An article in the Times this week highlighted the ongoing debate over Tory ‘open’ primaries noting the dismay of some Tory MP’s at the ‘unintended consequences’ of the selection method. The discontent stems from Congleton where last weekend Fiona Bruce, head of a community law firm in Warrington, triumphed over Mathew Hancock, Mr Osborne’s chief [...]

The second ever “postal primary” was held in Gosport today, giving everyone in the constituency the chance to have a say in who should be the town’s Conservative Candidate.  The winner was Ms Dinenage, who will fight Tory Sir Peter Viggers’ seat, the MP who claimed for the infamous £1,645 duck house. According to the BBC news-site:
“The [...]

John Strafford has held office at virtually every level in the voluntary part of the Conservative Party, including nine years on the former National Union Executive Committee.   In his newly-published book, Our Fight for Democracy – A History of Democracy in the United Kingdom, he analyses the weaknesses of British democracy today and suggests how [...]

Questions are being raised about how ‘open’ Beckenham’s primary for Conservative candidate will transpire to be. According to ConservativeHome local discontent is brewing following the Executive request of ‘someone who would be a first rate constituency MP and that the preference was for a local candidate’.
Yet out of the six representatives that made the shortlist, [...]

Sworn at. Verbally abused in the high street. Treated with contempt on the door step.
In the current climate who’d be a politician? And before you accuse me of exaggeration I’ve experienced all this and more in the last few months. And I have never been elected. Or received a penny in expenses.
Meeting the public and [...]

Writing in Sunday’s Observer, Oona King has highlighted the lack of diversity that still exists in British Politics. Returning to Downing Street, as a lobbyist rather than an MP, King remarks that:
‘even though the PM and his advisers are extremely helpful and progressive, I can’t help noticing they’re all men.’
With so much written about change, Open Up is [...]

“The only way to download power is by rebalancing the system towards the people. This is the agenda. Now we need the political will.”
I read back these words I wrote three years ago with mixed feelings. Back then, the idea that our greatest democratic institution, the Houses of Parliament, could be so publicly disgraced by [...]

Yesterday, Frank Field MP answered the Open Up call for open primaries. Mr Field says that as a sitting MP who’s been shaken by the expenses scandal, he would welcome the opportunity to go back to put his case to his voters. He writes:
“[Sir Thomas Legg’s] letter bangs around in my head incessantly. This is [...]

This is Ben Morgan, from communications consultancy Madano Partnership. Last weekend, Madano released a report which predicted who would be sitting in Parliament after the general elections, based on current opinion polls about the popularity of the major political parties among voters.
Look at him. He looks pretty confident he’s right. I suspect it’s not just [...]