At the “How can the Conservatives win back the under-45s?” Fringe. Average age of audience: 55. Number of bow ties: 2. #cpc18
Neil O’Brien says the Tories are now some 40 points behind Labour among young people. Says young voters were attracted by Corbyn’s offer of a “moon on a stick”. #cpc18
O’Brien says the Tories’ support among young voters is like a branch that has been rotting for years and has now finally broken. #CPC18
O’Brien: If we called tuition fees a graduate tax then the Tories would obviously be campaigning to slash it. #CPC18
Rachel Sylvester from The Times: “There’s a danger of the party looking like a party for old white men.” #CPC18
Rachel Sylvester says Brexit has convinced a whole generation that the Conservatives are not the party for them. #CPC18
Sylvester says the only way for the party to recover the support of young people is to hold a second Brexit referendum. Conservative delegates here very unhappy with this suggestion #cpc18
George Freeman asks for a show of hands for how many women there are in the room under the age of 47. There are around 8. #cpc18
George Freeman says the housing crisis is the biggest barrier to a Tory majority: “Why would you ever be a capitalist if you’ve got no chance of ever getting any capital?” #cpc18
George Freeman says the Conservative party look like “armed wing of UKIP” and “Besuited bank managers of austerity with no vision” #Cpc18
Justine Greening says if the Conservative party doesn’t start appealing to young people: “We’re just not going to be winning elections any more. It’s as simple as that.” #Cpc18
The panelists all diagnosing short term causes of collapse in Tory support among young people - housing shortages, tuition fees, Brexit - but not identifying the basic long-term cause, which is decades of seeking votes of the old and rich at expense of the young and poor. #Cpc18
A Conservative teacher in the audience says her class is like “a socialist convention” and adds “the things you hear in the classroom are scary.” #Cpc18
Audience member: “My daughter votes Labour, I’m ashamed to say.” #cpc18
Audience member says party shouldn’t change from its “traditional values” in order to win over young people in London. Outside London in “the provinces” people still want families, he says. Murmur of approval from delegates. #cpc18
