The Rock Blog

On Monday night I travelled up to Nottingham for the final hustings of the election. I feel hustings are a crucial part of the election process, and that is why I am the only Chairman candidate to have attended all the hustings.

The night went well, although I had no-one to directly compete with! We had two local PPC’s attend, Anna Soubry & Stephen Mold, which is always a good sign that CF is beginning to be recognised again.

With two excellent universtites in the area, Nottingham is a great place to build strong allegiances with fellow Conservatives and I think all the executive members over the past few years deserve credit. Patrick Sullivan obviously has a tremendous reputation in the area and was publicly supported by both Edward Keene and Hamish Stewart.

My badges were readily accepted by the audience so I think I must have done well enough!

I am heading back up north this weekend - visiting more branches & speaking at other hustings. I feel it is key to visit as many branches, and meet as many members as possible - see my map for where I have been so far!

I include below where I will be over the coming days - do come along and meet me if you can!

Friday - Manchester hustings
Saturday - Manchester & York
Sunday - Leeds
Monday - Nottingham hustings
Tuesday - Newcastle Upon Tyne

UPDATE: so far I have been to Newcastle, Hereford, Cheltenham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Blackpool, Lewes, Bournemouth, UCL, Kings, LSE, Imperial, Cities of London & Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Lancaster, Essex, Cambridge, Newcastle & Keele, Croydon, Tooting, Dudley, Birmingham, Stafford, Brentford & Isleworth, Harrow, Richmond, Watford, Kent, Manchester & Norwich. 

Tatiana Makoni is a CF member from University College London Conservative Society.

A keen CF member I have never felt the inclination to become a politician. Instead my involvement within the party is that of supportive observation, precisely the reason why I was eager to experience both the Spring Forum and Main party conference last year.

Spring Forum - Nottingham

As a first-timer I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, and I confess rather thought it would be bustling with wannabe councillors and MPs desperately trying to network. Instead it was relaxed with several speeches made by an array of people from the major Party celebrities to ordinary citizens concerned about their local areas. The topics were varied, and as long as you found yourself in one with which you could identify (I personally stumbled into one or two where five minutes in I was gagging for an escape route), it was a highly stimulating way to pass an hour.

Various dinners were held the evenings, but being typical students, the obvious solution was to seek curry houses and dodgy 80s clubs with revolving dance-floors.

Party Conference - Blackpool

The Main Conference was naturally far grander, and set in Blackpool with its year-round Christmas lights and welcoming “Conservative trams”! The seminars were seminars, yet one was far more likely to find oneself seated amongst Party celebrities, as a friend and I were when it suddenly dawned on us that the backs of the heads we were staring at during a speech belonged to William Hague and George Osborne!

There were also numerous stalls gaining support for their causes by giving away great freebies, and others selling everything from jewellery to rabbit pelts. Socially, the Main Conference was also far better; as fun as the Spring Forum was, we didn’t really meet anyone new, and the entertainment was provided by the fracases within our own group. However, all age groups were fairly represented at the Conference, and there was no need to go in search of nightlife, as all the action was to be found in the garden of the Imperial Hotel!

Anyone under the impression that Conservatives are old and stuffy would be stunned to witness the merriness once the wine got flowing! The last night was particularly fun, encompassing disco dancing, a mad conga-line which some MPs were persuaded to join, and some unforgiving hangovers the next morning!

I hate to be predictable, but in my humble opinion the highlights of both events were the closing speeches (OTT dramatic entrances aside), particularly the Main Conference speech sans notes. They summed up what we were really there for by telling us what we came to hear and assuring us of imminent change. The rest was good fun, but the closing speeches were the piéces de resistance. To anyone interested in going this year, do! It’s a great experience, but for goodness sake, go with people who know how to have a laugh!

Click here for information about “CF members that Rock!”