Tories are facing “mass exodus” of members

The Conservative Party’s membership woes have resurfaced, as Local Conservative Association (their equivalent of Constituency Labour Parties) secretaries send a warning to David Cameron over the continued sharp decline in membership – and “depressed” nature of those that remain.

According to The Guardian, local parties have revealed the scale of the Tories’ membership problem in their annual reports for 2013. Of branches that have published their reports, the Party has seen a drop in membership of 10% in the last two years alone, with many attributing the problems to unhappiness with Government policy; in particular, the introduction of equal marriage.

This problem is made worse for prominent figures of the Party by the fact that their own constituencies are not exempt from the exodus. Membership in Theresa May’s constituency is down by 20% in three years, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin’s is down by 25% and Iain Duncan Smith (tipped for demotion in this week’s expected reshuffle) has lost a third of his members. George Osborne has lost 90 members, while Cameron himself has lost an astonishing 170 members.

Their biggest drop off is in Romford, currently held by the Tories with a 17,000 majority for Andrew Rosindell, but where UKIP are expected to do well next year. Membership there has more than halved, with the departure of almost 400 people.

Even in areas where the losses are unspecified parties have noted decline. In Jeremy Hunt’s constituency, the loss of members is attributed to “disagreement with policy”, while in Justice Minister Jeremy Wright’s seat, “same-sex marriage and HS2” are blamed.

Since Cameron became leader in 2005, the Conservatives’ membership nationally has halved. Labour now have more than 50,000 more members than the Tories, with 187,000, while UKIP are the fastest growing party with 39,000, not far behind the Lib Dems on 44,000.