Simon was incredibly generous with his time, and spent it taking me through the thought process behind producing a document like this. Unsurprisingly, he told me that it had taken considerable time and debate to come up with a series of policies that not only would the members back, but that the rest of the electorate could back as well. Narrow, insular policies focusing on particular hot-button topics will never be enough to convince the majority of people that you’re the right party to govern.

In turn, this got me to thinking about how similar the process is to running a business. In business you have a mission and vision, followed by a series of strategies, tactics and targets: precisely what had been unveiled to us at the conference.

Policies are the backbone of every political party. Every manifesto is littered with them and every party hopes they will provide:

1. Guidance – to help and advise the principles for operations and decision making.
2. Accountability – if you set a target, you should be accountable for your performance to that target.
3. Consistency – Policies give clear guidelines of what is expected or acceptable to any organisation. 
4. Risk management  – by outlining the issues you are trying to solve and the solutions you propose, you are also demonstrating an understanding of the risks inherent in your course of action.
5. Supporter confidence in the party – policies that not only the core of your support, but others outside of your party can get behind, give you a solid platform to gain consensus amongst the majority of people.
6. Continual improvement – some of the goals may be aspirational and policies help to codify these and provide a framework for measuring continual improvement towards resolving the policy issue.

Above all, they foster a sense of trust and fairness and demonstrate your ethical approach to solving the problems that face the country. Moreover, they set standards by which you can expect to be measured and set a culture based on values and consensus.

Without policies, how can you convey all of these things to the whole of the country?

As in business, they provide a framework and give everyone an insight into the mission, vision, values and culture of any organisation. This is what we have done with the draft ‘Contract with YOU’.

Currently, it is in draft format as the party are actively seeking feedback on the policies and plans contained within it, and a lot of feedback has already been sent. But we want more. If you can spare some time, please read it for yourself (download a copy here) and let us know your thoughts?

After all, without your support we can’t make the changes we know are needed to restore the fortunes of the United Kingdom.

The post The importance of policies to a Political party appeared first on Emma Guy Reform.

What a week it has been. 

Last Monday at the Penny Black pub in Northwich, along with other local Reform Spokespeople, we launched our local campaigns. Thank you to all our supporters who came. To those who have left their name and numbers with us I will be in touch soon. 

On Saturday, I travelled down to London for the Reform UK Party Conference. I took many photos and met most of the leadership team, and I have to say, the speeches were inspirational. If you ever get the chance to attend the conference, you should definitely take it. I was inspired by every one of the speeches and if you missed them, you can watch them on the Reform YouTube channel or on X.

It was wonderful to feel the energy in the room of 1,200 a strong audience, and I ended up sitting on the front row. If you look carefully, you may have already spotted me in the promotional video. 

I was asked recently on Facebook, if I could explain what I stood for. I said I believe that we need common ground in politics, not the division we have currently. 

We will be running more local events soon, however, in the meantime, keep spreading the word that I will be standing to be your MP for Mid-Cheshire in the upcoming General Elections, with the aim of ‘Uniting the Salt Towns of Middlewich, Winsford and Northwich’. 

Returning to the conference finally, here are a few photos of the what was a great event. Thank you for all your continued support. Kindest regards

Emma Guy
reformuk.nationbuilder.com

The post Campaign kick off and the Party Conference appeared first on Emma Guy Reform.