Friday 20 December 2013

Young Britons Conference 2013 - a reflection

On the weekend I attended the Young Britons Foundation conference, or otherwise known as YBF. Now I wasn't sure what to expect, it was recommended to me by a friend and after seeing the list of confirmed speakers:
  • Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Local Government
  • Douglas Carswell MP, Clacton
  • Conor Burns MP, Bournemouth West
  • Chloe Smith MP, Norwich North
  • Steve Baker MP, Wycombe
  • Robert Halfon MP, Harlow
  • Chris Kelly MP, Dudley South

  • James Cleverly AM, London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority
  • Iain Dale, Publisher & Radio Presenter
  • John Deed, Jesse Helms Center
  • Mallory Factor, Author & Philanthropist
  • Steve Bannon, Breitbart.com
  • Matthew Sinclair, TaxPayers’ Alliance
  • Madsen Pirie, Adam Smith Institute
  • Alan Mendoza, Henry Jackson Society
  • Jonathan Isaby, TaxPayers’ Alliance
  • Ruth Porter, Institute of Economic Affairs
  • Dylan Sharpe, Business for Britain
  • Ryan Bourne, Centre for Policy Studies
  • Harry Cole, Guido Fawkes
  • Charlotte Vere, Businesswoman & Campaigner
  • Christian May, Institute of Directors
  • Raheem Kassam, Student Rights
  • Emma Carr, Big Brother Watch
  • Ben Harris-Quinney, The Bow Group
  • Rory Broomfield, The Freedom Association
  • Andrew Macleod, former Operations Chief at the UN Emergency Coordination Centre
  • Peter Botting, Political Consultant
  • David Canzini, Former CCHQ Head of Campaigns
  • Greg Smith, Political Consultant
  • Paul Osborn, Conservative Way Forward
I thought .... why not!

Driving up to Churchill College, Cambridge I was pretty keen to start networking and picking up tips on how to communicate our message to the electorate - since that is the goal at the end of the day. Day one started with being told
"If you are able to go to war then you can affect policy. We are the party of 'yes we can'
which automatically gave me (and I'm sure others) some confidence. 


Also being asked 'what will you be doing on the biggest day in 2014, 2015 and of course 2017 (local election, general election and scottish referendum)?' got us all thinking on how we will turn from being a spectator to a revolutionary.  

The best part of day two for me was a talk on Development Aid v Development Investment where we heard of examples where the private sector help get the world out of poverty faster (and on a more long term basis) than the public sector. 

"53% of funding comes from private sector, 30% from private remittances and 17% from foreign aid and philanthropies
When providing aid, it must be deliverable, sustainable and profitable for it to be a long term solution.


Then the last day, day three. The highlight of this day was seeing how no point is 'unarguable.' Its all about presence before how one structures the argument. It is always better to pre-empt your opponents points and address them.



Throughout the three days, we received lots of advice on handling the media, using the media to our advantage and effective campaigning. Another good talk was on fundraising, particularly as many people don't have a lot of experience in this - I definitely learnt a lot from this talk!



On the first evening, there way a quiz! Now, I'm not very good with quizzes but #TeamYorkshire worked together and came tied first with another team.......time to take it seriously. After winning on a tie breaker question, the 6 of us are heading down to Parliament soon to have a meal with Steve Baker MP on the Terrace.


Another highlight of the weekend was seeing Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill's private documents. 


Overall, a great networking weekend and I definitely will be using the tips and information I received. 

Lots more photos here

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