Welcome to the first issue of ‘Club 1927 In Touch’
The Club (for all members of the Association of an age to be in “Conservative Future” – under 30’s) is tentatively beginning.
We wish to extend an invitation to all eligible people to please make contact, and to everybody we ask please tell your family, friends, even people in the queue at the Post Office about us!
We have got a ‘Facebook’ page and a Twitter feed. Members and potential members are asked to get in touch with us either via those or by emailing the local association.
We will be announcing our first event shortly.
Our Facebook page is at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-1927-Club/180844581996411 (or just search Facebook for it)!
On Twitter we are : @Club1927.
Please see our first Party Conference report overleaf.
REPORT FROM THE PARTY CONFERENCE 2011
If the journalists were to be believed, this year’s Conservative Party Conference was decidedly dull. I am afraid I must disagree. I really enjoyed it and I would gladly go back next year.
The opening speech by the Party Chairman, Sayeeda Warsi, rather set the tone of the conference, with a mixture of cheerfulness that we are back in government (even with a big mess to clean up) and thinking ahead to the next election (with the aim of avoiding another coalition). The main speeches that were broadcast were always well attended, and most of the fringe events were held during the break in the main speeches, which meant there weren’t too many clashes. In the vast hall, behind the main conference room, there were also a large array of stalls for all manner of causes, projects and groups, on just about every cause you could imagine and many you’ve probably never even thought of. There were some selling items, the Party Archive for example was selling copies of old posters such as the famous “Labour isn’t working”. There were other stalls giving way items (such as “Back Boris” water, with a small donation being given to charity for each one given away).
The fringe events were the real surprise. There were many every day, the first starting before 8.00am on some days with the last often finishing after midnight. Most had at least one MP and one person from a think tank or lobby group All were being streamed onto the internet by cameras. These were far better than I had expected. The topics were even more varied than the stalls and there was usually a question and answer session at the end, whether it was a panel or a speaker event. Every day was a long one certainly, but it was never boring. It was wonderful to find out the details of Government policies that often get missed out by the newspapers and to be able to get really detailed information from people who knew what they were talking about.
The only things not to like were that not everything could be held in the secure zone and on the Sunday my friends and I had to pass some less than complimentary protestors on our way to an event, but the fact that they were heavily outnumbered by people attending the conference said far more than the tired old chants that were drowned out every time a tram went past.
David Cameron’s speech was a very interesting thing to see. There weren’t any big surprise policy announcements, but the way things were put meant that it felt worth the effort of going to listen to it. The room was very enthused, even the people who had queued up for hours to get a good seat really enjoyed it. Indeed, the only criticism really was the mob of journalists that greeted everybody as they left, but I doubt they found anybody with a bad word to say, judging by the smiling faces and cheerful remarks I witnessed.
Thomas Smith
Club Chairman
