As the party faithful head to Birmingham, members call for more democracy inside the Conservative Party.

Conservative Party members reject the status quo and are demanding more internal democracy. That is what almost 500 party members have told us in our latest opinion panel survey.

The findings were all revealed at Conservative Party Conference in a PopCon fringe event dedicated to party members rights and recognition. Follow this link to watch the panel discussion.  

Almost 77% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement, "The majority of the members of the Conservative Party Board [should] be directly elected by Party members."

When it comes to the selection of candidates, almost 90% agreed or strongly agreed with the following statement, "The choice of a candidate must normally rest with the local constituency association, which should also have the discretion to include in the selection process one or more candidates not on the candidates’ list and, if selecting a candidate not on the list, to nominate them for approval for inclusion on the list." 

70% agreed or strongly agreed that "the threshold for triggering a vote of confidence should be raised from 15% to 30% of all Conservative MPs and that the names of those MPs submitting letters to the chairman of the 1922 Committee be made public at the time of submission".

The results from this survey echo what opinion panel members have already told us in previous surveys. When asked in survey 4, "Would you support or oppose the proposal to allow Conservative Party members to vote on all nominated leadership candidates, not just the final two?", 69% of respondents said yes. 60% supported creating a new role of elected deputy leader of the Conservative Party and 72% thought members should elect the Chairman of the Conservative Party.

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

"For too long party members have felt ignored. At times they have felt that they have been held in contempt. I can't say that I am surprised by the results of our survey. It is what councillors and association officers are saying to me every day. Whoever is elected leader will have to address the current democratic deficit inside the Conservative Party." 

NOTES

The survey was undertaken between Monday 23rd - Friday 27th September 2024. 

The statements sent to members were recommendations included in the Association of Conservative Peers' 'Project Pheonix' report. Click here to read report in full. 

Click here to view tabulated results of the survey.

The results of the previous opinion panel surveys can be found here:

Survey 4 results: Click here. 

Survey 3 results: Click here.

Survey 2 results: Click here.

Survey 1 results: Click here.