We stayed for five days at the main conference hotel where the majority of the government were staying. We spoke to Theresa May, George Osborne and Michael Gove . One of our founders had their photo taken with David Cameron.
We had private conversations with key political presenters Jeremy Paxman and Andrew Neil. They are now aware of the Blue Fox Conservatives Against Fox Hunting campaign.We spoke to Benedict Brogan , the deputy editor of The Telegraph and Kevin Mc Quire of The Mirror. We were filmed for an interview with the BBC East’s political editor -Andrew Sinclair on the hunting issue which was broadcast on the 6th October. We had a filmed interview with Daybreak TV’s political editor – Sue Jamieson on women in the Conservative party. Our founder participated in an invitation only live studio audience on Jeremy’s Paxman’s Newsnight programme on the final evening of the conference.
We also spoke to Richard Benyon MP about our campaign.We again talked to the MP who is the Chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Group For Animal Welfare who sat next to us at a fringe event on elephants.
We individually spoke to ten MPs at the conference, a Lord, and an MEP. A few of the MPs were anti repeal and a few were pro repeal. A couple were undecided about their stances.We work to encourage undecided MPs to represent the majority opinion against a return of hunting with hounds.
We attended fringe events on rural affairs concerning Farmers, land owners in the countryside and the Defra team. We attended fringe events organised by the RSPCA, The Blue Cross and Battersea Dog’s Home and The International Fund For Animal Welfare on elephants . We attended fringe events on green issues and recycling and the environment. Speakers included the RSPB .
We listened to talks by Conservative Ministers and Boris Johnson in the main conference hall.
We visited the main exhibition hall and introduced ourselves to exhibitor stands and spread information about our campaign. We spoke to a couple of exhibitor Alpaca owners who were promoting alpaca wool from their herds and were keen more to learn about our campaign and are against hunting with hounds .
We spoke to exhibitors from rural Wales and they were against a return of hunting with hounds.
We spoke to individuals involved in the Conservative Womens Organisation( CWO) who are against hunting and want to see it remain illegal .It is significant to point out that women outnumber men in their membership of animal welfare charities.
Again, we found that the exhibitor people at the household National Charity stands that we talked to, were against hunting with dogs.
A few pro hunting individuals attended our fringe event co hosted with the League Against cruel Sports and we reminded them that they were entitled to their opinions yet to remember that it was a view held by a minority of people.
We continue to spread the message that 75% of people think hunting should remain illegal. Since the threat of repeal is mainly supported by Conservative MPs it is paramount that this message is brought to their attention by their own supporters. 62% of Conservative supporters are against repeal and this issue extends beyond party affilation. It is about protecting wildlife from outmoded illegal activities. Let’s keep moving forwards and leave banned activities in ther past where they belong.
Fringe event- October 4th
Our second fringe event at the Conservative conference was again co hosted with the League Against Cruel Sports. Mike Weatherley MP was our guest speaker along with Joe Duckworth, the CEO of the League Against Cruel Sports.The event was chaired by our co founder who is also the President of Esher and Walton Conservative Association, and former Chairman. He also serves on the Southern Region.
The event was attended by Conservative Association Chairmen, Councillors and officers and supporters of the ban on hunting with dogs. The UK Director of The International Fund For Animal Welfare(IFAW) attended and Parliamentary officers. Some pro hunting supporters attended and guests asked questions and mingled with refreshments.
At one point we were all surprised to see actor Hugh Grant who gave a talk in the room 
next door burst through the doors followed by fans and others on his way out after his fringe event!
Our attendance at the conference was successful in amplifying our campaign message at the highest level within the party . We achieved our objective of personally introducing ourselves to government Cabinet Ministers. It was a productive conference.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15203018 See our BBC TV interview on Wednesday 5th October 2011.
