Why are young women reluctant to become Conservative activists?
By: Anna Morgan
Tags: Conservative Party, Women, UK Politics, Politics, Women In Politics

Something I get asked a lot is how we can encourage young women to be involved with the Conservative Party. Of course I don’t have all the answers, but I think it is important to look at why young women may vote for the Party and want to get involved but not make the decision to join and be active.

I have always been a Conservative voter and felt very strongly about politics. It took me a while to get involved, partly because I didn’t really see as many young women in Conservative groups at my university and partly because I felt uncomfortable knowing I’d be targeted by my left leaning peers. It is a tough time for anybody to make the decision to be involved in politics when abuse and divisions seem so prominent, but as a young woman I knew I’d be more likely to be a target.

Eventually I became more and more angry with how people at my university would vote for my local MP (a Corbynista frontbencher) and not care that the constituency also includes my hometown, a small place so far removed from student politics. I constantly saw how my MP prioritised the university and the student population and my hometown felt like an afterthought, the people I loved and grew up with and volunteered with always being second place to the students who never intended to remain in the constituency after graduation. I decided to get involved despite my concerns because I became so protective of the place I was raised, I couldn’t just sit back anymore.

I ended up moving to an area with a brilliant Conservative MP and even before I moved into the area I had contacted the association chairman because I was so keen to be involved. I was lucky that my association were incredibly welcoming and always eager to listen to my views. However, not every young person feels so welcomed.

When I visit other associations, particularly when I go to my hometown, I see that there are so few young people involved especially young women. I believe that young women may not think they will be supported within associations, particularly smaller ones, because they are fearful of the abuse they will receive and don’t necessarily think older members of an association will understand their concerns around social media etc.

I think it is important to discuss with associations the ways in which young people experience barriers from social media and the Corbynista supporters who actively target young women with abuse. A lot of members would be genuinely shocked if they saw how many young women receive death or rape threats just from sharing a political opinion online.

A lot of young women may also feel a lack of confidence when it comes to public speaking and if you haven’t had much experience before, it can be daunting for anybody. On top of the fear of being targeted on social media, there is always the fear of saying something publicly that will cause even more abuse to happen as well as the knowledge that often you are judged on how you look and what you wear. I really advocate training in public speaking for members who struggle, young and older. We need to encourage such training so that our activists can feel confident on the doorstep and be able to stand for elected roles.

It is also necessary that when we think a woman would be an excellent candidate for a role as a Councillor/MP/etc we encourage them to get involved and ask them if they have any concerns. We have so many amazing activists that we would love to be able to run for elected positions and make a difference to their communities, sometimes all it takes is making sure that they feel their concerns are understood and taken seriously.

Whenever I meet women in our Party, I am constantly inspired and proud of the incredible strength, knowledge and talent they have. Our Party believes in women who proactively deliver change and assert their views, just look at Margaret Thatcher! This is why I love being involved as a young woman Conservative and dislike quotas and all-women shortlists, we don’t need such measures for women to thrive in our Party but we do need to ensure that concerns are dealt with and understood so that we can empower the young women who vote Conservative to stand for election and confidently speak on the doorstep.