That is very true, but you need to join your association to exert some influence. Most associations are crying out for people to take an active interest. By that I mean taking on an official role. In my experience the association administrator (paid role) guards association membership details (GDPR) like a tiger so it's v difficult to get alternative ideas out there. I know there is a keen interest from some members I know to unseat our current MP, but finding them to get the required 10% to force a vote is not easy, and, as you say, most go along with the chairman's recommendation. It requires dedicated hard work and a thick skin to take it on.
CCHQ and MPs tend to regard you as foot soldiers to raise money and deliver leaflets. If by signing up as a member you resist that and start trying to change things from within, it must be the way to go. It will take time and patience, it will be frustrating, but it has to be done.
I'm only very sorry not to have tried harder before Sunak called the election, thinking we had an autumn election in the office. Thwarted now and stuck with a ridiculously woke candidate who upset many locals whilst he was MP.
"CCHQ and MPs tend to regard you as foot soldiers to raise money and deliver leaflets"
That was my experience for the short time that I was a member, only I would delete the "tend to". We had zero say in MP selection, (nor in MEP selection!). Our MP was decided upon by GCHQ, end of...
I had thought that the post-Brexit shake-out had purged the Tories of wets and turned them back into proper right wing party. How deluded I was. The party is infested with wet rot. As such, I wish nothing but pain and misery for the Conservative Party. In the meantime, I cannot see any potential saviour of conservatism in this country. Such a person needs to emerge soon because we are circling the plughole.
From my own selfish POV I hope the nation state and democracy are not allowed to decline any further; any resurrection would be very welcome.
I hope in the fulness of time I am proved to be wrong when I say the damage already done has gone so far as to be irretrievable to any significant extent.
The forces of globalisation are an extremely tough adversary.
"But all the same, they are still answerable and they can be influenced if the local membership is all singing from the same hymn sheet"
Most of the local membership are octogenarians who never do anything, but when pushed to vote will do whatever the local grandee tells them because they've known them since the Heath administration.
That was not my experience. The local membership backed one particular candidate but she was told by CCHQ to stand down, as there would be no HQ support for her and CCHQ was supporting another candidate. She accepted the inevitable. What a farce!
That is very true, but you need to join your association to exert some influence. Most associations are crying out for people to take an active interest. By that I mean taking on an official role. In my experience the association administrator (paid role) guards association membership details (GDPR) like a tiger so it's v difficult to get alternative ideas out there. I know there is a keen interest from some members I know to unseat our current MP, but finding them to get the required 10% to force a vote is not easy, and, as you say, most go along with the chairman's recommendation. It requires dedicated hard work and a thick skin to take it on.
CCHQ and MPs tend to regard you as foot soldiers to raise money and deliver leaflets. If by signing up as a member you resist that and start trying to change things from within, it must be the way to go. It will take time and patience, it will be frustrating, but it has to be done.
I'm only very sorry not to have tried harder before Sunak called the election, thinking we had an autumn election in the office. Thwarted now and stuck with a ridiculously woke candidate who upset many locals whilst he was MP.
"CCHQ and MPs tend to regard you as foot soldiers to raise money and deliver leaflets"
That was my experience for the short time that I was a member, only I would delete the "tend to". We had zero say in MP selection, (nor in MEP selection!). Our MP was decided upon by GCHQ, end of...
I had thought that the post-Brexit shake-out had purged the Tories of wets and turned them back into proper right wing party. How deluded I was. The party is infested with wet rot. As such, I wish nothing but pain and misery for the Conservative Party. In the meantime, I cannot see any potential saviour of conservatism in this country. Such a person needs to emerge soon because we are circling the plughole.
From my own selfish POV I hope the nation state and democracy are not allowed to decline any further; any resurrection would be very welcome.
I hope in the fulness of time I am proved to be wrong when I say the damage already done has gone so far as to be irretrievable to any significant extent.
The forces of globalisation are an extremely tough adversary.
If there's one thing which always impresses me, it's optimism
"But all the same, they are still answerable and they can be influenced if the local membership is all singing from the same hymn sheet"
Most of the local membership are octogenarians who never do anything, but when pushed to vote will do whatever the local grandee tells them because they've known them since the Heath administration.
That was not my experience. The local membership backed one particular candidate but she was told by CCHQ to stand down, as there would be no HQ support for her and CCHQ was supporting another candidate. She accepted the inevitable. What a farce!