Published in the Evening Standard, Friday 18th May 2012  by Joe Murphy

Baroness Warsi: Father asked me ‘why be a leader if you don’t take the lead?’

Baroness Warsi may be a Cabinet minister with all the finely-honed minds of the civil service to call upon, but sometimes the adviser she trusts most is simply her dad.

Sayeeda was joined by MPs Graham Evans and Esther McVey, and MEP Jacqueline Foster, for a dinner held by the City of Liverpool Conservatives.

Addressing the dinner, Baroness Warsi said that she was delighted with the fighting spirit of the Conservatives on Merseyside, and wished Tony the best of luck with his campaign.

Sayeeda was presented with a Superlambanana in Tory blue to commemorate her visit.

Joined by Crawley Chairman Liam Marshall-Ascough, Sayeeda met with community members and businesspeople at Broadfield Barton.

She was welcomed by Conservative candidate for Broadfield South Cllr Lee Gilroy before taking questions from the group and meeting with local media.

Kicking off in Salford, Sayeeda dropped in at The Greenhouse facility at MediaCityUK, a hub for creative talent. She then took a tour of MediaCityUK including BBC studios with Conservative mayoral candidate Karen Garrido.

After leaving Salford Sayeeda caught up with Cllr John Walsh, Leader of Conservative Group in Bolton, for a street stall with supporters and councillors to campaign on town centre regeneration.

She then travelled to Rochdale for a community meeting and to meet Conservative councillors recently defected from the Lib Dems, opening a new office in the area and meeting with local press.

Sayeeda joinied Conservatives for campaigning in Rawtenstall before moving on to the Intact community centre in Ingol, Preston where she was treated to scones and singing!

After a stop at Fulwood Conservative Club to talk with Conservative members in a Meet the Chairman event, Sayeeda met with candidates and activists for the City of Preston elections and discussed the campaign with Group Leader Cllr Ken Hudson and Damien Moore, Preston Chair. 

The day finished with a dinner in Pendle for MP Andrew Stephenson.

She then travelled to Monmouth Shire Hall for a demonstration of the Monmouthpedia Project – a collaborative initiative with Wikipedia developing ground breaking local tourism. She was met by Council Leader Cllr Peter Fox, David Davies MP, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Enterprise Cllr Bob Greenland and Conservative candidates.

Sayeeda next stopped at Welsh Women’s Aid, a centre for women in Cardiff. Met by Children & Young Persons Manager Rebecca Burns, Sayeeda made a tour of the facility and discussed the important work of the centre.

After a drop in with the local media Sayeeda moved on to Barry, where Hot Diggidy Dog owner Simon Llewellyn  greeted her with a range of extra hot sauces to try. The business has grown from its site on a council-run enterprise park and has great plans for its new products.

Sayeeda rounded off the day with a Fundraiser for South Wales Central at Fynon Wen, Cardiff before journeying north for her next day of visits.

The Chairman launches the Birmingham local election campaign with Conservatives at the Council House

After a quick cuppa and time with the local press, Sayeeda travelled to central Birmingham where she was welcomed by the  Birmingham Patrons’ Club and answered members’ questions at the club’s lunch event.

Joined by Conservative candidates, Sayeeda then hosted the Birmingham Campaign Launch at the city’s Council House.

The Chairman also visited the Wyrley Birch Estate in Kingstanding ward with local candidate Gary Sambrook for litter picking in the area.

The Chairman ended the day with a fundraising event hosted by Nicky Morgan MP in Barrow upon Soar.

Sayeeda campaigns with Nicola Blackwood MP in Summertown

Arriving in Oxford and met by Nicola Blackwood MP, she was just in time for the 23 Pioneer Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps homecoming parade.

Nicola and Sayeeda visited the Oxford Student Hub for a tour the hub’s facilities and to meet with staff there before campaigning in Summertown at a street stall set up by local Conservatives.

Bidding farewell to Oxford, Sayeeda moved on to Gloucester for a visit with the Gloucester Citizen ahead of the paper’s Apprenticeship Awards. The Chairman then held a community meeting in Barton with Cllr Sajid Patel and Conservative candidate Nasreen Akhtar to discuss local issues.

The Chairman visits Podsmead Dreamscheme, Gloucester

After some telephone canvassing with councillors for upcoming by-elections at the Gloucester Conservatives office, Sayeeda visited the Podsmead “Dreamscheme” – an initiative which has recently been awarded Big Local funding. The Chairman was welcomed by staff and young people – and was pleased to judge an anti-litter poster campaign.

Sayeeda completed the day in Cheltenham at a packed-out Meet the Chairman event.

INTRODUCTION

As Tory Chairman I spend a lot of my time taking on unions – namely the ones that fund Labour’s campaigns.

But today I want to come out and defend a Union.

One which has benefitted us all for centuries.

One which is key to our success as a nation.

And one which we must work flat-out to keep intact:

The Union between Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

That is why I wholeheartedly support the launch of the Conservative Friends of the Union group.

Which couldn’t have a better champion than the dynamic, enthusiastic, vibrant and hugely patriotic Ruth Davidson.

Now we’ve all heard – and will continue to hear – the reasons why we should preserve our Union.

But as someone who is referred to as the campaigning chairman…

…who goes up and down the country every week to argue our case, fight for our cause….

…I want to explain exactly how I believe we can prevent the breakup of the Union.

THE SNP

Some people say this is a debate about one man who is determined to break up the Union: Alex Salmond.

One correspondent wrote to me at CCHQ about his fears about a referendum.

He said: Be wary of Alex Salmond ‘winding people up with the pipes and drums’.

Now I’ve never seen Mr Salmond with pipes or drums.

But I have seen him banging the drum for division.

And it is our job to drown out this separatist rhetoric with a positive case for keeping the Union intact.

POSITIVE CAMPAIGN

In doing this we should be inspired by last year’s No to AV campaign.

We started off by exposing how terrible the voting system was: complicated, expensive and pointless.

But that alone wouldn’t have won us the argument.

What really clinched it was when we demonstrated how powerful, how precious our existing system of ‘one person, one vote’ was.

As soon as we showed what was at stake, we were well away.

It became a positive campaign.

A ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ campaign.

And a campaign which helped us see off AV by an massive margin.

So this campaign needs to not just be about Scotland being worse off without us.

But how Scotland is better off in the UK, and the UK is better off when we are united.   

Yes, the easier thing to do would be to pick holes in the alternative – and we certainly will.

But when you’re fighting for something so fundamental, the more mature, more difficult, more powerful thing to do is make a positive case.

I believe in a politics where people vote for something.

We must show people that in voting to save the Union, they are voting for stability, strength and prosperity.

That’s why we are launching the Enemies of Independence group but the Friends of the Union.

NATIONAL INTEREST

We also need to make clear that the Conservatives are fighting for unity in spite of the boost independence would give us.

Many have pointed out that lopping Scotland off the electoral map would guarantee us future majorities.

It would be the biggest gerrymander in history – and we would be the winners.

But Conference, we want what is right for our country. 

It’s a bit like our mission to sort out the deficit – it’s   not popular, but it’s right for the UK.

And just as we won’t leave future generations with a mammoth debt.

We also cannot leave them with a collection of weakened nations – nations which once stood as a strong Union.

PATRIOTISM

At the same time we cannot allow Alex Salmond to hijack patriotism.

He says that if you love Scotland, if you believe in its future, you must support independence.

But we need to make something clear: that a person’s loyalty to Scotland is not in question if they are also loyal to the United Kingdom.

I can vouch for this having spent my life – being English, British, northern and Muslim – proving that my loyalties are not divided.

And I have been able to do so because Britain is a place of diversity, of multiple identities.

A place where you can be a stoic Scot and a proud Brit.

And that is why patriotism does not equate to separatism.

CONCLUSION

This referendum, like AV, will be all about the communication of the case.

And how I like to explain the independence question is by likening it to a relationship.

If someone says ‘this isn’t working’ it’s natural to say ‘I don’t want you either’.

The rest of the Union could say the same to Scotland.

But, as with a relationship, if it’s worth fighting for then you show them what they mean to you.

It’s the same with Scotland’s place in the Union.

We need to show just what this relationship means to us.

And that Scotland is better off in Britain and Britain is better off with Scotland.

Campaigning is in the DNA of the Conservative Party.

So too is our commitment to the Union.

We are, after all, the Conservative and Unionist Party.

So let’s get out there and show it.

Sayeeda campaigns in Waltham Cross

Sayeeda’s first visit of the day was to Waltham Cross Conservative Club, where she met with MP Charles Walker, Chairman of the Conservative Councillors Association Cllr Robert Gordon and by-election candidate Dee Hart. The Chairman joined volunteers in telephone canvassing for Dee’s campaign before leaving for Milton Keynes.

Her next stop was at the Bletchley Conservative Club to launch the Milton Keynes Local Government Campaign. The Chairman also met with local press and joined Conservative members for a Q&A session.

After leaving Bletchley, Sayeeda travelled to Cambridge where she was welcomed at the Cambridge City Conservative Association dinner.

Sayeeda meets with Conservatives on the campaign trail

Today, Sayeeda continued her Chairman’s campaign tour of the country with a visit to Lincoln.

Met by Lincoln Conservatives, the Chairman discussed local campaign issues before moving on to meet with Conservative Students and Lincolnshire Conservative Future.

In the evening the Chairman addressed the Beverley & Holderness Conservative Association at a dinner in the constituency of Graham Stuart MP.