Every Tuesday we will profile a prominent branch or activist. This week we profile Chris Kelly, the PPC for Dudley South.

Chris, 30, is a former CF activist and a member of the Executive Committee of Conservative Way Forward. He is also undoubtedly one of the party's most assiduous campaigners, regularly being photographed with leading conservatives throughout the free world.

Having studied for an MBA, Chris has moved on to become Marketing Director in his father's impressively successful lorry distributor, Keltruck. Chris' father (also called Chris - hence the young Chris referring to himself as Chris D Kelly) is a prominent member of the Midlands Industrial Council.

Chris has registered the domain names www.proudofdudley.com and www.tellchris.com - two useful communication tools that will only help reinforce the image that Chris seeks to project of a local activist who actively seeks the chance to listen to and represent the people of the West Midlands.

A few years ago, Chris famously placed a bet with bookmakers that either he or Justin Tomlinson (PPC for Swindon North and a former CF National Chairman) would become Prime Minister. Both are now on course to become MPs - so maybe it wasn't such a daft bet after all!

You can contact Chris at chris@tellchris.com.

Enoch Powell once said that "for a politician to complain about the press is like a ship's captain complaining about the sea". Dealing with the media is one of the hardest things for any politician to do - be they a Member of Parliament, local councillor or student politician.

Here are "the 10 B's" to remember when dealing with the media:

1. Be Realistic: the press is not your PR machinery. It faces time and space limitations. Before peddling news, think like a journalist.

2. Be Prepared: know who the editors and reporters are. Only do interviews when you are ready. If you need more time, ask for their deadline, tell them you need to collect more information, offer to get back to them at a specific time - and do it!

3. Be Accessible: media relations is about human relations. Never say "no comment" - it suggests you are hiding something. Explain why you cannot comment, discussion general policy (not specifics) or switch to something you can say.

4. Be Honest: admit bad news and move on to corrective action. Lying always comes back to haunt you.

5. Be Quotable: make your quotes memorable. Put your issues into plain English in a way that connects with voters. It is better to delay to get the message right than to rush into giving an unmemorable quote.

The final five B's will be revealed next Monday. Make sure you bookmark the YBF website in the meantime and come back daily!

Tomorrow: the first of our Branch & Activist Profiles.

To learn more print and broadcast media tips, register to attend a forthcoming YBF workshop by emailing training@ybf.org.uk. 

Each Sunday, the YBF Blog will focus on the Hero & Zero of that week. This week is undoubtedly the easiest for quite a long time.

This week's Hero is...Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London. He has managed to hit the ground running, appointed a team of stars around him and has come forward with eye-catching initiatives that have already shown his mayoralty to stand in stark contrast to the previous regime of Ken Livingstone. Johnson's optimistic and happy-go-lucky approach to life has had an invigorating effect on Tory MPs, activists and voters alike. Tired of the cynical approach of Ken Livingstone, voters seem to have welcomed a change of control at City Hall with arms surprisingly more open than even Boris' greatest fans might have expected.

This week's Zero is...Gordon Brown, our beleaguered Prime Minister. His relaunch last Sunday was an unmitigated disaster. Rather than reassuring the troops he has managed to accelerate the spread of panic among Labour MPs who fear losing their seats at the next general election. Another below par performance at PMQs on Wednesday was followed by the ignominy of Wendy Alexander's nonsensical decision to call for a referendum on the Union and Frank Field's threat to bring down the government over the 10p tax rate furore. And to cap it all, the Labour Party is running a class-war by-election campaign in Crewe that is going down appallingly among Cheshire voters.

After training over 500 activists in the past 4 years, the Young Britons' Foundation has exciting plans that will see at least 500 activists being trained in 2008 alone - with many of these training workshops taking place outside London and more conveniently to where activists are based.

Full details of forthcoming YBF training workshops in public speaking, debating, fundraising, internet activism, campaign management, candidate development and media training skills will be published on the YBF website, on Facebook and in email bulletins throughout the year.

In the meantime, the Young Britons' Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a series of audio, video and written resource materials for activists on the YBF website as follows:

• Mondays - Print & Broadcast Media Tips
• Tuesdays - Branch & Activist Profiles
• Wednesdays - Public Speaking & Debating Tips
• Thursdays - Conservative Movement Organisation Profiles
• Fridays - Campaign Tips
• Saturdays - The Laws of the Public Policy Process
• Sundays - Hero & Zero of the Week

Make sure you bookmark the YBF website (www.ybf.org.uk/blog) and that you check back for regular updates and campaign materials designed to help advance our shared agenda over the coming year - starting in April.

The Young Britons' Foundation is delighted to announce details of the its 2nd US Summer Conference Programme.

Applications are invited to attend Skills Training at the Leadership Institute, the Young America's Foundation Conservative Student Conference and a week of training and sightseeing in California which will include private tours of Ronald Reagan's home and the Reagan Library & Museum.

Attendees will also get the opportunity to tour the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, to walk the monuments in the National Mall, to go shooting at a rifle range and many more excursions.

In addition you will hear from, and meet, leaders of the American conservative movement, develop your campaigning, fundraising and public speaking skills and also take part in one-on-one media training in the Leadership Institute's television studios.

The dates are as follows:

*Sunday, 27 July to Sunday, 3 August: Leadership Institute (Arlington, VA);
*Sunday, 3 August to Saturday, 9 August: Young America's Foundation Conference (Washington, DC);
*Saturday, 9 August to Thursday, 14 August: Young Britons' Foundation Campaign Workshop (Santa Barbara, CA).

You can apply to attend one, two or all three weeks as you wish.

Thanks to the generosity of the supporters of the Young Britons' Foundation - and the cooperation of the Leadership Institute and the Young America's Foundation - attendees will benefit from FREE accommodation, FREE meals, FREE tuition and FREE materials. YBF will also make a contribution of £100 towards each attendee's flights.

If you are interested in coming to Washington DC and California during this US Presidential election year, email donal@ybf.org.uk for more information and an application form or learn more on our dedicated Facebook group.

The Chief Executive and Board of Directors of the Young Britons' Foundation are delighted to announce the move of the Foundation to new offices. As of 17 March 2008, YBF has become based at 50 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent.

The aptly named offices are part of a state-of-the-art commercial complex close to the M20/M26 junction, less than an hour from Westminster.

YBF Chief Executive Donal Blaney said: "The move to Churchill Square provides YBF with substantially larger offices than would have been the case had we chosen to rent space in London. This means we can have more staff promoting conservative values in schools, colleges and universities - and training the next generation of conservative leaders and activists - than would otherwise have been the case".

The full contact details for the new YBF offices are: YBF, 50 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU. The telephone number is 01732 525923.

YBF has today launched details of its summer internships with some of the highest profile political organisations in the world.

The full details can be viewed here:
http://www.ybf.org.uk/summerinternships

The Young Britons' Foundation today unveiled its new website, which will feature a regularly updated blog and news section.

Activists will be able to use the blog to keep up with campaign tips and advice from leading campaigners whilst members of the media will be able to use the news section to stay abreast of developments within the organisation, its activities and announcements.

The website was unveiled by Chief Executive Donal Blaney today at an event in Central London. He said,

"I am delighted with the new website. It's going to allow us to update our activists, supporters and the media on a regular basis and is the icing on the cake of a great year for YBF."

The site was developed by Mike Rouse, the organisation's Head of Technology Training who added,

"In my training sessions I try and encourage activists to use open source platforms that offer them flexibility and are easy to update. Drupal is the perfect tool for serious political campaigners who don't have an equally serious budget to play with. YBF's very own website can now be a shining example to activists on what types of websites are possible quickly, easily and cost-effectively."

The site offers all the facilities found in the new site and promises more in the future. Donal Blaney was happy to go over some of the possibilities,

"We're working with Mike and his company, MessageSpace Creative, to develop features like an automatically updating campaign tip and a set of tools that will make it easier for us to manage the delegates for our training courses. Soon they will be able to sign up for a course online and then come back to the website after the course for copies of slideshows and materials. I also hope they'll come back to read our blog, check out our videos and keep informed of future events."