National Union of Conservative Associations
| Founded | 1867 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 4 Matthew Parker Street, Westminster, England, United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Rob Semple, Chairman Gerry Yates, President |
| Website | conservatives.com |
The National Conservative Convention (NCC), is the most senior body of the Conservative Party's voluntary sector. The National Convention effectively serves as the Party's internal Parliament, and is made up of its 800 highest-ranking Party Officers.
The composition and functions of the NCC have evolved since its establishment in 1867. It has previously had a major role in policy-making and the planning of Party Conferences. Today, its primary purposes are to take charge of internal Party affairs and representing the views of Party members. Most crucially, it elects five members each year to sit on the Conservative Party Board. It has been compared to the Republican National Convention of the United States.
The NCC was first established as the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. Its purpose was to oversee the running of the Party across the country, and plan Party Conferences. These functions remain largely the same today, and every year the President of the NCC continues to officially open the Party Conference.
Over time, the NUCUA's membership became more clearly defined, and has broadly been the same since the Party's set of extensive internal reforms following their defeat in the 1945 General Election. In 1998, new Party leader William Hague carried out another extensive reform which led to the NUCUA's renaming as the National Conservative Convention. In recent years, the Convention's influence over the running of the Party and its campaigning methods has increased heavily. Any changes to the Constitution of the Conservative Party must be approved by a majority vote of the NCC, and it plays a pivotal role in the inception and implementation of Party reforms, such as the Conservative Party Review (2016).
The NCC is a mix of appointed, directly and indirectly elected Party Officers. When members of the public join the Party, they are attached to the local Conservative Association of which constituency they reside in. Party members elect their local Association Chairmen who sit on the Convention, and other local officials. Each Chairman and one Deputy Chairman sit on an Area Council, typically covering one or two Counties and several local authorities and constituencies. These Councils annually elect the Party's senior volunteers; Area and Regional Officers. All senior volunteers (approximately 150 Area and 30 Regional Officers) sit on the Convention. In addition to this, the Conservative Women's Organisation and Conservative Future (including their predecessor organisations) each send 40 delegates to the NCC, though Conservative Future has not sent delegates since its dissolution In 2014, 16 year old Isaac Duffy became the youngest ever member of the National Convention.
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