Tory tidal wave turns students blue

Nov 4 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

After years in the doldrums, it seems the Conservatives are enjoying a renaissance in the city. Laura Davis meets the students leading the revival

ASIDE from the forlorn expressions of those who have just seen their motion defeated, not much is blue in Liverpool’s council chamber.

Since 1996, when Woolton’s Steve Fitzsimmons was defeated by a Lib-Dem, the city has not had a single Conservative councillor.

The party fares nearly as badly in Merseyside as a whole where, despite holding a total of 41 seats in Sefton and Wirral, there is not a single Tory MP.

But there is an undercurrent of change, if not in the traditional working men‘s clubs, then in student unions.

During September’s “freshers” week”, such was the number of students keen to sign up to Conservative Future, the party’s association for under-30s, that it has formed three new branches in Liverpool – one for each of the city’s universities.

And these are not all imports from the Home Counties, many of them are local young people who have grown up against the backdrop of Tory-cynical Liverpool.

“Scouse Tories – that oxymoron,” jokes Neil Wilson, Conservative Future’s area chairman for Merseyside, at one of the group’s social events.

The location is apt. Hannah’s Bar, on Hardman Street, has recently been revamped from a dishevelled state to become all bright and “new Liverpool”, much like the transform- ation the Tory Party is hoping for its reputation in the city.

The evening is fairly informal, explains Neil, who is encouraged by the turnout as well as by the attendance of Chris Grayling, MP for Epsom and Ewell, and shadow secretary for Work and Pensions.

Since being made shadow minister for Merseyside two years ago, he has been a visible presence in the area.

Neil’s enthusiasm is reflected in the atmosphere of the bar’s upstairs meeting room, where around 40 CF members are enjoying a drink, as well as a view of the Liver Building and other Liverpool landmarks.

Among them is 19-year-old Paul Athans, from Grassendale, chair of Liverpool University’s new CF society.

Paul stood for Cressington Ward in the local elections last May when, for the first time in years, the Tories fielded a candidate for every seat. Each one was aged under 27 and the Party’s total number of votes across the city increased by 37% on the previous year.

Then, aged just 18, Paul’s first ever vote was a vote for himself.

“I’ve been a member of the Conservative Party since 2006. I joined online. Then the local association got in touch with me and I started canvassing leaflets and eventually I got to stand in the local elections,” explains the former Blue Coat School pupil in an obvious Scouse accent.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life. Pounding the streets, handing out leaflets with your own face on is all really good, and speaking to people about the local issues. I had a woman phone me up and say ‘it’s so good to see a young person interested in politics, I’m going to vote for you; I vote on the person, not the party’.”

When Paul started his politics degree in October, 2007, there was no CF branch at the university – it folded around four years ago – so he decided to create one.

During “freshers’ week” in September, around 100 students expressed an interest in joining and are now being chased up, with 21 members already fully enrolled.

This compares to 75 Labour Students (60 of whom are new this year – around 200 people in total expressed an interest) and 10 members of Liberal Youth.

The new CF branch at John Moores University has 10 paid-up members, compared to one in Liberal Youth. JMU’s Labour Students chairman declined to give specific figures, but said: “We have had more members than the Liberal Democrats and the Tories put together since 2007.”

Where the Tories are leading the field is at Hope University, where there are just seven CF students, but no sign of the other two Parties at all. There are a further 20 non-student CF members in the city.

Paul, who says he didn’t grow up in a “particularly Conservative family”, says it was feeling disillusioned with the Labour Government that encouraged him to join the Conservative Party.

“The Liberal Democrats running the City Council I think has been quite abysmal – getting a one-star rating by the Audit Commission last year – and I didn’t like growing up under a Labour government, so the Conservative Party was the one for me.

“I have to work in Asda for 16 hours a week or I wouldn’t be able to afford to live away from home. When I leave university, if I don’t stay on and do a Masters, that’s nine grand of debt in fees.

“I’m pretty confident that the Conservative Party is not going to raise tuition fees and will cap them at the current level. My brother’s only 14 and the way it’s going it looks like it could be up to £10,000 a year by the time he goes to university.”

Paul, who lives in a shared house near Penny Lane, is critical of Labour’s plans for Higher Education.

“The other thing the Conservatives are saying is they’ll offer more vocational opportunities. One of Labour’s main aims is to get 50% of people into university, which is good, but the problem is that it devalues a degree and you then have to do a Masters to get the better job.

“More apprenticeships will fill the gaps in the employment market and give people skills.”

Andy Desborough, a Liverpool University student from Somerset who went to independent school and is the son of a senior doctor, seems more of an obvious candidate for CF membership.

However, his parents were not particularly politicised (he thinks he can remember them once voting Labour) and he has even undertaken work experience in the office of a Lib- Dem MP.

Part of his motive for choosing the Tories is a dislike of the current ruling party.

“I get annoyed with the way New Labour has imposed targets on important institutions like the NHS. In order for public institutions to work, it needs to be people on the ground level making the decisions, with limited state interference,” says the second-year politics and philosophy student.

“I also like the traditional Conservative value of individualism – people working hard and standing on their own two feet. I’ve always been a real admirer of people who are self-made.”

The 20-year-old, who says he can’t see himself as a career politician but would like to spend some time as an MP, believes Britain’s three major political parties should have a presence in higher education institutions.

“University’s a time for thinking and ideas, and it’s important to have representation from the major parties. It seems a bit sad if it’s all the Socialist Workers Party and the Greens. It’s a bit abstract.”

Andy, who studies at Liverpool University, joined CF so he could vote for David Cameron in the leadership battle in 2005.

His respect for the Conservative leader is one thing all the CF members here seem to have in common – seeing him as someone who can disassociate the party from Thatcher. Not that most of them can really remember life in Thatcher’s Britain, being babies or toddlers at the time of her resignation.

Strong characters are important, they agree. One comments on Boris Johnson: “He gets portrayed as a bit of a buffoon and, when he got voted in as Lord Mayor of London, some people thought ‘what have we done’, but he’s shown what he’s made of and he’s a great character and young people like that.”

Students supporting other parties are more cynical about the new CF branches.

Adam Lewis, campaigns and membership officer for JMU’s Labour Students, believes the Tory party is only interested in boosting its membership.

“On the Guild Council, eight out of 30 are Labour Students and so are four out of eight of JMU’S National Union of Students delegates,” he says.

“The Conservatives have shown no interest whatsoever in NUS issues this year or in the Guild Council. It’s just a membership drive.”

However, Chris Grayling believes younger members of the Conservative Party are providing a boost of enthusiasm in what is traditionally a Tory-sceptical city.

“It’s important to have people who will get stuck in and no Party has enough people to get involved in campaigning,” he says. “I’ve always said winning seats in Liverpool is a long-haul task, but the situation is now beginning to change.”

So why does the Conservative Party appeal to young people?

“I think it’s a combination of factors – David Cameron plays a big part in it.

“It’s also about visibility. When young people are looking around for which party they’ve got more in common with, then it helps if you’ve put in an appearance.

“Also, what always happens when a Government has been in power for too long is that the fresher ideas come from the other side and students are always looking for the fresher ideas.”

For many of the CF members, this seems to be just it – they are attracted to the Conservatives simply because it is not Labour.

For young people in 1997, voting in New Labour was the chance to give Britain a fresh start. Now CF students are voting Tory for the very same reason.

lauradavis