Young people are right to hate the Tories

According to the latest YouGov polling, just 1 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to vote Conservative at the next election. That’s right – 1 per cent. There are now more caravans in the UK than young Tories. Among 24- to 49-year-olds, the figures aren’t much better; Rishi Sunak’s party trails Labour by 45 points.

It wasn’t always this way. In 1983, Margaret Thatcher won 42 per cent of the youth vote, nine points ahead of Michael Foot. In 2010, David Cameron won 30 per cent. Even in the Labour landslide of 1997, John Major still won 27 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds. It is a fallacy to suggest young voters are pre-determined to reject the Conservatives. But can you really blame them for doing so now?

The single biggest indicator of someone’s likelihood to vote Tory is whether they own their own home. It isn’t rocket science: you’re more likely to be a Conservative if you have something to conserve (such as a house), so you’d have thought the party would have prioritised housebuilding during the last 13 years.