Mark Pack

So writes The Independent:

David Cameron’s charm offensive has failed to attract new members to the Tories – or keep hold of tens of thousands of people who were already in the party when he arrived.

Local Conservative parties have lost almost a quarter of their rank-and-file members since Mr Cameron took over in late 2005…

The total membership in more than 200 constituency associations – barely a third of the overall number – who provided relevant figures to the elections watchdog fell from 185,000 to 145,000 between December 2005 and December 2008. The constituencies experiencing falls include “safe” seats, the bases of shadow Cabinet members and target seats that must be taken if the Tories are to win the next general election…

Many of the local parties blame the economic climate for the plummeting figures. They have added “unofficial” members, including those paying for regular dinners with MPs, to their full lists.

You can read the full story here.