The CPC's 'Contact Programme' was launched at the 1966 Conservative Party Conference, as the CPC's major commitment to long-term election strategy. It replaced the previous Two-Way Topic and the Two-Way Movement of Ideas (for which, see above) with a more ambitious Three-Way Movement of Ideas which involved opinion-formers outside the Party, and coincided with the period of policy renewal following the 1966 general election defeat.

David Howell, Director of the CPC, introduced the CPC's new discussion programme in the foreword to the October 1966 issue of CPC Monthly Report: ...'the CPC is launching this Autumn a new Political Contact Programme stretching some way ahead and setting out various overall themes, each one to run for three months at a time. For instance, the theme for the three months November/December/January will be Economic Recovery, and Two-Way Movement papers will deal in each of these three months with different aspects of the main issue. Publicity material, basic factual pamphlets from our Research Department and material for background reading will all be geared to this programme. So will briefs for speakers at conferences and schools. So will the Young Conservative political discussions syllabus. Of course, no one is obliged to follow the centrally recommended theme. But it plainly helps all concerned, and makes a far bigger impact outside, if we all direct our thoughts and efforts along roughly the same lines.

From Jan 1967 the CPC Political Contact Programme became known as the Three-Way Contact Programme. Each Masterbrief was accompanied by shorter, leaflet-style briefs on the same subject, and set out 3-4 questions which the local CPC groups were to discuss and respond to. An introductory audio tape recording on each topic was also prepared and made available by the CPC, but none of these have survived in the Conservative Party Archive. See CCO 4/10/80 for some of these shorter briefs. The Contact Programme was re-modelled again following the Conservatives' return to power in 1970, at which point the Masterbrief (as it had become) was replaced with the Contact Brief (for which, see below).