WEST KENT NEWS News for Conservative Members and Activists from West Kent Campaign HQ Edition Number 2. August 2014. Email: westkentconservatives@gmail.com Tel: 01732 842794 or 01892 522581
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN SUCCESS! Left: Volunteers from across the West Kent Group made over 400 phone calls to lapsed members, encouraging them to re-join. In this photograph we see (clockwise from bottom centre) Cllr William Rutherford (Chairman of TW), Cllr David Elliott (Deputy Chairman of TW), Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Chairman of C&A), Jonathan Shotton (T&M), Michael Payne (T&M) and Cllr Peter Oakford (TW). Cllr John Wilson (Chairman of Maidstone & the Weald) out of picture.
In the June newsletter we informed members of a major initiative to contact and attempt to re-enrol some of the 500 or so members who have lapsed since 2010. The campaign involved a personal letter from the Chairman followed-up with a phone call, inviting members to pay over the phone using a debit or credit card. Everything went smoothly to plan and week commencing Monday 30 June volunteers from Maidstone & the Weald, Chatham & Aylesford, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge & Malling came into the office to phone 400 lapsed members. It is fair to say the majority did not wish to re-join, with age and infirmity being the main reason.
Others did not like the coalition or various aspects of policy and a few sadly could no longer afford membership. However, across the four participating Associations over 51 members re-joined and between them paid £1,425 in subscriptions. Association
Tonbridge & Malling Chatham & Aylesford Maidstone & The Weald Tunbridge Wells
Re-joined
30 3 8 10
Amount Paid
£750 £125 £250 £350
(*The above figures do not include Faversham & Mid Kent, who have still not confirmed their wish to participate).
Out thanks to everyone who came into the office and made the calls.
SUMMER DRAW UP! UP! UP!
With thanks to all members and donors who supported the 2014 Summer Draw or sent a donation in lieu. All five Associations showed increased income compared with 2013 (gross sales and donations). Obviously we need to pay CCHQ a commission on sales to cover the printing costs and prize fund, but the across the board improvements are encouraging—with many members participating for the first time.
Over forty West Kent activists travelled by coach to Eastbourne on 7 June to support our excellent Parliamentary candidate Caroline Ansell. Eastbourne is the party’s local “target seat” and has been allocated to us for campaign support—one of the seats we must win if we are going to have a majority in 2015. It was a lovely sunny day and it was good to support their biggest ever campaign day. Between us we visited over 3,000 houses. In the June 2014 newsletter we informed members about an exciting new campaign being launched to identify and recruit a new generation of activists to help us fight future elections. The campaign will be fronted by our local MPs (and in Tonbridge & Malling by their Parliamentary candidate, Tom Tugendhat). In each participating Association around 20,000 households will receive a letter from the MP / PPC asking the recipient to offer help and support, the options include leaflet delivery, clerical / IT help, window / garden poster display etc. Each letter contains response card and a reply-paid envelope. The primary purpose of the campaign is to recruit new helpers, though the reply card does include a tick-box for membership and also for an information pack on becoming a local council candidate. The first tranche of the campaign (covering Tonbridge & Malling and Chatham & Aylesford) is underway now. The second tranche (Maidstone & The Weald and Tunbridge Wells) will commence at the end of August. It is hoped that all five Associations will participate although it is a matter for the local Management Committees to agree. If delivered efficiently and all offers of help are acknowledged and followed-up, this campaign could well provide us with an army of new helpers as we face a local and General Election in just 10 months time.
COMING UP TRUMPS There are still tickets available for our West Kent Evening of Music and Memories with the remarkable Baroness Trumpington. The event will be held at Maidstone’s newly refurbished Hazlitt Theatre on Thursday 4 September 2014 commencing at 7.00pm (doors open at 6.00pm). Baroness Trumpington will be interviewed on stage by Tom Tugendhat and will talk about her remarkable life. Following the show she will be signing copies of her best selling autobiography. Tickets are just £10 per person with all profits from ticket sales and book sales being donated to our five local Associations. For further details please call the office on 01732 842794 / 01892 522581.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE 2014 Across the five West Kent Associations we have a record number of Members attending Party Conference; over 60 at the last count! As is now traditional, West Kent organises an Afternoon Tea to bring together local members and friends. This is a hugely popular event and is always fully booked. If you are attending Party Conference you should have received an invitation to the West Kent Afternoon Tea via email last week. If yours did not arrive please let the office know via email to westkentconservatives@gmail.com and they will send another copy.