PopCon has today published the results of its latest Opinion Panel Survey. 

Press release: 16th April 2025:

Root and branch reform of the Conservative Party is a high priority for members, according to the 571 respondents to the latest Opinion Panel survey from Popular Conservatism (PopCon). Party members are dissatisfied with the candidate selection process and their exclusion from important internal elections. They are demanding more of a say in the workings of the party they campaign tirelessly for. 

The latest survey reveals that only 11% of respondents think that reform of the Conservative Party is going well or very well. 87% of respondents believe that constitutional reform of the Party should be a priority and 81% only want changes to be possible with the agreement of members. They want a majority of the party's ruling board to come from the voluntary party, and want senior members of the board directly elected by party members.  

Click here to view tabulated results of the survey

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns for Popular Conservatism, said:

"Members elect officers in their local association and vote for a new party leader, but they want to have a greater say in how the party they campaign for is run. Members tell me every day that they are fed up with the status quo and want 'one member one vote'. This survey backs up every conversation I have had with them over the last year."

When asked if they thought that Constituency Associations should have the right to determine who their Conservative Parliamentary Candidate is, with minimum interference by CCHQ, more than 90% of those responding to the survey said yes. As one respondent said, "CCHQ ought to become a service centre. It's core role ought to be vetting candidates, national messaging and enabling associations to do their work."

Members remain positive about the party's long-term electoral fortunes, though. 40% thought that the Conservatives will lead the country in 2029 and just over 17% think that Labour will still be in power. 

Mark Littlewood, Director of Popular Conservatism, said:

"Members recognise the Party needs to change but are not impressed at the reforms to date: only 1% of our members’ panel respondents believes the process of reforming the party is going very well whilst 17% think it is going very poorly. The membership wants the Board to be made up with a majority of volunteers with the senior positions elected by the members. They want constituency associations to have autonomy over candidate selection with minimal input from CCHQ. The membership is crying out for decentralisation and democratisation."

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

1. Popular Conservatism's mission is to inform and educate candidates and MPs about the need to reform Britain’s bureaucratic structures to allow conservative values to flourish; and to advance these policies across the country, whilst demonstrating their popularity. For more information, visit our website: https://www.popularconservatism.com/
2. All responses and statistics are from the survey sent to PopCon's opinion panel. We received 571 responses. Click here to view it. 
3. Survey undertaken between 7-14 April 2025.