Robert Jenrick: The Tories have a young person problem

Is ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick on manoeuvres? He certainly looked the part as he waxed lyrical to a crowd of under 35s at the Onward’s ‘After Hours’ event in a Westminster pub. Jenrick said it was no surprise youngsters are struggling to get on the housing ladder. ‘You’re absolutely right to say that the housing crisis today is also an immigration crisis,’ he crowed to the audience. ‘You can’t have mass migration and an answer to the housing crisis.’ But while the Tory MP has been championing housing and migration issues over the last few years, tonight’s focus was on the Tory issue with younger voters.

‘We are outliers in Europe and beyond in our inability to win over young people,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t see a future for our party unless we help people like you across the country to have a genuine stake in this country.’ And he might be right.