Woo youth vote or die, Matt Hancock tells Conservatives

A damning appraisal of the Conservative Party's electoral prospects has sobered the temper of the beer-sipping assemblage gathered successful a cardinal London pub.

As spectators assemblage into the venue, a erstwhile Conservative furniture curate delivers a striking warning.

"We've got to embody the socially liberal, affirmative values that radical nether 50 overwhelmingly support," says Matt Hancock, the erstwhile wellness caput turned world TV personality.

"Because if we don't bash that, past the Conservative Party volition die."

He's addressing an assemblage of politicos astatine a packed-out lawsuit organised by Bright Blue, a deliberation vessel for wide conservatism.

The taxable of the talk: How tin the Tories entreaty to young people?

It's an existential question for the Conservatives, who person agelong struggled to pull younger voters. For MPs from the party, the information connected voting volition highlights their bladed enactment among younger generations.

A YouGov poll recovered lone 21% of 18 to 24-year-olds said they voted Conservative astatine the past wide predetermination successful 2019, compared to 67% successful the over-70s category.

In recent polling, done astatine this month's section elections, lone 8% of the 18 to 24 radical said they would ballot Conservative.

"For the 29 to 49-year-olds, that fig was 10%," Mr Hancock tells the event.

That 10% figure, Mr Hancock says, "is catastrophic for the electability of the Conservative Party, not conscionable now, but for a decade".

"We request to person credible policies that code the issues that younger radical attraction about," helium says.

As a TikTok enthusiast with 184,000 followers connected the platform, Mr Hancock claims to person an antenna for what young radical are looking for successful politics.

Curbing clime change, providing much affordable housing, and technological innovation are what young radical attraction astir - not immoderate "divisive civilization war", Mr Hancock says.

But does his investigation truly bespeak the hopes and fears of younger generations?

At the event, we talk to 5 radical nether the property of 30, and tellingly, each of them accidental lodging is their biggest worry.

Eve Redmond, a 23-year-old renter who precocious moved to London, says: "I don't deliberation I'll get connected the spot ladder successful the adjacent 10 to 15 years.

"I bash deliberation lodging is simply a peculiarly important governmental contented for young radical nether the property of 30, millennials similar me."

Joe Lynch, the 18-year-old president of Romford Young Conservatives, agrees.

"We request much affordable housing," helium says. "If we tin bash that arsenic a party, much young radical tin flock to us."

He says the creeping Americanisation of British authorities has damaged the Conservative brand.

Some young people, helium says, "think we're each Make American Great Again lunatics, but that's not the lawsuit astatine all".

The cognition among young radical of being "the nasty party" troubles Nathan Stone, 20.

He says the warfare against woke - a word that has travel to symbolise blimpish absorption to societal changes - has been "taken to the extremes" lately.

He says immoderate of the ideas expressed astatine this week's National Conservatism Conference - an lawsuit organised by a right-wing American deliberation vessel - are "not truly going to entreaty to younger people".

In his comments, Mr Hancock savages the "Conservative Corbynistas" successful his party, who "preach the aforesaid benignant of cancel civilization and virtuousness signalling that they accidental that they abhor connected the left".

"Looking astatine what's going connected astatine different conferences, sometimes it felt similar 'I'm a Conservative get maine retired of here'," helium says.

With Mr Hancock lasting down arsenic an MP astatine the adjacent election, helium soon volition beryllium retired of there. And yet, helium inactive believes the wide helping of his enactment has the answers to today's governmental questions.

They volition request answers if they are to span the generational gulfs exposed astatine caller wide elections. In 2017 and 2019 elections, arsenic good arsenic the EU referendum successful 2016, property became the astir salient dividing enactment successful British politics.

A report by the Onward deliberation tank, from 2019, said 83% of Conservative voters were implicit 45, portion 4% were nether 24.

At the past election, the tipping constituent - the property astatine which radical are much apt to ballot Conservative than Labour - was 39, according to YouGov.

But caller information investigation suggests younger generations are upending 1 of the stickiest assumptions successful politics.

In research this year, 2 governmental scientists from King's College London showed however millennials and Gen Z-ers are not becoming much Conservative arsenic they age.

In investigation of Conservative enactment by age, the probe showed a 40% spread betwixt oldest and youngest successful 2020, compared with 10% successful the aboriginal 1990s.

One important origin is however the beingness chances of a procreation person been shaped by events, specified arsenic the fiscal clang successful 2008, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bobby Duffy, prof of nationalist argumentation astatine King's, says decisions by caller Conservative governments person not supported young people, portion the expanding absorption connected culture-war issues has polarised the generations.

"This generational disagreement looks similar unspeakable quality for aboriginal enactment for the Conservatives, arsenic intelligibly older generations are dying retired and being replaced by these younger generations," the prof says.

Still, determination are reasons to presumption predictions of Conservative extinction done a sceptical lens.

"The Conservatives bash look a existent challenge, but it whitethorn beryllium arsenic overmuch to bash with the existent connection from this mentation of conservatism than the underlying principles and values," Prof Duffy says. "Decline is not inevitable for the Tories, but to debar it, they bash request to change."

The Conservative Party did not privation to comment.

Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, told the BBC it was important "not to deliberation astir the state successful presumption of young oregon old" and insisted the Tories had "great young talent", who appealed to voters of each ages.

While the Tories hold to trial that proposition successful a wide election, their enactment is being pulled successful antithetic governmental directions aft 13 years successful power.

Meanwhile, Mr Hancock, seemingly joking, turns to his pinkish necktie for inspiration.

"I occasionally deterioration a tie," helium says. "Today was the archetypal clip I enactment connected a suit successful 2 weeks, due to the fact that I'm a mean person, now. I'm not a Conservative MP. It's conscionable like, beryllium normal, similar the radical who we represent. That's what we request to do."