Constitution

1. NAME

1.1 The name of the Group shall be “LGBT+ Conservatives" hereinafter referred to as "the Group".

1.2 The Group shall be affiliated to the Conservative & Unionist Party, hereinafter ‘the Conservative Party’, in accordance with its rules, code of conduct, and shall carry out any reasonable instructions of the Party Board.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1 The role and the function of the Group shall be:

  1. to work for equal opportunity within the Conservative Party, within politics, and wider society;
  2. to promote by way of conferences and other means, improved knowledge and understanding of LGBT+ issues within the Conservative Party and in the country at large;
  3. to facilitate opportunities for discussion of ideas and views that promote  LGBT+ issues;
  4. to encourage close links with other relevant organisations;
  5. to work closely with the Conservative Party and Conservative Campaign Headquarters in adherence to the latest code of conduct; and
  6. To support the Conservative Party and to assist with its campaigns.

3. MEMBERSHIP

3.1 Any person who declares support for the objectives of the Group shall be eligible to become a member by signing an enrolment form and paying the current subscription to the Group.

3.2 The subscription shall be renewed annually each year but membership shall cease if the subscription is not paid within two months of that date. The subscription rate shall be set by the Group annually. No person whose annual subscription has not been paid shall be eligible to vote at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.

3.3 In the case of the Conservative Party ruling a member has breached the Conservative Party’s code of conduct, expulsion is automatic.

4. PATRONS

4.1 Patrons of the group may be appointed by General Council, subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting.

4.2 Patrons of the group may be removed by General Council, subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting.

4.3 All Patrons should be in receipt of the Conservative Whip if an elected official. Removal or suspension of the Whip automatically removes or suspends the role of Patron respectively.

5. OFFICERS 

5.1 The Officers of the Group can include:

  1. The President
  2. Vice Presidents (not exceeding 3)
  3. Chairman
  4. Deputy Chairman
  5. Three Vice Chairmen
  6. Honorary Treasurer
  7. Honorary Secretary

5.2 No officer shall serve for more than three consecutive years in the same office and shall be ineligible for a period of one year to seek re-election to that office.

5.3 At the termination of three consecutive years of office, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman shall be ineligible for a period of one year to seek election as a Vice Chairman.

5.4 If an officer elected at the AGM ceases to hold office, either by death, expulsion, or resignation, the General Council shall elect a successor to serve until the next AGM of the Group.

5.5 The Chairman shall be an ex-officio member of all committees and sub-committees of the Group.

5.6 The Chairman shall be the “responsible officer” for the purposes of complying with the reporting requirements of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (as amended) [PPERA] and the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 [PPEA].   

6. GENERAL COUNCIL

6.1 There shall be a General Council which shall be the governing body of the Group and shall consist of:

  1. The officers of the Group
  2. Six other members to be elected
  3. Regional co-ordinators of the Group appointed by the General Council upon a recommendation by the Executive.
  4. Up to 4 ordinary members of the Group (excluding parliamentarians) who may be co-opted annually by the General Council
  5. Up to 4 members of the House of Lords who are in receipt of the Conservative Whip
  6. Up to 4 members of the House of Commons who are in receipt of the Conservative Whip
  7. etc

6.2 The General Council will hold a meeting immediately following the Annual General Meeting to co-opt additional members as provided for under Article 6.1(d) and to appoint parliamentary members as provided for in Article 6.1(f), (g) and (h). 

6.3 The General Council shall meet at least once a year, additional meetings may be held at the discretion of the Chairman who shall convene such a meeting if so requested in writing, by no less than 15 members of the general Council.

6.4 Business not specified in the notice convening the meeting may be brought forward by leave of the Chairman, and dealt with provided that two-thirds of those present agree to treat such business as urgent.

6.5 In an emergency, the Chairman may authorise the summoning of a meeting at shorter notice than fourteen days, but the business shall be confined to that stated in the notice convening the meeting.

6.6 The quorum of the General Council shall be five of its members, at least one of whom shall be members or ex-officio members other than the Officers.

6.7 The General Council shall have the power to fill casual vacancies by co-option.

7. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

7.1 The General Council shall, by a vote following the Annual General Meeting, elect by simple majority in accordance with the provisions of Article 12, three of its members to serve with the Officers as the Executive Committee. 

7.2 This Executive Committee will manage the affairs of the Group between meetings of the General Council and shall meet at least 4 times a year. 

7.3 The Executive may invite further non-voting members to its meetings at its discretion.

8. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

8.1 The Annual General Meeting of the Group shall be held, except in the case of force majeure or reasonable request by the Conservative Party, before the end of May each year for the following purposes:

(a) To receive and adopt the audited accounts of the Group for the financial year ending the preceding 31 December.

(b) To receive and adopt the report of the Chairman for the work of the Group for the year ending the preceding 31 December.

(c) To appoint Patrons of the Group as and when appropriate, and approve or reject any interim appointments or removals made by General Council.

(d) To transact any other business of which notice has been given at least seven days in advance of the meeting, or at the meeting with the approval of two-thirds of those present.

8.2 All members of the Group as defined in Article 3 shall be entitled to attend and vote at any General Meeting of the Group including an Annual General Meeting.

8.3 Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given at least 35 days before the date of the meeting.

9. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

9.1 A Special General Meeting of the Group may be summoned at any time by the Chairman of the Group, or by at least fifty members or 10% of the membership, whichever is lower, of the Group who shall send a written request to the Chairman to convene such a meeting. The Chairman of the Group shall authorise the holding of such a Special General Meeting which shall take place within twenty eight days of receipt of the request.

9.2 The business of the meeting shall be stated in the notice convening it, and no other business shall be discussed. At least twenty one days' notice shall be given of a Special General Meeting.

9.3 Where, however, in the judgement of the Chairman of the Group an emergency has arisen demanding an immediate meeting, the notice shall be such as he, in the circumstances, deems to be sufficient.

10. NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETINGS

10.1 Notice of the AGM and any other General Meeting of the Group shall be given by written notification, which may be by email, to every individual member. The fact that any member of the Group has not, for any reason, been notified of a General Meeting shall not invalidate such a meeting or any resolution passed, or any election or appointment made at such a meeting.

10.2 For all General Meetings of the Group, the quorum shall not be less than forty persons or 20% of the membership whichever is lower.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Votes at meetings of the General Council and Executive Committee and at General Meetings may be taken in the first instance by a show of hands, but the Chairman at his discretion may direct a ballot to be taken, and shall so direct if requested to do so by one third of the members present. The Chairman shall have a second or casting vote in all cases where the voting is declared to be equal.

11.2 The General Council may strike off the membership roll any member whose declared opinions or conduct shall, in its judgement, be inconsistent with the objects of the Group. Before such power may be exercised, however, fourteen days' notice shall be given to the person concerned, and an opportunity afforded them of showing a cause before the General Council why he should not be so dealt with.

11.4 The General Council shall have power to interpret these Articles if there should be any ambiguity or difference of opinion concerning the purpose of any intention of any Article. The General Council shall also have power to deal with any matter not provided for in these Articles.

11.5 A general meeting of the Group shall have the power to amend, add to or rescind Articles not in bold by a majority of not less than two-thirds of those present and voting. Notice of any proposed alteration must be sent to the Chairman in writing in time for notice of the proposed alteration to be given to members of the group with the notice of the meeting.

11.6 Any changes to these rules have to be approved by the Party Board before they can have effect.

12. ELECTIONS

12.1 Election of the Officers as provided for in Article 5, all members of the General Council as provided in Article 6.1(b) and all elected members of the Executive as provided in Article 7.1 shall take place by way of an electronic ballot.

12.2 Each member shall be entitled to nominate one candidate for each position available. Where several positions are available within a single category, each member may nominate several candidates up the total number of positions available within that category.

12.3 Timetable

  1. Nomination papers must be distributed to members at least 28 days before the distribution of ballot papers.
  2. Nominations must be received at least 14 days before the distribution of ballot papers. Nominees must be notified at least 12 days before the distribution of ballot papers. The Scrutineers must be informed of the withdrawal of any nominations at least 7 days before the distribution of a ballot papers.
  3. Ballot papers will be sent out at least 21 days before the close of poll.
  4. The close of poll will be 7 days before the AGM.

12.4 Nomination Process

  1. The Secretary shall send a nomination paper to each member together with a notice designating the full timetable for the nominations and elections process as set out in Article 12.3 giving specific dates.
  2. (b) To be valid a nomination requires at least two proposers and the written consent of the nominee.
  3. (c) The validity of all nominations shall be determined by the scrutineers appointed in accordance with Article 12.8.

12.5 Withdrawals

Before the ballot papers are issued the complete list of nominations, together with a brief description and a statement of each nominee in relation to his work for the Group and the Conservative Party shall be submitted to each person nominated, so that any desiring to withdraw may have the opportunity of doing so.

12.6 Ballot Paper

The Ballot Paper shall contain the names of the nominated candidates together with a brief description and a statement concerning each nominee and the record of the nominees’ attendance for the past year at meetings relevant to the post to which they seek election.

12.7 Scrutineers

 (a) There shall be two Scrutineers.

 (b) The principal Scrutineer shall be the Secretary for the time being of the Group plus one other who shall be nominated by the Executive Committee from either:

(i)   the Chairman

(ii)  the Deputy Chairman

(iii) one of the Vice-Chairman

 (c) The Scrutineers shall not be standing in the relevant election.  In the event that there are less than two valid Scrutineers the Executive Committee may appoint another suitable person.

12.8 Conduct of the ballot and the count

 (a) The ballot may be conducted online using an external provider.

(b)      Any Member of the Group may request to see audit logs, but not ballot papers, for the election by requesting this from the Secretary by email not later than 21 days after the close of the election.

12.10 Result of Ballot

The result of the postal ballot shall be published either on the Group’s website or by email or letter sent to each Officer and each member of the General Council and the Executive Committee.

13. FUNDS

13.1 The General Council shall be responsible for the funds and investments of the Group and shall maintain such bank accounts as the Council may from time to time resolve provided that no such fund shall be operated except on the signatures of not less than two of the Officers as defined in Article 5.1 but specifically such of them as shall be nominated for the purpose by the General Council when necessary.

13.2 All receipts for and on behalf of the Group and all payments to be made on behalf of the Group shall be made only through the use of the accounts referred to in Article 13.1 above.

13.3 The Group may resolve from time to time to invest any surplus funds in such manner as may be approved for the use of trustees by the Trustee Investments Act or any statutory re-enactment thereof.

13.4 The Group may not borrow funds or obtain credit.

13.5 The Group must comply with the requirements of the PPERA and PPEA.  Guidance and assistance in checking the permissibility of donors is available on request to the Party’s Compliance Department, [email protected]. 

13.6 The accounts and funds of the Group shall be verified by an independent person annually by a person who is not an officer or involved in the administration of the Group, and is appointed by the Annual General Meeting for that purpose each year.  Such a person shall continue to serve until resignation or until a replacement nomination thereof has been approved by the Annual General Meeting. Any such motion to replace the person shall be subject to 28 days' notice to members of the Annual General Meeting before the same is considered. The person’s report shall be presented at the first meeting of the General Council after the Officers have received such report and subsequently at the Annual General Meeting.

14. STATEMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS 

14.1 Any statements made, or publications intended to be printed, by any means including electronic by the Group shall expressly state that the views are those of the authors and are not necessarily representative of Conservative Party policy, but a contribution to debate.

14.2 The Chairman’s Office at Conservative Campaign Headquarters should be made aware of all such statements or publications made.