THE CONSERVATIVES NEED TO WOO VOTERS OF ALL AGES

A DRIVE by Conservative activists to try to counter the party’s dire lack of support among younger voters is already suffering some acute growing pains.

Activate, a new grassroots organisation, has been set up with a mission to “engage young people with Conservatism”. Just days after being launched it is already facing criticism following the leak of some unsavoury private messages between supporters and suffered mockery on social media.

Some suspicious older Tories would like Activate to be deactivated as soon as possible. The project was planned as a Right-wing answer to the hard-Left campaign group Momentum that has helped galvanise backing for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party. Like Momentum, Activate does not seek official affiliation to the party it supports but rather looks to draw activists together.

Critics fear that the initiative may turn into yet another embarrassing episode in a long saga of ill-fated Tory youth organisations. During the 1980s the Young Conservatives gained a reputation for riotous behaviour while the Federation of Conservative Students was lampooned as “Maggie’s Militant Tendency” for extremist antics by some members. Both organisations were eventually wound up by the party leadership. In more recent times, the Team2015 initiative to recruit young activists into roving election campaign squads became mired in accusations of bullying and hard drinking.

While Theresa May’s party faces a major challenge in trying to counter unpopularity among younger voters, few senior figures believe that setting up yet another youth club for fledgling Right-wingers is the answer to a hugely complex problem. The last general election showed that the Tories are losing ground in every age group of voters under 50. The real task for the party is to come up with policies that can win over sceptical voters of all ages.

For all its Left-wing dreaming and Marxist ideology, Momentum at least has a vision for the future that inspires its radical young believers.

The Tories will need more than snappy adverts and visual gags on social media to win over a new generation of voters.