Branch and Activist Profile: James Morton
Every Tuesday, YBF profiles a prominent activist or group within the conservative movement. Today, we chat to Devon and Cornwall CF Area Chairman James Morton about his political beliefs, life in the Westcountry, his plans for Devon and Cornwal CF and his own personal ambitions.
What was it that attracted you to Conservative politics? Why did you get involved?
I have always seen the Tories as the party which best matches political policies to my ideologies – I suppose that is what attracted me to them as opposed to any other party.
Why did I get involved? Easy. Their policies match my ideas, the party has a more attractive image now, and we need to get Labour out somehow! Seriously though, I have always believed that people shouldn’t just complain and do nothing about it: perhaps from being involved in politics I will avoid being one of those “complaining spectators.”
Can you describe the state of play of CF in Devon and Cornwall?
Exciting. Exeter Uni really got the ball rolling for us as an Area about 6 months ago. Since then we seemed to have grown ridiculously quickly throughout Devon and Cornwall.
Plymouth Uni now has a branch and we have set up another four branches aside from those two. The membership level is nearing somewhere around four hundred and I expect that it will surpass that with the fresher’s weeks coming up.
We must not leave it there though. Sheik Mohammad has a phrase with regard to the establishing of Dubai and his Horseracing Empire: “You have to create something, not just do our job and sit at home. We must strive together, we must go forward, we must invent something – even from nothing.”
That sums up Devon and Cornwall CF. Although we have now created something, we can’t just ‘do our job and sit at home’.
What challenges have you come up against?
Devon and Cornwall is too big! It takes longer for me to drive from the Eastern edge of Devon to St Ives than it does from Exeter to London. With that vast expanse of an area there are only a few major towns and a huge dispersal of potential members who live in farms which are a mile off the beaten track – It is really difficult to crack the farming community. Although we have been in touch with the Young Farmers they have to remain politically neutral, understandably.
Funding – I here you say ‘same old, same old’ but it really is what makes any organisation. We have a few very loyal and trusted donors but we need a more constant feed of funding from the party. We know we can turn Devon and Cornwall blue at the next election but only if we have the funds to get the members out now – at the moment we simply don’t.
Members moving. As lovely as Devon and Cornwall is, there is a tendency for the ‘young professional’ to move to Bristol or London. This leaves us with a very specific type of member: Under 21 and a Student at a school or University in the Area. Unfortunately Students move on after their degree finishes and so we have a constantly changing membership making forming a committee for any significant time period a real difficulty, not to mention keeping track of them!
What advice do you have for people trying to set up CF outside of the big cities?
Don’t expect it to happen straight away! It is a reality that to recruit members, you need members. I remember turning up to one CF socials and there were only 10 people in the room, add another 30 people and it is an awesome night. If you can find a location from which to recruit a base of members you can then go out to the smaller towns for events then the uptake will be much better. Another trick: Hit the country fairs. Although we are out of the so called ‘British Summer’ the country fair is a great chance to sign up all types of member. We went to the Devon show and the response was excellent.
That said, the rural areas are the ‘traditional Tory hotspots’ and so should not be neglected. It would be ideal to be able to go and knock on every farmer’s door and introduce yourself but it is impractical. Most PPCs write to their rural constituents; ask the PPC if you can put a membership form and leaflet for CF in with the letter and suddenly you cover a massive area with relatively little effort.
It is not impossible by any means but it is a darned sight harder to get it going in the countryside than in a big city. I have learnt that persistence is crucial with CF in rural areas – we have enough of them in Devon and Cornwall!
Where do you want CF in your region to be in 5 years?
In terms of CF alone? I think that it is reasonable to say that in 5 years time I would like to see the Devon and Cornwall membership at over 650. That is 50 members more per year, when you put it like that it is easily achievable. With a membership like that we should also have a branch in every constituency. That is when we can start to provide an incomparable service to our Politicians.
In terms of CF and the Party more generally – At the moment we have got 5 sitting MPs, one isn’t standing at the next election. That leaves me with the target to do everything in my power to more than double the number of MPs in Devon and Cornwall to over 10. This is more than achievable with the current majorities but it is now that the delivering and canvassing needs to be done, leaving us to just reinforce the message as and when an election is called.
What are your ambitions and aspirations after university?
Too far away at the moment, let’s just make sure I get through my final year! I imagine I will end up in politics but not straight away.
Is there anything particular to Devon and Cornwall that you’re doing? For example, are there certain issues that are extra relevant in your area?
This is the beauty of Politics; by the time this is published I imagine it will have changed!
Yes, as I have mentioned already there are a large number of rural areas in Devon and Cornwall. The closure of rural services will affect my area beyond belief.
A small anecdote:
A CF team were in Truro and Falmouth less than a month ago. We were driving through a small village and noticed a post office sign in the middle of a row of very quaint old houses. There was a chorus of “isn’t that pretty”, “how English”, “that is so nice to see” from the back of the car so I pulled over. It was in fact so small a post office that it was in the Post Lady’s living room. Yep, she had her kitchen next door and a bell to ring if you needed any Postal services. I spoke to her for a while and realised that it was closing. There isn’t another post office for a good 7 miles or so and the buses don’t run frequently enough. How can a rural community survive like that?
Similarly, there are some villages which still have doctors that dispense medication. Instead of getting the prescription form the Doctor and going to get it dispensed at a pharmacy, the doctor does it all. These are now being diminished as well. Again, in most circumstances the dispensing services are miles away.
We need to stop these closures. Reading the stories in the papers when you are sitting in London is very different to the reality of rural life.
How do you see the relationship between CF and YBF?
YBF have been down to Exeter a few times for Media training and I know that they have been very well received. I suppose that is what I see the relationship as, they are a fantastic organisation for offering both training and experience to our members – especially with the internships you offer in America.
Do you have plans to stand for national CF elections?
Steady on! Although it is not out of the question, I don’t know at the moment. I was only elected Area Chairman 6 months ago!
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Ambitious
Driven
Realistic