There are many notable features of the Conservative Party’s history that are worth pondering as the Party sets out to rebuild itself. Alistair Lexden mentioned a couple of them in a letter published in the October edition of The Critic magazine under the heading ‘Game of Chairs.’
Paul Goodman (REVIVE THE ROOTS, AUG/SEPT) exaggerates a little: Richard Holden, a charming former party official and special adviser, was the ninth, not the eleventh, person to serve as Conservative Party Chairman during the last five years, all of whom did well to avoid becoming mere chairs (a term now used everywhere in the House of Lords).
However, the first nine holders of the post, created in 1911, presided over Conservative Central Office for a total of 35 years. That would be a useful historical point for the next Conservative leader to bear in mind.
As for reversing the decline in party membership, Goodman slightly underestimates the glorious total achieved in the early 1950s. There were 2.8 million members in England and Wales. Scotland took the total to over 3 million.
I am not sure that the 90,000 or so members of the Ulster Unionist Party ought to be excluded. The Ulster Unionists were then fully integrated into all aspects of the Conservative Party’s life. In the era of the great Lord Woolton the Conservative and Unionist Party flourished in all parts of one British nation. Could that ever be achieved again?
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords
