival camp
Fake websites appearing declaring the other candidate to be evil/Thatcher in disguise/a liar
Suggestions Cowley Street are fixing he election
Proof to emerge that Cowley Street are fixing the electon
A punch up between rival camps (this would put you right up there)
Catchy, but really personal, election slogans
Another youtube video to reappear slamming one of the candidates
Videoblogs showing one candidate personally bagging the other
Claims to emerge that one of the candodates has thrown the towell in
Claims to emerge about the other ones sex life (preferable suggestions they have been doinking Tory Bear). In fact, can I start this one now and say I heard a rumour that TB has been caught in a compromising position with RON)
The exec to refuse to serve under the new chairman
A candidate to be expelled from the party
For the election to attract condemnation from a Lib Dem politician
For the mainstream media to cover it
For a big boy blogger to cover it (Guido must be considering it...)
That list should get you started. If you are really committed to holding the worst youth election ever, you better get cracking!!!"
Just as it looked like things were calming down, there has been a Saturday night twist in the Liberal Youth election. Sara Scarlett, one of the candidates for Chairman has gone nuclear on not just her opponent, but on the whole organisation too. In a message to supporters she lambastes Elaine Bagshaw, her opponent and the current Chairman, and she goes onto call for Liberal Youth to be completely overhauled. Both the candidates for the Chairman of the organisation have now, either publically or privately, called for it to be scrapped. Are you listening yet Cowley Street?
Dear Friends,
As a matter of conscience I feel like I can no longer stand by the apology I made five days ago.
The words were not my own and they do not reflect how I actually feel. I am not sorry for heckling Elaine but I felt as though I owed a contrition to the many who put in effort into my campaign. Although I do thank them profoundly: I must retract my apology.
The fact remains that the reason Liberal Youth is allowed to continue in it’s current state is due to sheer corporate incompetence on the part of Cowley Street. To place the sole responsibility of all recruitment, campaign literature and political strategy, for members of the party under the age of 26, on the shoulders of unqualified individuals with no relevant experience is insanity. Had I known then what I know now I would never have put myself forward for this role. The organisation is essentially set up to fail and those who attempt to make something productive of it are tarred with the same brush.
The heckle was the consequence of a lot of nervous energy and anxiety I have gained from the frustration surrounding this election and this organisation as a whole. There’s no denying that this election was semi-personal.
Elaine has been an atrocious person to work with. The sycophancy she indulges in and the sycophants she surrounds herself with amidst a non-existent ideological cadre is a caricature of bad politics. Her leadership instincts are essentially New Labour. If this were a professional organisation someone with such poor interpersonal skills would never have made it through a human resource filter to the detriment of Liberalism's soul. This is something I’ve told her to her face.
A lot of the negative campaigning from my camp came from individuals who choose to support me due to their personal dislike of Elaine’s leadership style rather than a belief in my own. My personal animosity towards her amplified the schadenfreude which occurs naturally in elections. I hate that I took so much pleasure at the expense of others for what I realise now is an insignificant prize and I hope that the relationships that have broken down during this election are not damaged beyond repair.
Joining the LibDems was and still is one of the best things I have ever done in my life. The people I have met have been some of the most exceptional and courageous people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. And some of those I have met have been the extreme opposite...
However, my allegiance is to Liberalism first and to the Liberal Democrats second. I think the LibDems are failing the many young people in this country who self-define as liberals. After the next General Election I will be writing a letter to the Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats which will include my recommendations for an alternative to Liberal Youth.
In the words of a man significantly wiser than myself: “Elections are like thunderstorms; sometimes a lightning strike is fatal, sometimes they clear the air...”
Here's hoping for a bit of both.
Regards,
Sara Scarlett
Later on she resigned her position as a Vice Chairman of the organisation:
The
The Downfall video might be gone but if you still fancy a laugh at Liberal Youth check out this promo:
Cringe is an understatement.
So the Downfall video was removed and the Liberal Youth executive are standing on the street corner whistling... move along people... nothing to see here. While it's been fun and games laying into to the Liberals, TB thought he better update what's going on with CF at the moment. A while back NME member Owen Meredith said he would be stepping down once the year long term he was elected on had past. It passed this week, but no word yet from Mr Meredith. The last week saw ABB resign yet again, and as far as TB can tell from new facebook group he has been invited to, Adele Douglas has taken over the social action side of things. Patrick Sullivan has been awarded the non stop fun task or coordinating this years freshers campaign, and will be focusing completely on his Student Life portfolio. In an intriguing snippet of news, it seems that Ed Hallam moves up a notch to take of as National Campaigns Director. All in all it seems that things have gone a bit quiet in the last few months and TB is wondering how the planning is going for the biggest of all battles coming up.
May 2010 is rapidly approaching. CF has to be ready.
TB just had the privilege of having a little chat with Liberal Youth Chairman Elaine Bagshaw to try get her to go on the record about the email leak and the ensuing depiction of her downfall. While she was remaining tight lipped, she did confirm what TB had been hearing in the last few days. Apparently they are taking this very seriously and a thorougher internal investigation is underway to find the source of the leak, (and no doubt to find the creator of the video!) Sources have confirmed that the members of the executive have been ordered by Elaine not to speak publicly, or comment, on the video.
Elaine referred TB to theThe Labour
Apparently "This is a very large painting that was painted about 100 years ago":
It seems to be a modern day benchmark of failure. When someone or something goes titsup, the shit hasn't really hit the fan until someone makes a Downfall spoof of you.
Well Elaine Bagshaw, Chairman of Liberal Youth, your day has come:
Thank you to the anonymous 3am VforVendetta256, obviously someone very much on the inside.
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