Last Saturday (27th January), the Yorkshire & Humber Region Conservative Policy Forum held its annual conference at Weetwood Hall. Over 125 activists, Conservative MPs, MEPs, councillors and Peers met to discuss a wide variety of policies.
The morning session started with a panel chaired by Lord Kirkhope (formerly MP for Leeds NE and MEP) where he and Andrea Jenkyns MP (Morley & Outwood), Stuart Andrew MP (Pudsey), and John Proctor MEP discussed the Northern Powerhouse. All were agreed that the Northern Powerhouse had been a great idea to promote policies, particularly in relation to transport and infrastructure in the North. They welcomed the establishment of Transport for the North to drive this further. There was some lively debate with the floor over the merits of HS2 and the need not only for long term planning but also for improvements in the shorter term.
The national CPF Chairman, George Freeman MP then gave a very lively and inspirational talk about the future for the Party. Key themes were the need to focus on our values and heritage to allow us to build solutions to the real issues affecting people locally. Capitalism has worked around the world but there is a real sense that many people under 40 feel that it isn't working for them here now. But we also need to remember that socialism is a foreign concept and that so many of the great social and economic gains in this country were historically driven by Conservatives. We need to talk much less about Brexit and much more about Britain. There is a big opportunity to make great changes and we need to reach out to do so. This vision of the future prompted a good discussion with many of the attendees.
There were then a "Speakers Corner" event of three quick fire debates with delegates having two minutes each to speak for or against the motions being proposed.
This was followed by Sir Graham Brady MP, Chairman of the 1922 Committee. Sir Graham gave a candid assessment of the 2017 General Election Campaign. He also explained that any rumours in the media about whether and how many backbenchers had written to him regarding the leadership of the Party were only rumours. In the seven years he had been Chairman, he had never confirmed or denied the existence of any letters to anyone, neither his deputies nor his wife (who works in his office), let alone to any journalists. This was an encouraging confirmation for many at the Conference who had seen such rumours being reported as evidence of an imminent contest for a new leader for which there was no support at any point from any speaker or delegate during the Conference!
Dr Spencer Pitfield of Tory Workers gave a short but spirited talk about the work he had done with Robert Halfon MP to establish a Conservative Trade Union and to reach out for support from and to Union members. George Jabbour, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Watford, spoke about his experiences standing for the party in all four of its nations (which may in itself be some sort of record).
After lunch, there was another panel discussion focusing on issues as broad ranging as foreign aid, defence, inheritance tax and housing chaired by Christine Mackay with Kevin Hollinrake MP (Thirsk & Malton), Andrew Allison (Head of Campaigns, Freedom Association) and Cllr John Fareham (Leader Conservative Group on Hull City Council).
Apart from the ubiquitous raffle, the final and liveliest session was another panel discussion on "How to Win the Youth Vote". This was chaired by Cllr Alice Ord and had Cllr Elena Bunbury, Chloe Schendel-Wilson (former president Bournemouth Student Union), Dehenna Davison (Parliamentary Candidate Hull North 2015, Sedgefield 2017) and Ellie King (graduate student Warwick University). Their enthusiasm and thoughtfulness about how we can broaden our appeal were very encouraging for the future of the Party and country, as was the large number of delegates at the Conference who were students.
Hannah David, the National Director of the CPF gave some closing remarks about the growth of the number of CPF discussion groups and how important a role they were now playing in formation of policy and strategy in the Party.
It was altogether a very interesting and informative event and it would be great to see more from Leeds North West attending next year's conference. Please get in touch using the contact form on this site if you are interested in hearing more. We would be keen to establish a local regular CPF discussion group to review and comment on the CPF discussion papers which are published several times a year if there is sufficient interest from local members and supporters.