Monday Poll - Question 1

Welcome to the Monday Poll! Each week we will try to have a topical poll for you all to vote on. We will be asking for your opinion on a wide range of issues from burning questions of local and national importance to things from the lighter side of life.

Our first question is on the row surrounding Catholic adoption agencies and Gay rights legislation. Should everyone be subject to everyone be subject to the law of the land or should matters of conscience take precedence? You decide!

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Should Catholic adoption agencies be able to opt out of gay discrimination laws?

Yes No

The Result: A close result - 54% opposed the Catholic adoption agencies opting of discrimination laws and 46% supporting their right to opt out on a matter of conscience.

Mayor of Havering's Charity Dinner

The event was held last night at Romford Golf club, with approx 80 guests attending. The event was well supported by HCF, the 3 Havering MP's, numerous Mayors and Consorts from the surrounding areas and many Havering Councillors.

Some more photos and an update as to how much was raised will be posted here shortly, but current money raised is in the region of £1,000. The proceeds of this event will be going to Habit Shed, a local charity which provides theatre opportunities to children from both 'mainstream' and 'special' areas of the community.

Association Chairman's Meeting @ CCHQ

Gary Murphy (in his role as Hornchurch & Upminster deputy chairman) attended the regular meeting for London constituency chairman at Conservative Campaign Headquarters or CCHQ. The meeting started with a presentation on Campaign strategy for 2007 from the George Bridges, the Campaigns Director. This presentation gave a great insight, explaining past decisions and future ideas.

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This was followed by an update on the issues surrounding the Greater London Assembly (GLA) such as the process for selecting Mayoral and GLA candidates. The update included contributions from Francis Maude MP, Angie Bray AM and Ian Sanderson (London regional director).

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It is usual for these meetings to end with an example of best practice from the region. This time it was the turn of Islington Conservative Association who outlined the benefits of merging the two previous associations (North and South). This decision has allowed them to pool resources and fight campaigns more effectively.

New Year, New ideas!

We are always trying to think of new ideas of things to do. If there are any events in particular that you are interested in attending, or that you think we should run more of, please vote below, or let us know by contacting events@haveringconservativefuture.com.

What events would you like to see run over the next year?
	Political events
	Curry nights
	Local drinks
	Speaker events
	Dinners
	Quiz nights
	Visits to interesting places such as museums, air shows
	Comedy clubs
	Other. If so, please email events@haveringconservativefuture.com with your ideas!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Brick Lane Curry Night!

Saturday's Brick Lane Curry Night was a fantastic success! Approximately 20 people came along from all over London to enjoy a few drinks in the Hamilton Hall Pub on Bishopsgate, followed by a superb curry at The Standard Balti on Brick Lane.

It was also also great to see several new faces from South London and Ilford North (where we are helping to establish a new branch).

If you missed out this time, don't worry, this has become a regular occurance and there's plenty of events coming up in the near future (see right).

Boris Johnson Dinner Announced

The Upminter Dining Club has announced that their next dinner will be held on Friday 2nd March 2007. The guest speaker will Boris Johnson MP, the shadow minister for higher education and occasional host of ‘Have I Got News For You’. Mr Johnson’s speeches are always entertaining despite being gaff-prone from time to time. (Don’t mention Jamie Oliver!)

The organisers have had the good sense to grant young members a discount on the ticket price. Therefore, it will only cost £30 for the under 30's (normal ticket price £40). This includes a three course meal, table wine and an opportunity to embarrass ourselves on the dance floor afterwards!

This Dinner is taking place at the Palms Hotel, Hornchurch. The doors and open at 7.30pm and the meal will begin at 8.00pm. We foresee this event being oversubscribed so reserve our place as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. In order to attend this event or to start receiving our event emails please contact us at events@haveringconservativefuture.com.

Havering MPs to Contest New Seat

It has been reported today that boundary changes in Havering have prompted two of our Conservative MPs to go head to head for the same seat. Hornchurch MP James Brokenshire is to challenge Upminster's Angela Watkinson for the conservative candidacy in the combined Upminster and Hornchurch constituency.

This is an unfortunate situation because both MPs have done excellent work for their different constituencies. They have also both been great backers of Havering CF by regularly attending our dinners, social events and campaign days as well as supporting our recruitment efforts!

HCF @ Any Questions?

Havering CF members attended the recording of Radio 4's 'Any Questions?' at Campion School, Hornchurch, on Friday 12th January. The panel included Dominic Grieve MP (con), Tony McNaulty MP (lab), Norman Lamb MP (lib dem) and Caroline Lucas MEP (green).

The panel discussed a wide range of topics from special needs education to the future purpose of the British armed forces. However, the most interesting and heated debate came over the latest crisis at the Home Office were Mr McNaulty is a junior minister. Jonathan Dimbleby (chairman of the programme) expertly grilled him over the crime file rows.

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This was a very enjoyable evening and the HCF committee will be keeping their eyes peeled for future poltical radio and television programmes being recorded near Havering.

Havering CF Launches Blog

Welcome to the first Havering Conservative Future (HCF) Blog!

This site is intended as an informal way for you (both current members and interested people alike) to keep in touch with the activities of HCF. We will be posting regular news about political and social events. We also look forward to having regular feedback so please feel free to post comments on anything you see on the site.

Look forward to hearing from you soon!