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Tory membership drops sharply

Reuters

Tuesday 13 Mar 2001

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Tory membership drops sharply
By Sinead O'Hanlon

Tuesday March 13, 04:37 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - The Conservatives have failed to
revive flagging membership, with numbers falling to
their lowest level since World War Two, the Times
reported.


It said a leaked internal report showed party numbers
dropped 25,000 in the last year to just over 300,000,
despite a recruitment drive ahead of the next general
election.


With Prime Minister Tony Blair widely expected to go
to the country on May 3, the report will be a further
blow to the Conservatives who are already struggling
to combat Labour's surging popularity in opinion
polls.


Conservative leader William Hague vowed to double
party membership and target a younger generation when
he was elected to the job in 1997 after Labour swept
Prime Minister John Major from power in a landslide
victory.


The report showed only 14,350 new members had joined
under the membership scheme set up by Hague in 1998,
the Times said.


Sheffield University's Professor Patrick Seyd, an
expert in political party membership, told the paper
that all parties were suffering declining membership
but opposition parties should fare better than the one
in power.


"I would have expected the Tories to be doing better
than this," Seyd said.


"Labour membership went up during the mid-1990s
because the best recruiting agency they had was the
Conservative government and it is a puzzle that the
Tories are not benefiting from being in opposition."


Seyd said that young people were being put off joining
the Conservatives because of the party's policies on
issues such as gay rights, the environment and
cannabis.


Opinion polls have put Labour up to 20 points ahead of
the Conservatives. The latest ICM poll published on
Monday showed Blair was way out in front of Hague in
leadership ratings, winning 47 percent to Hague's 14
percent.


Blair, basking in glowing headlines after Chancellor
Gordon Brown released his budget last week, is
believed to be planning a May 3 election to capitalise
on the huge opinion poll leads.


A survey of 67 political experts by Kalends, a Reuters
online future events service, predicted Labour would
win a 90-seat majority and that Hague would be ousted
as party leader as a result.




 

 

 

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