UCLU Conservative Society

Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,

You are warmly and cordially invited to the UCL Conservatives Summer Picnic 2010!

Let’s bask in the sun and toast our new Prime Minister’s 3rd successful week in office!

Please meet at Great Portland Street tube station at 4pm where committee members will set off to the chosen picnic spot.

The society will be providing light snacks and adequate drinks (PIMMS etc etc), and would greatly appreciate it if you would have on your person a sum of £5 to contribute to the pot! We do of course encourage a general ruckus, as permissible in open spaces, and therefore encourage a BYOB policy too!

There may be some attempts at croquet. There will certainly be attempts at shenanigans. Come one come all!

If you would like more information, do please feel free to email or call our Social Secretary Emily at: e.cheah@ucl.ac.uk or 07886952418

See you there!!

P.S. This is also an excellent opportunity for us all to thank last year’s committee for all their hard work and meet next year’s!

The committee-elect have kindly arranged a trip to Oxford University Conservative Association to take part in their Port & Policy Evening on Sunday 30th May. The more astute amongst you will realise this is the day after the UCL Ball, but do not fear, the meet time is 18:00 at Victoria Station. You have plenty of time to recover from the night before so there are no excuses! The society can make the trip there on the Oxford Tube (return tickets are £12).

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to message Marta or Will. (mkrokosz@hotmail.co.uk)

I just watched David Cameron walk through the front door of 10 Downing Street making every second of campaigning, canvassing and flyering worth it.

Congratulations Prime Minister Cameron!

WH

Gordon has gone to the Queen and thirteen years of Labour is over.

We have seen ridiculous levels of public debt, failing schools, social breakdown, public money spent on contemplation suites and what has it all been for? To appease the ideology of a few misguided leaders.

This is an exciting and interesting time. If Lib Dems go into coalition with DC then we are more than likely to see fixed term parliaments. This will bind the new partnership together and remove the possibility of DC capitalising on any honeymoon period. If we get AV+ then we will see another enormous constitutional change. Both of these will be hugely divisive issues for the traditional elements of the Conservative party and it will be interesting to see how they are sold to the grass-roots.

In the words of President Kieran Weisberg: “We always needed a bit of yellow to go properly Green”

WH

Well according to the pundits it looks like this could be the last day of Labour government. As of Tuesday afternoon Labour seem to be looking towards their leadership election and giving up on any chance of clinging onto power. With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to have a look at some of the potential Labour leadership candidates…

David Miliband (Bookies odds – 4/9)

Young, Blairite and attractive to centre-ground voters in much the same way Tony Blair was. Also, very respected as an intellectual heavyweight having risen from policy-wonkery and seen as having done a good job at the FO. But, he has been seen to be leader-in-waiting for too long.

Alan Johnson – (Bookies odds – 13/2)

Liked as straight-talking former post-man and has very good support with the Unions. Could be seen as a good leader to touch base with core Labour voters without sacrificing reformist agenda. He was though beaten by Harriet Harman in the deputy-leader race which remains an embarrassment.

Ed Balls – (Bookies odds – 14/1)

Long time mate with Gordon Brown and generally seen as a high-flyer but recent close constituency result could spell lack of confidence. My personal opinion is that he is utterly loathed by most of the public – especially those involved in Education.

Jack Straw – (Bookies odds – 33/1)

Almost certainly too old but well respected and well liked particularly as a House of Commons performer whilst Leader of the House. Could be seen as a possible caretaker Leader whilst internal debate settles.

Ignore talk of Lord Mandelson having a stab at the leadership and I would be very surprised indeed to see the Miliband brothers running against each other…

WH

Dispelling some myths:

1. When Labour say that a majority of people didn’t vote for the Conservatives they are making about the weakest case possible for their coalition. A majority of people certainly didn’t vote for Labour and even less voted for the Lib Dems and if you are a ‘progressive alliance’ then why didn’t you run as such rather than attack each other tooth and nail?

2. The  SNP say that Scottish people didn’t vote for the Conservatives in any great number therefore they don’t have a mandate to govern Scotland. I look forward to the independent Conservative state of Henley, the Green Party Kingdom of Brighton Pavilion et c.

3. Labour hacks saying that Gordon Brown is bold and impressive for putting party before self. This is complete nonsense. He just lost the election but he doesn’t want to go until September. The constitutional regulation allowing the incumbent first choice is flimsy at best. The markets want him to go, the people have said they want him to go and I would bet the Queen wants him to go.

This may all be exciting but it is also a complete farce.

WH

The exit polls are in and the results are as follows:

Conservatives – 307
Labour – 255
Lib Dems – 59
Other – 29

So it would appear that David Cameron is the new Prime Minster but only by 52 seats. Results will come in through the night and by this time tomorrow we will know for sure.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Do you want 5 more years of Brown and a Labour Government? Only you can elect the next Leader and Government of the UK. It’s General Election day, the polls are now open and will be until 10pm so pick up your polling card and go use your vote!

Today is potentially the last day of Labour’s 13 year stint as the ruling party of the United Kingdom. Polls open 7am tomorrow and close at 10pm so don’t forget to vote this election is very close and every vote will count! Below is a summary of their last 13 years in office;

The Conservative Party is no longer the ‘nasty party’. Understanding that is the key to understanding our new compassionate Conservatism. British politics is no longer quite so much about Liberty versus Equality but instead it is about methods and delivery. Our party is championing policies that provide social mobility, better schools, deficit reduction and a rebuilt society by using methods that can be proven to work. The Labour Party would rather throw money at problems it can neither understand nor solve.

One of the key policy areas is our drastic plans to improve education. The number of boys nationwide eligible for free school meals getting three As last year was less than half those achieving the same from Eton. Something has gone horribly wrong under Labour. Our plan to rebuild education will allow the poorest children the opportunities that Labour’s stifling policies do not. We will liberalise schools and allow head teachers more power to do what they do best – managing schools. We want to encourage discipline in schools rather than have teachers helplessly bound by regulations. We will foster innovation in educational matters by supporting academies and allowing parents more input in their children’s learning.

Claiming that cuts do not have to be made to the Budget is quite simply lying. Labour tried it. But from the start the Conservatives have argued that we can cut huge swathes of expensive bureaucracy and therefore allow frontline services to continue unscathed. Our measures to deal with the deficit include cutting the number of quangos and stopping tax credits to those earning over £50,000. We need to bring our national debt back under control and reduce the current £178 billion annual deficit.

Closer to home, in a few years when UCL students are attempting to get on the housing ladder the Conservatives will be pulling 9 out of 10 homes out of stamp duty – a move that will help create both a stake-holder Britain and help debt-laden graduates get onto the property ladder. Similarly, we will encourage the creation of new jobs by abolishing all tax on jobs created by new companies for two years. This will not only provide more employment but will also encourage entrepreneurship and the creation of wealth.

And it’s not just our policies that have changed. Conservative activism has also changed radically in recent years. Instead of using stale campaigning methods our party has been engaged in new and exciting ways of reaching out to the electorate. One of our most important projects is that of Social Action days when Conservative Future and PPCs across the country take action from cleaning up litter strewn streets to mentoring the most disadvantaged children in society. This is our new Party.

In conclusion, our party no longer speaks solely to lifetime Conservative voters. Instead, we want more people who have never voted Tory before to look at our policies and realize that we are the best choice for Britain. With a huge deficit, a broken society, rotting education systems and a confused government I firmly believe that it is time for change. It’s time to vote Conservative. Oh and by the way, we also love the NHS.