I've been working for some months with colleagues on the Selection Rules Working Group, and this morning saw us make a key presentation to English Candidates Committee on progress thus far. We clearly needed to get their approval in order to proceed and, for the most part, I think we have.
We are, as I have expressed before, keen to simplify the process where we can, reducing the burden on smaller Local Parties, and those where, to be blunt, our electoral prospects are not great. We also want to allow candidates to demonstrate a wider range of skills and techniques during the selection phase.
The sticking points are endorsements and campaign limitations. There is still a strongly held belief that endorsements are wrong, yet finding a way to police them is not emerging. On the positive side, I think that we have agreement on removing the rules as they apply to photographs, i.e. the 'implied endorsement' rules have been cast aside. I believe that the concept of verifying endorsements is acceptable and we will go back to see if we can steer a course that addresses the concerns of those who have reservations.
On campaign limits, there is resistance to the idea of spending limits. Concerns revolve around policing this, although I wonder why rules that work in public elections should be unworkable in an internal election.
Back to work, I think...
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