Almost all of the Conservatives who work for the Party do so on a voluntary basis. They run their local Associations and donate tens of thousands of hours of their time every year to help the Party. They campaign all year round, delivering leaflets and canvassing voters in their local area. Our volunteers are also the people who raise the money to run the Party across the country, through membership subscriptions and holding events in their local area.
Associations
Each local Association corresponds to a parliamentary constituency. While Associations vary in size, almost all follow the same structure.
Windsor Conservative Association is overseen by a governing body, known as the Executive Council. This is made up of Officers, Honorary Members, Branch Representatives, a CWO Representative, the MP, the MEPs, the Agent, and any CCHQ Representatives who wish to attend.
Areas and Regions
For organisational purposes, the country is broken up into Regions, with each Region containing a number of Areas. Both Regions and Areas also have a similar structure to constituencies - namely Regional and Area Chairman, and Deputy Chairmen for Membership and Political.
The National Convention
The National Convention is effectively the parliament of the Voluntary Party.
It is comprised of all Association Chairs, officers from Areas and Regions as well as 42 representatives from Conservative Future and the Conservative Women's Organisation. The Convention meets twice a year – its Annual General Meeting is usually held at Spring Forum, with another meeting usually held at Party Conference. Its purpose is to receive the Annual Report, elect the Convention’s new officers and to set the Voluntary Party’s direction.
The most senior volunteers within the Conservative Party are the Officers of the National Convention; led by the Chairman, they represent the views of the Voluntary Party to the leadership of the main Party. The Chairman of the Convention is also a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. The President is the Chairman of the Party Conference and there are also three Vice Presidents. All of these five senior volunteers are elected at Spring Forum, and also sit on the main Board of the Party.
The Board
The Board is the ultimate decision-making body of the Conservative Party. It is responsible for all operational matters including; fundraising, membership and candidates. It is made up of representatives from each section of the Party - the voluntary, political and professional:
- Ben Elliot, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chairman of the Board
- Lord Sharpe of Epsom OBE, Deputy Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the National Convention
- Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party and Deputy Chairman of the Board
- Sir Ehud Sheleg, Treasurer, Conservative Party
- Pamela Hall, President of the National Convention
- James Pearson, Vice President of the National Convention
- Andrew Colborne-Baber, Vice President of the National Convention
- Peter Booth, Vice president of the National Convention
- Alan Mabbutt OBE, Senior member of the professional staff of the Party
- Cllr Mark Hawthorne MBE, Chairman of the Conservative Councillors’ Association
- Robert Forman MBE WS, Chairman Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Lord Davies of Gower, Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives
- Matt Wright, Appointed by the Board pursuant to Rule 12.10
- Rt Hon Lord Hunt of Wirral MBE, Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers
- Sir Graham Brady MP, Chairman, 1922 Committee
- Bob Blackman, Elected by the 1922 Committee
- Rt Hon Dame Cheryl Gillan DBE MP, Elected by the 1922 Committee
- David Morris MP, Elected by the 1922 Committee
- Stephen Phillips OBE, Secretary to the Board