Covid is turning the Tories into the Grey Party

This week in the Commons, the Government introduced the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill. It’s a technical bit of legislation that will allow ministers to increase the state pension next year, keeping the ‘Triple Lock’ promise that pensions will rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5 per cent, depending on which is highest.

It also confirms that the Conservative party is continuing its journey towards becoming the Grey party, unravelling Britain’s social contract and generally forgetting what it means to be conservative. Even before the coronavirus, the Tories were becoming the party of the old. Responses to the Covid pandemic could accelerate that movement.

In the 2010 general election, the Tories got 37 per cent of the vote overall. Their vote among people aged 18-24 was 30 per cent. Among those over 65+, it was 44 per cent. In the most recent YouGov poll, which puts the Tories on 39 per cent, the Tory vote among the youngest demographic was down to 10 per cent.