Have the Totnes Tories started a trend?

As soon as I heard about the plan by the Totnes Conservative Association to choose their candidate for the next General Election through an open primary I got a little excited. I feel that democracy can often be too difficult for the average Joe to participate in or get excited about. Whenever I chat to a ‘non-political’ friend about politics I often order them attend the polling station whether its to vote Labour, the opposition or simply to void the ballot. But I also advise them to get involved in politics, whether its activism through a pressure group or joining a political party. Politics is important and can be exciting but you have to take the first step which will involve some kind of commitment. My first priority is always to engage people in the political process before I get them to vote for me.

I like the Totnes approach because it endows some trust in the electorate. It brings them a little closer to the decision making. It also teaches the electorate about the Conservative association. Unfortunately, I can’t see open primaries being repeated throughout the country for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the expense. The Totnes experiment is rumoured to cost £40,000. That means that it will remain the preserve of the Conservative Party, with Labour and the smaller parties not having anywhere near the finance to be able to afford such luxuries.

Secondly, I can see massive opposition from constituency parties over losing control of their selection. It is the party members after all, the activists who will be left to campaign for the candidate at the election.

However, it is the party membership who would draw up a shortlist of candidates. These candidate would already maintain the values of the party and would campaign on their behalf. Two of the Totnes candidates were already Conservative politicians and the third, Dr Sarah Wollaston (who coincidentally won the ballot) was an outsider. Additionally, the mere fact that the public at-large choose the candidate may mean that non-party members may be willing to campaign for the candidate come the election.

Ironically, I see the mechanism of open primaries in Wales having a massive impact on political participation, although I have nothing in which to back it up.