Colin Craig Statement
19 June 2015

Thank you for coming today.

There will be short statement from myself as leader of the Conservative Party then followed by another short statement from the Party Chairman Brian Dobbs.

As many of you are aware speculation broke yesterday that the conservative party board meeting planned for this evening would see a leadership vote taken. There have been many and varied rumors about this ranging from the intriguing to the ridiculous. The meeting tonight has been postponed.

The board have been in extensive communication over the last 24 hours.

There are some board members that think it is timely to have a leadership discussion. The board does review leadership as a minimum annually but have the power to review the leadership at any time.

I am fully supportive of the call for a review. The party is now over 3 years old, campaigned hard with a strong showing in 2014 and has a membership and supporter base heading toward 10,000. This stage in the election cycle is the appropriate time to consider the future direction and to implement key personnel and structural changes if any.

With this in mind Brian and I have been in extensive discussion today and I have offered to facilitate the process by taking the following steps.

1. I have offered to stand down as leader to enable the board to consider the leadership role

2. I will be working with the party secretary and will ensure that the balance of any outstanding loan is forgiven so that there are no financial liabilities between myself and the party

The nature and scope of the review is a matter for the board to determine. I have full confidence in the board to manage the process and achieve the best outcomes for the party.

I now hand you over the our Party Chairman Brian Dobbs

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