That was the message of a letter published in The Times on 4 October as the Conservative Party met in Birmingham for a particularly difficult annual conference.
Sir, For 80 years serious policy work was done within the Conservative Party. Founded by Neville Chamberlain in 1929, the Conservative Research Department with some 20 desk officers brought together MPs, senior members of the party outside parliament and independent experts in a range of policy groups. Their reports drew on submissions from a network of constituency-based discussion groups run by the Conservative Political Centre. The work laid the foundations for successive election manifestos. These arrangements have been in abeyance since the 2010 general election. They should be resuscitated to ensure that no future Conservative leader can foist ill-considered policies dogmatically on the country without informed internal discussion within the party.
Lord Lexden
Deputy director, Conservative Research Department 1983-97; director, Conservative Political Centre 1988-97
