GO ON. Admit it. You weren’t going to read this article were you? You saw its main topic of discussion was the Conservative Party and you were just about to flick to the Blind Date page. Don’t worry; we’ve all been there.
Without wanting to generalise the student population horrifically, my experiences have dictated that since I first came to our wonderful university as a fractious Fresher on a blustery day in September 2006, I have always been scorned for my political views. Am I a communist? No. Do I vote for the BNP? God no. I have the worst political allegiance of all: I’m a Conservative.
There’s a terrible stereotype, or stigma if you will, associated with the Tories that means most students still see them as the party for the middle classes, the party that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. I’ve even heard one person say that Margaret Thatcher had destroyed Britain! The miners’ strike, the Poll Tax, disastrous policies and disastrous politicians; things haven’t always run smoothly for the Conservatives, but isn’t that the beauty of politics? Many a time I’ve whipped out my Conservative membership card only to be scoffed at (whether or not it was because I happened to ‘whip it out’ on the packed dance floor at 5th Ave remains to be seen).
The thing is, the Conservatives want what most other parties and people want from our government; an NHS free of bureaucracy, a thriving economy, a fair judicial system, to safeguard and advance national interest in regards to foreign policy and to raise the standards of educational institutions. What most people don’t realise is that a Conservative voter isn’t necessarily a middle aged, middle class Oxford graduate, and ’t hell bent on tough immigration limits at any cost.
The image of the Conservatives being ‘old-fashioned’ is unjustified. In fact, Conservatives have always been much more radical than most people appreciate; we had the first ever Jewish Prime Minister, the first bachelor Prime Minister and the first female Prime Minister (whatever your views on Maggie may be) and our last two Prime Ministers came from working-class roots and were state-educated. Shocking, isn’t it?
Not one, not even two, but three people actually openly mocked me when I told them I’d just attended the unveiling of the new Conservative advertising campaign. I didn’t exactly expect them to be brimming with excitement at the fact I’d met Shadow Chancellor extraordinaire, George Osborne, but when I asked why they felt they needed to laugh, they had no response, just a mumbled reply about David Cameron being a ‘twat’. Aah, and so we come to the possible root of the modern problem with the Tories. Maybe, just maybe, it’s Davey-C’s ‘down with the kids’ attitude that upsets people. He wears Converse and he’s over 25? WHAT? He rides a bike to work? NO! It’s difficult to comprehend, I understand, but it annoys me so when people can’t see past the polished (and often rather creepy) faces of modern politics. We should be old enough now to realise that appearances can be deceiving and we shouldn’t, to use that tired old cliché, ‘judge a book by its cover’.
Ultimately, I’m not trying to change anyone’s views here, I’m not even trying to subtly solicit votes. I’m just saying that Tories have feelings too, so don’t point and laugh, get out there and do something for your democracy - you don’t have to be thinking what we’re thinking.
Yeah.
Cameron got some snot on his back.
Lex
The tories ARE Thatcherite - just watch the documentary Michael Portillo did the other day and see how far up her arse the entire party still is. And please, please go to Sunderland for an afternoon and have a look at where "no such thing as society" gets you. Or indeed come to my house in London and explain to me why a whole community lives in contempt of one another to the point that stabbings and daylight robbery is just taken as another pain in the arse.
Not even Adam Smith did what Thatcher did - at least he believed in a social contract. You are wrong: the Tories haven't changed. Your article has done nothing but remind me why I hate them.
"The miners’ strike, the Poll Tax, disastrous policies and disastrous politicians; things haven't always run smoothly for the Conservatives, but isn't that the beauty of politics?"
It takes a massive understatement followed by nonsensical philosophy to attempt to defend them. There was nothing beautiful about the miners strike or the Poll Tax. Or taking milk from schools, or the Falklands war, or black Wednesday...
PS - The Tories would probably make a more competent government than the SWP.
I agree entirely with Jack’s criticism of this piece. Whilst it's true that the Miner’s strike, the Poll Tax, (in your own words) “disastrous policies and disastrous politicians”, (and to add Jack’s points) The Falklands, Black Wednesday, and the removal of free school milk, are instances of past Tory shame (and so to criticise the as-yet-untested Cameron and Co on this basis would be to do so on an unfair and ungrounded basis) when unleashing your own opinion upon the reader, please do not present an argument so thoroughly under-researched, at the very least to prevent yourself from being further "mocked".
Your dismissive attitude of "oh look, we can brush the Miner's strike, et al, under the carpet now..." is just a little bit inappropriate given social impact of these events, and as a result, you argument (and by association - unfortunate for you) your politics, are rendered ridiculous.
Yes, these events did have a somewhat catastrophic social impact but it's completely ridiculous to still keep on applying an anti-Thatcher argument to a party that have changed. And that's just it...people will keep on talking about Thatcher for decades to come without even looking into the manifesto of the Cameron Conservatives. My point has been entirely proven in this week's SD, by a reader who assumed that I lived in a 'southern middle-class bubble'. I'm actually from a northern single parent family. But no. People will believe what they want to believe. I admit that I didnt back up my argument at all, but I doubt it would have made a difference.