The National Conservative Convention (NCC), is the most senior body of the Conservative Party's voluntary wing. 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.

History and structure

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 William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

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. The NCC includes a mix of appointed and directly and indirectly elected Party Officers. When members of the public join the Party, they are attached to the Conservative Association of the 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 The Conservative Women's Organisation (CWO) represents the female members of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Conservative Women's Council is the autonomous sister organisation of the CWO in Scotla ...

and

Conservative Future Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger. Conservative Future was fo ...

(including their predecessor organisations) each send 40 delegates to the NCC, though Conservative Future has not sent delegates since its dissolution. The NCC meets three times a year; at

Conservative Party Conference The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons i ...

, the

Conservative Spring Forum Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, and for its own election meeting, usually held in the summer. The Convention Executive (elected annually by its members) consists of its Chairman, who serves for three years, three Vice-Presidents, who each serve for three years, and the President, who serves for one year. Generally speaking, after finishing their term, an outgoing Vice-President is elected as the President and Chairs that year's Party Conference. Officers typically run for election for the NCC's Executive only after several decades of experience in the Party. The Party Leader and Chairman attend Convention meetings and address its members. There are also regular meetings of Senior Volunteers (Area and Regional Officers) in between full Convention meetings.

Chairmen of National Conservative Convention

(''Until 1988, the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations'') *1925: Sir Percy Woodhouse *1926: Dame Caroline Bridgeman *1927: Sir Robert Sanders MP *1928:

John Gretton John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, (1 September 1867 – 2 June 1947) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games. Life and career Gretton was the eldest son of John Gretton of ...

MP *1929: Gwilym Rowlands *1930: The Countess of Iveagh MP *1931: The Honourable George Herbert (also served as President in 1935) (No Conference held) *1932: The Earl Howe *1933: Sir Robert Geoffrey Ellis MP *1934: Miss Regina Evans *1935: Sir William Cope (later became Lord Cope) *1936: Sir Henry Leonard Brassey (later became Lord Brassey of Apethorpe) *1937: Mrs Clara Fyfe *1938: Sir Eugene Ramsden MP (No Conference held) *1939: Nigel Colman MP (No Conference held) *1940: The Lady Hillingdon (No Conference held) *1941: Sir Cuthbert Headlam MP (No Conference held) *1942: Councillor Robert Catterall (No Conference held) *1943: Councillor Robert Catterall *1944: Mrs Lionel Whitehead *1945:

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary ...

MP *1946: Major Richard Proby *1947: Hon. Mrs Henry Hornyold-Strickland *1948: Sir Herbert Williams *1949: Douglas Graham *1950: Anthony Nutting MP *1951: Mrs Lorne Sayers (No Conference held) *1952: Charles Waterhouse MP *1953: Mrs John Warde *1954: Sir Godfrey Llewellyn, Bt *1955: Hon. Evelyn Emmett, MP *1956: Sir Eric Edwards *1957: Mrs Walter Elliot *1958: Sir Stanley Bell *1959-1960: Sir Edward Brown *1961: Sir Douglas Glover MP *1962: Sir John Howard *1963: Mrs TCR Shepherd *1964-1965: Sir Max Bemrose *1966: Sir Dan Mason (Sir Robert Davies, Oct 1966-Feb 1967) *1967: Mrs Charles Doughty *1968: Sir Theodore Constantine *1969: DP Crossman *1970: Sir Edwin Leather *1971: Mrs Unity Lister *1972: William Harris *1973: Mrs Roy Smith *1974-1975: Sir Alastair Graesser *1976: Miss Shelagh Roberts *1977: David Sells *1978: Sir Herbert Redfearn *1979: David Davenport-Handley *1980: Dame Ann Springman *1981: Sir Fred Hardman *1982: Donald Walters *1983: Peter Lane *1984: Dame Pamela Hunter *1985: Sir Basil Feldman *1986: Patrick Lawrence *1987: Dame Joan Seccombe *1988: Sir Ian McLeod *2000-2003: John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach *2003-2006: Raymond Monbiot CBE *2006-2009: Don Porter CBE *2009-2012: Jeremy Middleton CBE *2012-2015: Baroness Pidding CBE *2015-2018: Robert Semple CBE *2018-2021: Lord Sharpe of Epsom OBE *2021-: Peter Booth

Presidents of National Conservative Convention

*1925 Gerald Loder (had also served as Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations in 1899) *1926 George Lane-Fox *1927 Viscount Tredegar *1928 The Lord Queenborough *1929 The Lord Faringdon *1930

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasem ...

MP *1931

MP (No Conference held) *1932 Lord Stanley *1933 The Earl of Plymouth *1934 The Lord Bayford *1935 The Honourable George Herbert (had also served as Chairman in 1931, although no Conference was held) *1936 The Lord Ebbisham *1949: The Viscount Swinton *1950: Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, MP *1951: The Lord Ramsden *1952: Sir Thomas Dugdale, MP *1953:

The Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen ...

*1954:

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid pro ...

MP *1955: Mrs Lorne Sayers *1956:

MP *1957: The Earl of Woolton *1958: Sir Richard Proby, Bt *1959-60: Henry Brooke MP *1961: The Viscount Hailsham *1962: Sir Godfrey Llewellyn, Bt *1963: The Earl of Home *1964-65: The Viscountess Davidson *1966:

Selwyn Lloyd John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, (28 July 1904 – 18 May 1978) was a British politician. Born and raised in Cheshire, he was an active Liberal as a young man in the 1920s. In the following decade, he practised as a barrister and ...

MP *1967: The Lord Chelmer *1968:

Reginald Maudling Reginald Maudling (7 March 1917 – 14 February 1979) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1962 to 1964 and as Home Secretary from 1970 to 1972. From 1955 until the late 1960s, he was spoken of as a prospect ...

MP *1969: The Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte *1970:

Iain Macleod Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. A playboy and professional bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the Conservative Rese ...

MP *1971:

William Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fa ...

MP *1972: Dame Margaret Shepherd *1973:

Anthony Barber Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, (4 July 1920 – 16 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1970 to 1974. After serving in both the Territorial Army and the Royal ...

MP *1974-75: Peter Thomas MP *1976: The Lord Hewlett of Swettenham *1977: The Lord Carrington *1978: Dame Adelaide Doughty *1979:

Francis Pym Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Lead ...

MP *1980: The Lord Constantine of Stanmore *1981:

Edward du Cann Sir Edward Dillon Lott du Cann (28 May 1924 – 31 August 2017) was a British politician and businessman. He was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1956 to 1987 and served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1967 and as chairman ...

MP *1982: Sir John Taylor *1983:

Sir Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015) was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. Howe was Margaret Thatcher ...

MP *1984: Sir Alistair Graesser *1985: Sir Humphrey Atkins MP *1986: Sir Charles Johnston *1987: George Younger MP *1988: Dame Shelagh Roberts MEP *1989: The Viscount Whitelaw of Penrith *1994-1995: Sir William Royden Stuttaford KBE *1999-2000: John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach *2000-2001: Raymond Monbiot CBE *2001-2002: Jean Searle OBE *2002-2003: Caroline Abel-Smith OBE *2003-2004: Don Porter CBE *2004-2005: Richard Stephenson OBE *2005-2006: Paul Marland *2006-2007: Stephen Castle *2007-2008: Simon Mort *2008-2009: Jeremy Middleton CBE *2009-2010: Emma Pidding CBE *2010-2011: Charles Barwell OBE *2011-2012: Fiona, Lady Hodgson CBE *2012-2013: Paul Swaddle OBE *2013-2014: Charles Heslop OBE *2014-2015: Robert Semple CBE *2015-2016: Steve Bell CBE *2016-2017: Gerry Yates OBE *2017-2018: Andrew Sharpe OBE *2018-2019: Thomas Harvey Spiller OBE *2019-2020: Pamela Hall OBE *2020-2021: Andrew Colborne-Baber *2021-2022: Debbie Toon MBE *2022-2023: Fleur Butler

Notes

*Unless otherwise stated, details of Chairmen and Presidents of the NUCUA are taken from ''British Political Facts 1900-1994'' by David Butler and Gareth Butler. *Conservative Conference Guide, 1989 (Eyre & Spottiswoode) {{Authority control Organisation of the Conservative Party (UK) History of the Conservative Party (UK) Annual events in the United Kingdom Political events Political events in the United Kingdom Political party assemblies