Marco Fawcett is the Chairman of Cumbria Young Conservatives, as well as a Party Officer, and activist.
As the party conference season draws to its close, delegates have returned to their respective occupations, whilst journalists, sketch-writers and columnists retire to their desks, each preparing to regale their readers with accounts of the proceedings.
Meanwhile, the people of the United Kingdom keep on keeping on, blissfully undisturbed by the annual political jamborees. Unlike those of us afflicted by the illness that is an enthusiasm for politics, the general public remains remarkably untroubled by the deliberations of a party conference, particularly when the party concerned is not entrusted with the responsibilities of government.
There is, however, one demographic whose affections every major political party is especially anxious to secure. The exception may be the Green Party, which appears rather more occupied with passing ludicrous and divisive motions than with the tiresome business of formulating serious policy. I refer, of course, to the youth.
Ah, youth! That most elusive of political classifications, the definition of which seems to expand or contract according to the electoral requirements of the moment. Poppy Coburn, of The Daily Telegraph, made the cogent observation that youth is a relative concept, and that a Conservative voter might reasonably be considered young long after reaching the age at which he becomes entitled to draw his State Pension.
Nevertheless, at this year’s Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, there was a conspicuous increase in the number of attendees under the age of 25. Mrs Badenoch has suggested that the increase may have been as much as 50 per cent.
This is not an isolated phenomenon, but appears to reflect a wider revival of political interest amongst the rising generation, irrespective of political allegiance. The number of students taking Politics at A-level has reportedly risen by 11.9 per cent compared with 2025, whilst those studying Politics or related disciplines at university have increased by some 20 per cent over the same period.
This conference season has also witnessed the emergence of a curious political instrument: nostalgia.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, appears determined to return the country to the 1970s, with all the attendant delights of industrial unrest, trade union supremacy and national humiliation before the International Monetary Fund. It is a peculiar ambition to seek to recreate a decade from which the electorate once so decisively sought deliverance.
On the Right, the deficiencies of such an approach are readily recognised. In its place is offered the Thatcherite prescription of a smaller state, an economy hospitable to enterprise and a proper regard for fiscal discipline. These are principles of enduring importance, and there is certainly no shortage of ardent young Thatcherites within the Conservative Party.
Yet there is a difficulty which neither side of the political divide ought to overlook. As Sir Desmond Swayne observed to the Young Conservatives at a late-night conference gathering, the young people of Britain “weren’t even gametes” when Callaghan went cap in hand to the IMF, or when Mrs Thatcher occupied Downing Street. One cannot expect an entire generation to be attracted to a series of circumstances it never experienced. A political party which concerns itself solely with the preservation of yesterday can scarcely expect to command the confidence of tomorrow.
It is for this reason that Mr Burnham’s socialist utopia, should it follow the example of its 1970s predecessors, risks arriving at much the same unhappy destination as Mr Callaghan’s administration. Equally, it is why the Conservative Party must offer the young something more substantial than the comforting recollection of the Thatcher years. The principles which made Conservatism successful in the past must be shown to have practical application to the circumstances of the present.
The question, therefore, is not whether the Conservative Party possesses a distinguished inheritance. That is scarcely in doubt. It is whether that inheritance can be made meaningful to a generation which must concern itself rather more with the prospects of its own future than with the glories of somebody else’s past.
How, then, is this to be achieved?
In her essay published at the start of the Party Conference, Mrs Badenoch asserted that “Labour goes wrong when it follows its principles, [The Conservatives] go wrong when we fail to follow ours.”
This assertion follows a series of policies directed at young people, including the abolition of Stamp Duty, a re-assessment of Higher Education routes, cutting student loan interest, and providing pathways into employment by reducing the strain on employers by scrapping the increase in National Insurance contributions. Kemi’s commitment to supporting the next generation was reaffirmed with her announcement that family homes would be exempt from Inheritance Tax, creating an inheritable stake in the economy, and protecting the most sacred places in our lives from the grips of the taxman.
These policies are crucial to attracting young voters back to the Conservative Party. Not only does this signal a return to the fundamentals of Conservatism, but demonstrates that, like Burke, we are both reflecting on our ancestors, and looking forward to prosperity. The Labour Party is returning to the murky depths of socialist orthodoxy, where it will flounder and fail. The Conservative Party is re-affirming its principles of individual liberty, a pro-business economy, and a society that works for those who work.
Marco Fawcett is the Chairman of Cumbria Young Conservatives, as well as a Party Officer, and activist.
As the party conference season draws to its close, delegates have returned to their respective occupations, whilst journalists, sketch-writers and columnists retire to their desks, each preparing to regale their readers with accounts of the proceedings.
Meanwhile, the people of the United Kingdom keep on keeping on, blissfully undisturbed by the annual political jamborees. Unlike those of us afflicted by the illness that is an enthusiasm for politics, the general public remains remarkably untroubled by the deliberations of a party conference, particularly when the party concerned is not entrusted with the responsibilities of government.
There is, however, one demographic whose affections every major political party is especially anxious to secure. The exception may be the Green Party, which appears rather more occupied with passing ludicrous and divisive motions than with the tiresome business of formulating serious policy. I refer, of course, to the youth.
Ah, youth! That most elusive of political classifications, the definition of which seems to expand or contract according to the electoral requirements of the moment. Poppy Coburn, of The Daily Telegraph, made the cogent observation that youth is a relative concept, and that a Conservative voter might reasonably be considered young long after reaching the age at which he becomes entitled to draw his State Pension.
Nevertheless, at this year’s Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, there was a conspicuous increase in the number of attendees under the age of 25. Mrs Badenoch has suggested that the increase may have been as much as 50 per cent.
This is not an isolated phenomenon, but appears to reflect a wider revival of political interest amongst the rising generation, irrespective of political allegiance. The number of students taking Politics at A-level has reportedly risen by 11.9 per cent compared with 2025, whilst those studying Politics or related disciplines at university have increased by some 20 per cent over the same period.
This conference season has also witnessed the emergence of a curious political instrument: nostalgia.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, appears determined to return the country to the 1970s, with all the attendant delights of industrial unrest, trade union supremacy and national humiliation before the International Monetary Fund. It is a peculiar ambition to seek to recreate a decade from which the electorate once so decisively sought deliverance.
On the Right, the deficiencies of such an approach are readily recognised. In its place is offered the Thatcherite prescription of a smaller state, an economy hospitable to enterprise and a proper regard for fiscal discipline. These are principles of enduring importance, and there is certainly no shortage of ardent young Thatcherites within the Conservative Party.
Yet there is a difficulty which neither side of the political divide ought to overlook. As Sir Desmond Swayne observed to the Young Conservatives at a late-night conference gathering, the young people of Britain “weren’t even gametes” when Callaghan went cap in hand to the IMF, or when Mrs Thatcher occupied Downing Street. One cannot expect an entire generation to be attracted to a series of circumstances it never experienced. A political party which concerns itself solely with the preservation of yesterday can scarcely expect to command the confidence of tomorrow.
It is for this reason that Mr Burnham’s socialist utopia, should it follow the example of its 1970s predecessors, risks arriving at much the same unhappy destination as Mr Callaghan’s administration. Equally, it is why the Conservative Party must offer the young something more substantial than the comforting recollection of the Thatcher years. The principles which made Conservatism successful in the past must be shown to have practical application to the circumstances of the present.
The question, therefore, is not whether the Conservative Party possesses a distinguished inheritance. That is scarcely in doubt. It is whether that inheritance can be made meaningful to a generation which must concern itself rather more with the prospects of its own future than with the glories of somebody else’s past.
How, then, is this to be achieved?
In her essay published at the start of the Party Conference, Mrs Badenoch asserted that “Labour goes wrong when it follows its principles, [The Conservatives] go wrong when we fail to follow ours.”
This assertion follows a series of policies directed at young people, including the abolition of Stamp Duty, a re-assessment of Higher Education routes, cutting student loan interest, and providing pathways into employment by reducing the strain on employers by scrapping the increase in National Insurance contributions. Kemi’s commitment to supporting the next generation was reaffirmed with her announcement that family homes would be exempt from Inheritance Tax, creating an inheritable stake in the economy, and protecting the most sacred places in our lives from the grips of the taxman.
These policies are crucial to attracting young voters back to the Conservative Party. Not only does this signal a return to the fundamentals of Conservatism, but demonstrates that, like Burke, we are both reflecting on our ancestors, and looking forward to prosperity. The Labour Party is returning to the murky depths of socialist orthodoxy, where it will flounder and fail. The Conservative Party is re-affirming its principles of individual liberty, a pro-business economy, and a society that works for those who work.