Ideas: Parties must be democratic

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Ideas: Parties must be democratic

30.11.2009 // by Guest

This idea comes from John in Beaconsfield:

What's the big idea?:

No political Party should be registered with the Electoral Commission unless it has a democratic constitution which can be changed by a majority of its members on the basis of one member one vote.

Why is this change important to you?:

Both of our main political parties are undemocratic organisations run by small oligarchies. Although the Conservative Party now has a constitution, that constitution cannot be changed without the agreement of an Electoral College consisting of members of Parliament on the one hand and the National Convention, which consists mainly of Constituency Chairmen, on the other. In this Electoral College the MP's vote is worth five times that of a Constituency Chairman. The Chairman and Treasurer of the Party are appointed by the Leader so are unaccountable to the membership.

There is no Annual General Meeting of members so there is no formal forum for members to raise questions about the Party's organisation or policies. The Annual Accounts of the Party are not tabled for approval at an AGM. The Parliamentary candidates of the Party are controlled centrally. The Party Board can and does take control of any Constituency Association, which does not toe the line. The infamous clause 17 of the constitution states: "The Board shall have
power to do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the Party" and that makes the rest of the constitution meaningless.

And y John Strafford et, large sums of taxpayer's money have been given to the oligarchy running the Conservative Party. Over the last ten years some £40 million has been given to the Conservative Party and after the next General Election an equally large sum of money will be given to the oligarchy running the Labour Party. This money is supposed to be given to enhance our democracy - it does no such thing. All it does is perpetuate the power of the oligarchies.

Secondly, in both the two main parties a small number of people determine who shall be a parliamentary candidate and in so doing who shall sit in the House of Commons and form the government of this country. In the case of the Conservative Party this is effectively the Party Chairman. Is this the way in which dictatorships are created without the need for bloody revolution?

Once we had rotten boroughs, now we have a rotten parliament.

This must be changed and my proposal will do just that.