Senior Tory calls for "more inclusive" party
A leading Tory has called for constituency parties to be given greater input in the election of the next Tory leader.
Robert Hodgson, the Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, urged the backbench 1922 Committee to change the rules under which the leader is elected. Under the present system, adopted after Margaret Thatcher's resignation in 1990, only Tory MPs participate in the election of the leader.
Mr Hodgson wants 20 per cent of the votes to be assigned to local Conservative Association. In order to encourage recruitment, the party had to become "more inclusive and more welcoming". In an interview with the BBC, Mr Hodgson said: "This is one of the reasons why we have been discussing the possibility of changing the rules for electing the leader."
Mr Hodgson insisted that the change to the rules could be made before the leadership election is held. "We have a mechanism for doing it, and it requires the 1922 Committee to decide that they would like to send this signal," he said.
John Redwood, one of the six contenders for the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Hodgson's proposal. "I am happy to stand for election under any constitutional method of election which the party has endorsed," he said. He added that if he was elected leader, he would seek to involve all party members in plotting the future course of the Conservative Party.
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