Back in October Eric Pickles launched the online shop on Conservatives.com:

Always wanted a ‘Honk for Change’ car sticker but never known where to get one?

Ever wondered where you can buy an official Conservative baby-grow?

Who is your political hero?

It’s a cliché, but I’ve always identified with Winston Churchill, particularly in his younger days. I actually watch ‘The Gathering Storm’ whenever I need to pick myself up. He was very stubborn but very driven and with a fiercely independent mind. However he was also an outsider and prone to the odd bouts of depression now and then, both of which I can identify with.

When do you think the next General Election will be?

As late as is constitutionally possible! Margaret Thatcher used to say that when she retired from politics she would set up a business called ‘Rent-a-Spine’. I imagine Gordon Brown would be a frequent customer!

A message from the ippr relating to an event they are hosting at Party Conference – they want feedback from CF members:
I’m Carey Oppenheim, Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), the UK’s leading progressive think tank. You may have been to one of our events before, this will our fourth year at Conservative Party Conference.
Recognising that the debate dominating Conference this year is the future of politics itself as well as the economy, ippr is hosting a key event at each of the three main conferences where …

Over the years, the folks at Conservative Campaign Headquarters have produced a number of great T-shirts for Conservative supporters to wear. But now we want YOU to tell us what should go on our T-shirts.
We’re running a competition where one lucky person will see their idea for a Conservative T-shirt made up and sold at the Party Stand at this year’s Conference.
You don’t need to be a design guru to enter – just send us a suggestion for a funny slogan or a good image.
So get your thinking cap on …

Our friends at The Adam Smith Institute also put a strong focus on encouraging young people to become engaged within politics, as such, organise a varied program of events for students. Most recently launched is their essay competition, ‘Young Writer on Liberty 2009′:
To enter you will have to write three different articles on the subject of:
The Three Greatest Threats to Liberty in 21st Century Britain
The title of each article is entirely up to you.
1ST PRIZE:
- £500 cash prize
- 3 articles published on www.adamsmith.org/blog
- 3 books on the subject of liberty
- …

On April 11th 1979 Margaret Thatcher launched her election manifesto - Alistair Cooke wrote about this for the Blue Blog and it deserves to be reproduced (included were documents you can see below):
‘It was the first time’, Margaret Thatcher wrote later, ‘that the Conservative Party had ever fought so clearly on the theme that it was ”time for a change”.
Exactly fifty-five years earlier Stanley Baldwin had announced a great programme of change that was to relieve the hardship so long endured by millions of working- class families.
In 1979 Mrs Thatcher set …

Nic Conner took part in the pro capitalism protest yesterday outside the Bank of England. Below is an account of the day:

You have to give it to the Anarchists and Communists, this protesting lark is hard work. When I got up this morning I had no idea what was install as this would be my first protest. After my morning shower I popped on my suit, picked up my copy of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom and headed to Reading train station to get the train into London.

Ahead of the upcoming G20 conference this week the Atlas Network have started a Free Trade petition:
In cooperation with the International Policy Network and a worldwide group of think tanks, we are circulating this petition to combat recent moves toward harmful economic nationalism.  I urge you to sign it.  It is not yet a public effort, but please do share it with your colleagues, friends, and professional contacts.  The first unveiling of this petition will be April 1st before the G20 meetings in London.  It is a part of a much broader …

It seems likely now that we won’t have a General Election until 2010, and with so long until then we must maintain the pressure on the Government and not get complacent. I have noticed though that there is a slight rise in disengagement with some of our members recently; it is vital though that this does not occur.

I’ve always been a vocal defender of the House of Lords, which has withstood, alongside much of our cultural heritage, a vicious and twisted class-based attack from the current Government.

As a part of the balances and checks so ingrained in our political and legal framework, the House of Lords has remained a bulwark for the individual against over-politicised Bills from the House of Commons;