Profile: Anastasia Beaumont Bott and the Social Action Network.
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
Each week, YBF profile a prominent member or group within the conservative movement. This week, we found out more about Anastasia Beaumont Bott and the Social Action Network within Conservative Future. Anastasia is a member of the CF NME and has responsibility for Social Action.
“Social action to me is so many things. It is a small initiative which can make big changes to ordinary people’s lives. It is the living, breathing testament to the changes that our party fights to make. It is out there, preserving our green spaces, transforming our communities and regenerating areas where the opposition seem to have all but given up. It is a non-political branch with which we can reach out to people with, who have lost all faith in the political system and who believe that things will never change. It is more than words on a leaflet, more than a knock at the door and more than a logo. It is exactly what it says on the tin – action. It is action which doesn’t wait for tomorrow, next month or the day after a general election. It is action today, and since being elected onto the Conservative Future NME last March and taking up the social action portfolio, it has become my focus. And I could not be more grateful – it has opened my eyes, changed the way I view politics and made me realise what truly matters.
Politics can be a funny business – we all know that. Someone very special once told me that the higher you go up the ladder, the less nice people you find. She warned me it wasn’t a game where the good guy always wins, and when I told her I was moving to London, she warned me of the perils of the seductive lifestyle that seems to go hand in hand with politics. Sure enough, I went through a period where all it was, was expensive dinners and champagne breakfasts. I now look back on those days and cringe. My friend was right. It is seductive. It drags you in and it is all too easy to become embroiled in inner party bickering and mud slinging and to ultimately forget why you came here in the first place. When you loose that focus and loose track of the reason you’re here, that’s when it all goes to pieces and you find yourself spending more time at dinners than you do out campaigning. Last month I went up to visit this years conference project for the first time in Birmingham – WE LOVE WHF, and I was completely blown away. The project is a joint partnership between the party and various local organisations and voluntary groups who are all working hard to help transform a local haven centre in to a hub for the community and the local children. The people I met on welsh house farm were just incredible. I was struck by their strong community spirit and how in spite of everything that had happened on the estate with gangs and knife crime, the community had come together to help make positive changes to the lives of the children growing up there.
I left WHF with a lot to think about. I’d seen the actual fruits of social action and it had had a profound effect on me. On returning to London, everything seemed to have changed. The free champagne had gone flat, the dinners weren’t as appealing and I think for the first time, I was completely focussed on the politics at hands. I didn’t want to wait for a general election to help make changes. I wanted to make them now. It took me a while but I have finally realised what politics should be about. And it’s not about free champagne! It’s about not waiting for tomorrow; it’s about doing it today. It’s about going out in to communities and working with people to help them make positive changes here and now and in doing so restoring their trust in politics and in our party. Politics is more than just words. You can stand up on all the podiums in the world and churn out words, but if they don’t mean anything to you deep down, and you aren’t passionate, it shows. Social Action is what keeps my passion going. It’s what makes it all worthwhile and it’s what gives me faith that you don’t need to be in government to make a difference. Don’t wait for the general election. Do it now.”
Inspirational stuff.