Stratford on Avon Conservative Association held another successful annual general meeting on Friday 16th March at Alveston Church of England Primary School.
President of the Association, Philip Seccombe, spoke about the positive work the Association has concluded resulting in two by-election victories and the highest amount of votes cast for Nadhim Zahawi in the 8 years he has been our Member of Parliament. Philip also took the time to thank members once again for the help on his victory as Police & Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and updated members on his work to date. The audience were also delighted to hear about the successful fundraising event with the RT Hon Amber Rudd as our guest of honour. Finally, we thanked Paul Standing for the years of service in running the 100 Club and Tony Bird for his work with the Patrons Club. Both were stepping down after many years of service.
During the meeting we saw the election of officers for the association which were as follows:
Chair: Richard Hobbs
Deputy Chair (Political) = Cllr Penny-Anne O’Donnell
Deputy Chair (Membership) = Jonathan Gullis
Treasurer = Tony Dixon
Vice Chairman Fundraising = Gary Jeffery
The big moment then arrived where the awards for the beaches were announced by Philip Seccombe and prizes given out by our Member of Parliament, Nadhim Zahawi.
The awards were given out at follows:
- The Big Bell (Branch that Raised the Most Funds against their target) went to Bearley. The award was received by Valerie Hobbs.
- The Small Bell (Best Combined Membership & Fundraising) went to Alcester. In the absence of Chairman Vaughn Blake the prize was collected by Diana Wheeler.
- Hammer & Gavel (Branch that the Management Team felt had improved the most) went to Stratford Town. The award was received by Drene Holmes.
The award winners were congratulated by Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis MP via his Twitter account.
The event ended by a speech from our MP and recently appointed government Minister for Children & Families on Nadhim Zahawi. Nadhim discussed the lessons from the general election and how the party is united behind ensuring the Prime Minister can get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom as we exit the European Union. Nadhim also discussed his new role and the challenges that lay ahead. However, Nadhim reminded our members that we have a very strong record as a party for delivering and by having a growing economy we have been able to invest heavily into our education and health system whilst cutting taxes for middle income holders or removing nearly 4 million of our lowest laid workers from tax altogether. Nadhim’s message was one of hope and encouragement to go out and ensure we sell the message about what we are doing to deliver a Britain that it fit for the future.