Becoming the Big Society party
August 20th, 2010 | This post was written by BetapoliticsThe Conservatives have just launched a big recruitment campaign, which includes many policy posts in CCHQ. This is good news. A month ago Tim Montgomerie raised concerns that the Tory Party was not giving enough thought to its own agenda or how the Conservatives will position themselves at the next election. Running a government and running for office are different activities that call for different skills. The risk of not having an effective party machine is that we stagnate, thus allow other parties, including the Lib Dems, to gain momentum before polling day. Hopefully the re-staffing of CCHQ will address the risk.
The job that most caught my eye* was Social Action Manager . The biggest problem for me in the 2010 Election was that the Big Society message was disconnected from those who were delivering it. Cameron’s centrepiece theme was rendered almost meaningless because the words were not backed-up with action. Big Society is ultimately about the ‘doing’. Many activists did not understand the idea because they had never been asked to participate in local projects, thus they couldn’t sell ‘Big Society’ to a sound bite weary public. In the 2015 election us Tories can’t just be the Party of the Big Society idea, we must practice what we preach and become a Big Society organisation.
The Social Action Manager will attempt to forge links with the not-for-profit sector and encourage constituency associations, local councillors and candidates to engage in Big Society activities. Unlike in the US, we Brits tend to be cautious about mixing politics with other activities. This attitude has helped to disenfranchise people, especially the young, from political parties. It is a lot more satisfying to put your efforts into a specialised pressure group where you can focus on achieving a specific good, compared to delivering leaflets or attending ‘talking-shop’ branch meetings.
Volunteering is often a fun, rewarding, educational and social activity. Politics in action reminds people why we need politicians and why it’s important to campaign to get good ones elected. The Social Action Manager, with the support of Baroness Warsi, should aim to redefine what being a Tory foot soldier means.
* Dear readers, if you decide to apply, please mention me on the application form so I can demand a generous headhunters’ fee from CCHQ…`
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