Standing in my local corner shop huddled by the cornflakes – I withstood Nick Ferrari’s attempts to brand us as aloof and unappealing to the youth of today. I explained that Conservative Future is the largest political youth wing in the UK because the Party is really striking a cord with young people by listening and offering change, plus the opportunity to take control back of our own lives.

I flagged up our national campaign ‘Time to Get involved’ and explained that we are organising a number of events and initiatives across the country to encourage activism and help get the Conservative Party into power to bring about the change that this country deserves.

CF and the party as a whole are in touch with society, down to earth and inclusive – we need to make sure that the voter knows this! So get involved!

Click here to listen to the interview

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This week I took part in a discussion of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour which focused on youth participation in politics and how we can encourage young people to vote in the upcoming general election.

In the 2005 General Election only 37% of 18-24 year olds turned out to vote and if I am honest I am surprised the percentage is that high.  Young people, generally, seem to be totally apathetic in terms of party politics and switch off at the mere mention of it.  However, when it comes to single issue such as tuition fees, jobs for young people, getting onto the housing ladder and ID cards young people become much more ignited in debate.  The question is how as a party do we translate these individual issues into policy and present them in a way in which young people will find accessible.

One suggestion presented on the programme was the use of Celebrity endorsements of individual policies and political parties.  This is a development that I am largely sceptical of unless of course the endorsement is sincere and knowledgeable.

Another suggestion was that political parties need to reinvent themselves.  I argue that it’s not political parties that need to change but the way that we engage young people when they are at school.  All young people have an opinion on different issues and engaging them during their time at school would surely provide them with the basic knowledge of political parties and the political system which could then translate into votes at the age of 18.

For me the issue comes down to education and the lack of participation.  Organisations like Conservative Future provide young people with the chance to get involved in the political process and feel like they are helping to change things.

Click here to listen to the interview

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1. Speaking to LBC and Radio 5 about ‘Never voted Tory before’

Afghanistan. Voter apathy. Unemployment. Immigration. These were just some of the topics covered on the Riz Khan show on Al Jazeera, where I was a panellist last week. I was joined by 5 other young people; all students in London but from very different backgrounds. One girl was from Afghanistan, one was from Tibet and the political views were all varied.

Broadcast to 180 million households, the show was a snapshot of young British opinion on issues that will be key in the coming election. I spoke of my disappointment at too many young people leaving school without a good education, and my faith in Michael Gove’s planned revolution of our education system.

I talked about the huge effort required to gain a Conservative majority in Parliament, and the dramatic increase in Conservative Future members which might make the battle just a little bit easier. But by far the most interesting element of the show, as far as I was concerned, was the discussion on Afghanistan and the contribution from a young person who comes from there. I won’t paraphrase her here, but I would urge you to watch the show below.

I always enjoy radio or TV discussions with other politically motivated young people. I often do a spot on Saturday afternoons for LBC 97.3 and the other studio guests or phone-in contributors guarantee a lively debate. Being challenged on views, and challenging others, can be really enjoyable. What’s really great, though, is meeting someone or hearing a view that you just wouldn’t have considered previously – even if you don’t agree with it.

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Following the launch of our Party’s “Never voted Tory before” campaign, I was on 5Live yesterday morning discussing the launch and how it reflects the change in the Party’s focus and attitude. It was a great opportunity to reflect on how much we’ve progressed since we were last in Government.

My main point was that the Conservatives are now addressing the issues that matter to the public the most, a move which is necessary to win the next General Election.

I’ve certainly seen and heard on the doorstep how many people are thinking of voting Conservative for the first time and, of course, this is the first time that Conservative Future could be the youth wing of a Government!

We all have our own personal bugbears, one of mine being the wholly inappropriate and unnecessary ID Cards and National Identity Register scheme. I proudly promoted the work so many of you have undertaken as CF on university campuses on LBC on Saturday, reflecting on my recent post and how utterly disproportionate this wretched scheme is.

ID cards = Bad IDea, Voting Tory for the first time = Good Idea!

You can listen to the interview on Radio 5 live here.

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2. Surrey AC Rowan Cole on BBC Radio Surrey

Meet Rowan Cole the new CF Area Chairman for Surrey – 21 year old Rowan is already a Councillor and is set to breathe a breath of fresh area into Surrey.

He has already got off to a flying start in his new role doing an interview this week on BBC Radio Surrey in which he introduces CF and explains our role and purpose.

Rowan announces his mission to encourage young people to get involved across the area and utilises the interview to hammer home the importance of youth activism.

Are you doing enough? The clock is ticking and the election is looming – be proactive and encourage less active CF members to step up – plus don’t forget to push your campaigning activity and initiatives to the media.

This is the time to get involved to make change happen but it is also the time to let the country know that we are involved and the change that we stand for.

So take a leaf out of Rowan’s book and get involved!

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2. Surrey CF Call for Change
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If you went to conference you are probably just recovering from the dreaded conference flu – I know I am! If you didn’t make it I’m sure that you saw all the fantastic media CF managed to get. This year’s coverage portrayed us a competent, united, professional and national organisation – coined as “media savvy and strategic” by the Guardian.

So what were the highlights?

We kicked it all off on Saturday with a stunning pre conference performance by Christian May on LBC. In the debate in Nick Conrad’s Young London show Christian really held his own – taking the wind out of his opponent’s sails. In fact the Saturday after he was invited back for a post conference discussion and he is set to become a regular on LBC!

We started the Conference on Monday with Michael Rock and Emma Carr (Regional Chair for the North East) on the Today Show, Radio 4. In a discussion with Evan Davis they talked about Conservative Future and also exactly why the Conservative Party does appeal to younger voters.

There was no time for Michael to relax and later that day he talked to Radio 5 – on the Victoria Derbyshire show.

Tuesday was marked by Rowenna Davis’s article in the Guardian – which proved that we are united and professional. Having spotted her as a media plant at our curry night we made a good impression and highlighted our determination and commitment – in Rowenna’s words we are “refreshingly unpresumptuous and non-complacent.”

On Wednesday we got a prime time slot (5.30pm!!) on the BBC News Channel with Hugh Edwards. Regular media mogul Emma Carr chatted to Hugh with two CF delegates, one from Yorkshire CF and one from Aberdeen University CF. This highlighted that CF is not London centric but a national organisation. In fact Hugh said to me afterwards how impressed he was with the professionalism and answers given by our team – not bad coming from a man who has interviewed an array of world leaders!

Michael Rock also gave an interview with Tory Radio later that day – who got it spot on when he labelled him “one of the good guys in politics.”

On Thursday Cameron’s speech inspired an army of proactive CF delegates to talk to the media – from the Wink Ball Wall to BBC news – Sophie Fernandes and Owen Meredith were amongst these bright sparks.

Those were the highlights but that is not to mention the various blogs we got – including plugs from the legendary Tory Bear about our NO2ID rally. Plus we seem to have set the fashion world alight with a certain Cameron accessory featured on the front page of the Metro!

The overall message from this year’s conference media coverage is that we are a united front and must build upon this and work together to ensure victory in the election. There are going to be lots of great media opportunities coming up over the next few months and we can create many more so this is just the beginning.

I will be posting soon regarding the media plans moving forward but in the mean time please do contact me regarding any media and press queries that you have.

michelle.donelan@conservativefuture.com

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Earlier this afternoon I appeared on Nick Conrad’s show on LBC taking part in a political youth debate.

Today’s interview was the first of many media outings that our excellent new Press Officer, Michelle, will be organising in the coming months. She’ll also be helping CF members to earn local news coverage, which is great.

The LBC show today was great fun, and very interesting – not least because young Londoners called in with their views. I think our debate showed the common ground that exists between us and the LibDems, even if they can’t see it themselves just yet.

Labour Students put up a good show, but struggled to defend Labour’s shameful record on young people. (You can’t run away from your record, no matter how much you would like to). Both of my fellow guests were very nice people, and I look forward to more debates with them in the future. I’ll be going back to LBC soon for a paper review and to have another great chat to Nick Conrad, who hosts the show.

If you have an account with LBC you can listen to the interview – link coming soon.

Image: LBC

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Back in August South & East Cheshire CF organised a litter pick in one of their local play areas.

Conservative Future youngsters clean up Middlewich play area

Members of the Conservative Future group did their bit to keep Middlewich free of litter.

The group of young Tories held a litter-pick, tidy-up and did a spot of gardening at the run-down Long Lane play area.

They were joined by Conservative Cheshire East councillors Derek Bebbington and John Wray.

South and East Cheshire Conservative Future events organiser James Wakeley said: “It was definitely a morning well spent. The play area was really a mess so we cut the grass, trimmed the hedges and removed rubbish such as an old bike and chairs.

Read the full piece here

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The Yorkshire Post looks at the growing numbers of people getting involved with CF in Yorkshire.

Drive boosted by army of young volunteers who feel it is cool to be Conservative again

AN army of young volunteers will play a vital role in the Tory drive to win Yorkshire’s key seats as growing numbers of under 30s decide it is cool to be Conservative again.

The success of David Cameron’s bid to decontaminate the Conservative brand has resulted in a revival of Conservative Future, the successor to the Young Conservatives which once attracted a membership of up to 250,000.

After years in the doldrums, membership has been picking up
with “substantial” growth in Yorkshire in the past year. Members played a major role in the party’s recent success in Norwich North and their enthusiasm is already giving the party a lift in marginal seats where they are pounding the streets.

In Yorkshire, a recruitment drive is planned with Conservative Future stalls at every university fresher’s fair in the autumn and a campaign to attract young professionals to the group, which is open to under 30s.

Read the full piece here

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The Daily Telegraph mentions the large role played by CF in the by-election campaign.

Writing in the Telegraph Andrew Pierce noted:

Miss Smith is a member of Conservative Future, a movement for under 30s, which is the largest youth political organisation in Britain.

Many of the organisation’s 18,000 went to Norwich or took part in telephone canvassing.

You can see the article here, or more coverage of the by-election on the Telegraph website here.

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