Someone had better write to James Cleverly and tell him there is nothing to worry about, polls are not reliable, just carry on exactly as you are.
Last month, Conservative MP James Cleverly was asked about the disastrous snap election his party had just gone through. Instead of sounding as gloomy and desperate as some of his colleagues, his response was oddly upbeat:
"This general election will go down in history as a turning point; the massive interest and voter turnout among young people is a game changer, and even though it cost us, as the Conservative party, our majority and very nearly our place in government, I absolutely welcome it because it will mean that my party will have to get its shit together when it comes to younger people."
Cleverly, one of the party's rising stars, isn't the only one aware that the party must do something to attract younger voters, and do it sooner rather than later...
...The Tories' anxiety certainly is justified: analysis by Ipsos Mori showed that in May of 2017, 62 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 56 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds voted for the Labour party. The Conservatives got 27 percent of the vote in both age groups and only took their lead back with 45 to 54-year-olds and above.
Though young people were never the Tories' core vote, these figures represent a steep drop from even 2015: in two years, the Labour party grew its lead over them by 19 points for 18 to 24-year-olds, and a staggering 26 points for 25 to 34-year-olds.
Internally, things aren't exactly brighter: Monica Poletti, who has been studying party membership for Queen Mary University, found that "Tory members in 2017 were older than they were in 2015 – on average, in 2015 they were 54, and this year it was 57 [...] and four out of ten are over 66"...
..."The organisation that shot quite a lot of us in the foot is Activate, because it was such a useless launch by a bunch of amateurs," Howlett added, which feels like an understatement.
Though some of the details are still unclear, the grassroots campaign launched on the 28th of August, with the aim to "engage young people with conservatism".
The group was promptly mocked for its awkward use of outdated memes, and only two days later political gossip website Guido Fawkes published screen grabs of a WhatsApp conversation of Activate campaigners joking about "gassing chavs"....
www.vice.com/en_uk/article/8x8m9g/bullying-suicide-and-cringe-why-the-tories-cant-start-a-youth-movement
Why are the Tories so desperate to start a youth movement?