The image above is CCHQ – or, more accurately, the organogram showing how the Conservative Party’s headquarters are structured (click to see the fullĀ image).
I post it as a reference point, a week on from my analysis piece on the Tory ground war. The people and structures pictured above will be at the heart of preparing to fight the forthcoming local and London Mayoral elections, as well as the 2020 General Election. (Jargon note: “E-SMT” stands for “Executive Senior Management Team”, and “SMT” is therefore easy to decode.)
There are three key points to note:
- As has been widely reported, Amy Fisher has replaced Giles Kenningham as Communications Director (Kenningham has gone to Number 10).
- Colin Bloom, formerly Chief Executive of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, has been appointed Director of Outreach. He will be leading the push to increase the Conservative performance among ethnic minority voters and religious groups, as well as liaising with the various ‘Conservative Friends of…’ organisations.
- Other than that, the chart shows a remarkable degree of continuity. After previous elections, many of those at CCHQ either left to work for ministers or found that after the financial exertions of an election campaign their jobs could no longer be funded. It’s a definite upside of the Party’s return to financial good health (led by Lord Feldman) that there hasn’t been a cull along those lines this time.