Today’s Independent reports:
Three-quarters of local Conservative associations are losing activists as the party suffers a recruitment crisis which has seen membership halve since David Cameron became leader.
The latest estimates put Conservative membership at between 130,000 and 170,000, compared with almost 300,000 shortly after Mr Cameron succeeded Michael Howard…
Labour’s membership now stands at 187,000, a rise of 31,000 since Ed Miliband succeeded Gordon Brown, but still half the level of Tony Blair’s early days as leader. Liberal Democrat membership is around 60,000, a fall of about 5,000 since the last general election, but about the same level as three years ago.
Those membership totals do not tell the full story of what is happening to political parties, as I pointed out in Myths about party membership in 2008.
* Mark Pack has written 101 Ways To Win An Election and produces a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
