My years as a member of the Conservative party

A photographic chronicle
Andy Ross, 2013−2019

I joined the Conservative party in autumn 2013, months after returning from 26 years in Germany.
 

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Fresh back from Germany: autobiographical photomontage, July 2013
(my mother is in the central image)

Getting my German car technically modified and legally registered was a major hassle.
 

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Scene from the Bournemouth Air Festival: B-17 Flying Fortress "Sally B" flies by, 2013-09-01

As had become our custom, the family took a table for tea in the Hotel Miramar clifftop garden,
from which vantage point on the flight line we enjoyed a commanding view of the show while
a commentator described the aircraft as they flew by, and I sallied forth to take photos.
 

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Day of my mother's funeral: With lifelong friends from Poole Grammar School, 2013-02-28
L2R: Graham Curtis, me, Steve White

I began to visit the Poole Conservative Association (PCA) office to get involved in local affairs.
 

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Senior Poole Conservatives with prospective councillor candidates, me at right, 2014-05-25

In June 2014, I started as a part-time parliamentary assistant for Robert Syms, MP for Poole.
At the same time, I began work as the part-time PCA campaign organiser and party agent.
Soon I was fully involved in local activities with Robert and the Poole councillors.
 

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L2R: Robert Syms, MP for Poole; Andy Garner-Watts; Peter Adams, Mayor of Poole; me;
at the Mayor's Charity Beach Festival, Sandbanks, Poole, 2014-07-13
 

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Campaigning at a pizza restaurant in Poole High Street, 2014-09-08
 

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L2R: Shop employee, Robert Syms MP, Cllr Elaine Atkinson, three others, and me
at a "pop-up shop" in Poole High Street, 2014-09-13
 

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L2R: Lady responsible for the EXplora science project in Poole, me, and Cllr Elaine Atkinson
at the pop-up shop in Poole High Street, 2014-10-31
 

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L2R: Cllr Elaine Atkinson, Leader of Poole Council; Robert Syms, MP for Poole; and me
campaigning in Falkland Square, Poole, 2014-12-06
 

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L2R: Cllr Xena Dion, Cllr Elaine Atkinson, Robert Syms MP, shop man, dummy, and me
at the pop-up shop in Poole High Street, 2014-12-12

In December 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron made a dramatic surprise day trip to Poole,
where I saw him speak at Canford Magna Academy on education policy and talked with him
during a review of an affordable housing development at Carter's Quay in Hamworthy.
 

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Hamworthy, Poole, 2014-12-15: With Prime Minister David Cameron
 

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Collecting for the Mayor's charity in Dolphin Centre, Poole, 2014-12-19
 

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Posing with another dummy (a waxworks image of John Travolta)
at Merlin Entertainments head office, Poole, 2015-01-30

The next general election coincided with local elections in early May 2015.
I was busily engaged editing and publishing promotional leaflets and newsletters.
I was also persuaded to stand as one of the three Conservative councillor candidates,
together with my new friends and running mates Alvin Gunputh and Andy Garner-Watts,
for Poole Town ward (the ward I had lived in during my formative teenage years).
 

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Poole Quay, 2015-02-07, L2R: Alvin Gunputh, me, Andy Garner-Watts — the A Team

The election campaigning involved me in canvassing in most of the wards in Poole.
 

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With fellow canvassers, St Michael's Church, Hamworthy, 2015-03-28

The election results were a historic success for the Conservatives in Poole.
All of us stayed up all night at the count, in the Lighthouse Arts Centre, Poole.
Nationally, Conservatives won a working majority of 15 in the House of Commons.
In Poole, Robert Syms won an absolute majority, with 50.1% of the votes cast.
On Poole Council, Conservatives won overall control, with 32 out of 42 seats.
In Poole Town ward, Andy Garner-Watts was elected, but Alvin and I were not.
The rest of the year was more relaxed, as I worked with the new councillors.
 

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With PCA friends running a Salvation Army charity Christmas party, Poole, 2015-12-02

I continued to publish party newsletters and master the PCA website. A sample post:
 

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Cllr Ann Stribley MBE JP, Mayor of Poole; Cllr Ian Potter; and his daughter
open a new railway footbridge in Hamworthy, Poole, 2015-12-22

The next item on the political agenda was the 2016 referendum on UK membership of the EU.
Together with the Student Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU), we organised a debate,
or rather a panel session, with one of our local MEPs and a local UKIP candidate.
I served as the moderator, and we had an interesting and informative discussion.
 

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Bournemouth University, 2016-04-15, L2R: Julie Girling, MEP for SW England and Gibraltar;
me; Martin Houlden, former UKIP PPC for Bournemouth West
 

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Bournemouth University, 2016-04-15, L2R: Julie Girling, MEP for SW England and Gibraltar;
me; Martin Houlden, former UKIP PPC for Bournemouth West

On April 29, I said hello to Theresa May during a party tea ceremony in Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Next on our calendar was the election for the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
 

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Dorset PCC Poole campaign team, L2R: Anthony Husband, PCA president Tony Reeves,
Cllr Graham Wilson, me, PCC candidate Lt Gen (ret) Andrew Graham CB CBE,
Keith Sanders, Cllr Andy Garner-Watts, 2016-05-03

In the election, our candidate lost out to the incumbent PCC, Martyn Underhill (Lib Dem).

Next, I spoke at the debate "EU: In or Out?" at the East Dorset Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
I spoke for "In", backed by Cllr John Rampton, against Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West,
speaking for "Out", backed by a military man. The audience voted predominantly for "Out".
 

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Transcript of my speech at the East Dorset Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, 2016-05-19

On a pleasant June day, I photographed the new Mayor of Poole, Conservative Cllr Xena Dion,
on the occasion of her unveiling a new photomosaic commemorating 125 years of Poole Park.
 

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Decked in the chains of office, Xena Dion, Mayor of Poole, climbs out of a 1909 Stanley Steamer
for the formal unveiling of the Poole Park Photomosaic, 2016-06-07

The next "EU: In or Out?" debate I spoke in was in the nearby town of New Milton in Hampshire.
 

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Transcript of my New Milton speech: Roy Perry, Leader of Hampshire County Council
and former MEP, and I spoke for "In"; a local businessman and a former UKIP candidate
spoke for "Out"; again the audience voted predominantly for "Out"; 2016-06-10

As we all know, the result of the referendum held on 2016-06-23 was a 52:48 win for "Out".
That took the wind out of my sails, and so I drove to Germany to recover and apologise
to my German friends for the national humiliation — also to consider emigrating.
 

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A calming view of a beloved patch of Germany, Schwetzingen Schlossgarten, 2016-07-16

Returning to England, I found the celebration of national jingoism continued unabated.
 

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RAF Red Arrows streak over the cliffs at Bournemouth Air Festival, 2016-08-21

Among my routine duties with Robert were visits as a working pair to local businesses.
I served as chauffeur, photographer, and expert interrogator on various business matters.
One such visit was to Shrinkwrap Machinery Co Ltd, a small company based in Poole.
 

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Shrinkwrap, Poole, 2017-03-03. Front row, L2R: Founder, me, Robert Syms MP

Another such visit was to Nutech, a start-up financed by local Cllr Drew Mellor.
 

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Nutech, Poole, 2017-04-07. Front row, L2R: Andy Ross, Robert Syms MP, Cllr Louise Russell

Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election in April 2017 and PCA responded
promptly by reselecting Robert Syms as its prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC).
 

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PCA parliamentary candidate selection meeting, Canford Cliffs village hall, 2017-04-29
 

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Daily Echo photo taken at the overnight count held at the Lighthouse Arts Centre in Poole
for the 2017 general election, 2017-06-08/09
 

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Daily Echo photo taken at the count for the 2017 general election, 2017-06-08/09:
L2R: Robert Syms, MP for Poole; Michael Tomlinson, MP for Mid-Dorset and North Poole;
Cllr Peter Adams, former Mayor of Poole
 

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Daily Echo photo taken at the count for the 2017 general election, 2017-06-08/09:
me on right, busy checking the count
 

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Daily Echo photo taken at the count for the 2017 general election, 2017-06-08/09:
Front row, L2R: Cllr Peter Adams, former Mayor of Poole; me; Robert Syms, MP for Poole

The result for Poole: Robert Syms 28,888 votes (57.9% of the vote), majority 14,209
Sir Robert Syms MP was awarded his Knighthood in October 2017.

In August, I wrote a short polemical novel about Brexit and its consequences.
 

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My novel Britizen Jon, written in August, published via Amazon, 2017-10-31
It was not a best-seller, and I decided not to spend time rewriting it.

Poole Conservative Association staged a fund-raising dinner at the Haven Hotel, Sandbanks.
The guest of honour was Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, whose views I deplored but who was popular
among the older Poole Conservatives. I posed in one photo for the record.
 

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Posing with Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Haven Hotel, Sandbanks, 2017-11-03

In 2018, we made long-term preparations for the next local elections scheduled for May 2019.
A happy snap during a business visit in the summer of 2018:
 

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With Sir Robert Syms MP and three girls from Canford Cliffs, 2018-07-06

The RAF celebrated its 100th birthday in July 2018, so I visited the celebration in London.
 

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VIP reception in Horse Guards Parade with live big-screen view of the royal family
on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in their military dress uniforms, 2018-07-09
 

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Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster with Hurricanes and Spitfires, 2018-07-09
(I'd seen them often over Hotel Miramar, complete with patriotic commentary)
 

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Continuing the next day: RAF 100 formation flight of 22 Eurofighter Typhoons, 2018-07-10

Over July 2018, I wrote a 9-page review of Boris Johnson's book The Churchill Factor
and mailed copies to Boris Johnson and others. This was a more targeted Brexit
action than my novel and focused on rebutting Johnson's uncongenial views.
 

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My essay reviewing Boris Johnson's book The Churchill Factor, 2018-07-30
 

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WW2-era AA gun at Fort Nothe, Weymouth, defending the Dorset coastline from intruders
in a fortress turned museum; portrait snap of my sister and brother-in-law, 2018-08-25

Dorset is a county without many world-class museums, but the Bovington Tank Museum is one.
 

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Tiger Day, Bovington Tank Museum: 60 years of progress in German tank design illustrated
in the face-off between a modern Leopard 2 and a WW2-era Tiger I, 2018-09-15

British nostalgia for WW2, ignoring how the EU helps consign its horrors to history, bugged me.
Too many Conservative party members rallied to Queen and country without due reflection.

I soldiered dutifully on with the production of promotional material for local councillors.
 

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In Touch leaflets I produced in 2018 in preparation for the local elections on 3 May 2019
(printing and distributing them so early allowed their cost not to be an election expense)

The next business trip during which I appeared in a souvenir photo was in November 2018.
 

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L2R: The Training Room CEO Andrew Powell, me, Sir Robert Syms MP, 2018-11-02

As another contribution to the fight against Brexit, in December I wrote a 7-page story titled:
Ringlord — The story of how President Putin builds on Brexit to rule the world
 

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This essay explains how I saw Brexit playing into President Putin's hands, 2018-12-31

Meanwhile, protests against the looming Brexit date of March 31 increased in intensity.
 

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Placards from a regular Remainers/People's Vote stall in Bournemouth, 2019-01-12

Following a successful contact with the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP),
Robert and I again visited The Training Room — and took another souvenir photo.
 

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L2R: The Training Room CEO Andrew Powell, me, Sir Robert Syms MP,
Dorset LEP director Lorna Carver and chairman Jim Stewart, 2019-01-18

A Dorset Leaver contacted me with the idea of making a video Brexit debate.
We sat in Bournemouth University and chatted on camera for 105 minutes.
 

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Debating Brexit with Leaver Ben Aston at Bournemouth University, 2019-02-14

In March 2019, the pressure ramped up and a disorderly Brexit was narrowly averted.
 

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UK press report a meltdown as MPs vote to block a no-deal Brexit, 2019-03-14

Inspired by the chaos, I spent much of the day writing an essay on democracy.
 

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My essay on whether democracy requires "respecting" the referendum result, 2019-03-14

While a 2019-03-31 Brexit still threatened, I drove across France into Germany in February
to visit old friends for what might well be the last time as a fellow EU citizen.
 

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Flying with my old friend Rolf Kickuth in his gyrocopter over Mannheim, Germany, 2019-02-25
 

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With Rolf Kickuth and BASF CEO Dr Martin Brudermüller, BASF, Ludwigshafen, 2019-02-26
(I wish I'd worn a tie)

Refreshed from the visit, I returned in time to march with a million others in London.
 

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A million people filled the streets in the "Put it to the People" march, London, 2019-03-23

As the Brexit deadlines in March and April passed, the Conservative party mood darkened.
When Conservatives took a drubbing in the local council elections in May — in the new
Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole unitary authority the Conservatives lost overall control
(with 36 out of 76 councillors and Lib Dem Vikky Slade as Leader of the Council) —
it was obvious that the party was in serious trouble.

European Parliament elections in late May gave the Conservatives an even worse drubbing.
When Boris Johnson became party leader and prime minister in July, I considered resigning.
 

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Animated Remainer demonstration in Bournemouth Parks Lower Gardens, 2019-08-31

I addressed the crowd for a few minutes at the next demo in the gardens on September 7.
My words got a lot of applause and people praised them to me for weeks afterwards.
I decided my days as a neutral member of the Conservative party were already over.
When Boris Johnson withdrew the whip from party moderates in September, I called time.
 

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On September 11, 2019, I resigned as Parliamentary Assistant to Sir Robert Syms, MP for Poole,
citing disaffection with HM Government policy — primarily on Brexit.
 

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Free again: me during a family visit to Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, 2019-09-14

I let my Conservative party membership lapse in late 2019.
My indulgence of UK establishment politics was over.
Look out for my book on all this next year!