A missing link in understanding Party policy change? Conservative Party international volunteering projects and UK development policy (2007–2017)
| Author | Danielle Beswick,Mattias Hjort |
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148119830041 |
| Published date | 01 August 2019 |
| Date | 01 August 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148119830041
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2019, Vol. 21(3) 559 –575
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148119830041
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A missing link in
understanding Party policy
change? Conservative Party
international volunteering
projects and UK development
policy (2007–2017)
Danielle Beswick1 and Mattias Hjort2
Abstract
This article analyses the rationale for and impacts of Conservative Party overseas volunteering
projects from 2007 to 2017. Using interview data and participant observation, we uncover aims of
project founders and explore impacts of volunteering on Party members and policy. We make three
substantial contributions. The first focuses on the survival of Conservative Party modernisation
strategies launched under David Cameron. Support for development, particularly Party pledges
to spend 0.7% of UK gross national income on aid, are poorly explained by existing research.
We argue that a focus on volunteering helps explain the survival of this commitment. Second, we
argue that volunteering experience may support sustained Party policy change by enhancing ‘issue
ownership’. Our final contribution is providing the first analysis of political parties as development-
volunteer sending communities. Through new data and distinctive contributions, we demonstrate
that understanding Party-supported volunteering promotes improved explanations of Party
modernisation persistence and policy change.
Keywords
Conservative Party, international development, modernisation, party policy change, volunteering,
0.7% aid target
Introduction
This article explores a neglected aspect of Conservative Party activity which began under
the leadership of David Cameron: Party-supported international development volunteer-
ing. Since 2007, over 300 volunteers, including MPs, staff, prospective Party candidates,
1International Development Department, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
2Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Corresponding author:
Danielle Beswick, International Development Department, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Email: d.beswick@bham.ac.uk
830041BPI0010.1177/1369148119830041The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsBeswick and Hjort
research-article2019
Original Article
560 The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 21(3)
Councillors and activists, have participated in short overseas volunteering trips. The flag-
ship project is Umubano, an annual visit to Rwanda supporting projects across sectors
including health, education and business. Engagement with international development is
often cited as evidence of Party modernisation, part of an effort to ‘detoxify’ ‘the “nasty
Party”’ (Heppell and Seawright, 2012: 227). We find senior Party representatives view
Umubano as an important component in this process, but also argue that it had wider and
longer term consequences than anticipated, for the Party and its engagement with devel-
opment as a policy issue. We do not claim that volunteering leads automatically to
unqualified support for aid or the 0.7% target; instead we argue that for some volunteer-
ing has become a core part of how they describe and perform their political identity.
Sustained Party commitment to volunteering has helped bring development into the
mainstream of Party identity. This article provides unique insight into Party-supported
overseas volunteering, presenting the first systematic research into its origins and impacts.
Using new empirical data from interviews and participant observation, it addresses three
main questions: Why did senior Party figures establish and support Umubano? Does
knowing more about personal and Party impacts of Umubano improve our understanding
of the Conservative Party’s support for development and the totemic 0.7% target? And,
finally, what insight does this research offer for those seeking to understand processes and
survival of Party position changes, in this case associated with Party modernisation?
To address these questions we use three sources of evidence. First, between April and
November 2017, we conducted 38 interviews with former volunteers. These are alumni
of Projects Umubano and Maja, with many having participated in more than one trip.
Interviewees included 18 current or former MPs, 5 current or former Councillors, 3 mem-
bers of the House of Lords and 2 MEPs. Second, participant observation was conducted
by one researcher during the 2017 Project Umubano programme in Rwanda, during
which she participated as an English tutor for Rwandan school-based mentors.1 Her
involvement as a volunteer included attending pre-departure briefing events at Party
Headquarters and a post-volunteering reunion at the 2017 Party Conference. This pro-
vided opportunities to speak with volunteers before, during and after the visit, including
those not previously interviewed. Participants were made aware of the researcher’s pres-
ence, in writing, before the trip. No data are attributed to any individual without written
permission. The final category of evidence comprises reports, testimony and other mate-
rials, including, volunteer accounts of their experiences, including in Party affiliated out-
lets (e.g. ConservativeHome website); Hansard parliamentary debates records; and
parliamentary voting and select committee attendance records. The project underwent
full ethical review by a University of Birmingham ethical review committee. All inter-
viewees gave informed written consent to participate; they were offered the option of
remaining anonymous, which some accepted, and were informed of their right to with-
draw from the research without penalty.
Before continuing, it is necessary to highlight an important characteristic of our data.
Our argument is supported primarily by data gathered from a self-selecting group: those
who developed, participated in and promoted volunteering. These individuals possess
unique knowledge of the volunteering projects and have not previously been asked about
this activity. They are, unsurprisingly, predisposed to view the projects in a positive
light, and may seek to overstate volunteering’s profile and effects on the Party. We have
sought to mitigate this by diversifying our respondent pool beyond veteran multi-trip
volunteers. We interviewed volunteers from the early years of the project, including
those who participated once or twice as well as those who took part more often. We also
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