Harry Curtis: A blueprint to win the youth vote

So, folks, this Labour Government is driving us off a cliff with spending. We are living through the largest tax-and-spend initiative in a generation. For young people, the flame of success and home ownership is slowly flickering away.

The Conservative Party must find a way to win over younger voters. Otherwise, there may not be much of Britain left, let alone the Conservative Party.

Promote Home Ownership

Wages in our country have improved very little in comparison to the boom in the general cost of living. Young people dream of owning a home; yet, if you’re fortunate enough to save £450 a month for a deposit, it will still take you eleven years to get on the housing ladder.

The 2029 Conservative Party manifesto must pledge to scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers. We can only create a dynamic economy if individuals have targets to strive towards.

If young people feel it will take a lifetime to buy their dream home, many simply won’t bother. Without the prospect of home ownership, ambition fades and economic activity stalls. We are supposed to be the party of Thatcher, the Prime Minister who used the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme to create arguably the greatest vehicle for social mobility in British history. Yet today, the average age for first-time home ownership is 33: the same as it was in 1990. If that doesn’t reflect a nation that has lost its ambition, what does? To bring that ambition back, we must work towards…

Cutting Taxation and Making Work Pay

We must radically rethink the tax system. As mentioned earlier, there is a tide of pessimism washing over our country. People feel that no matter how hard they work, they are unable to achieve life milestones, whether that be owning a home or starting a family. This breeds apathy and dependence on the state.

We must make work pay again and get welfare dependents back into the workforce to reinvigorate our economy. Otherwise, Brexit will have been for nothing. Our fourteen years in government will have been for nothing. And we will fall behind our European neighbours.

Most importantly, we must breathe life back into this country and remind people that they can achieve anything through hard work and determination. That belief is what has historically made Britain great.

If we want young people to become economically active and aspire to own homes, we must inspire them. We must ensure they feel that their hard work is rewarded; that they are working for themselves, not for His Majesty’s Treasury.

Work with the Private Sector, Not Against It

Socialists fail to grasp that the private sector is the engine of job creation. You cannot tax and spend your way to prosperity. You must empower enterprise.

We should partner with the private sector to mass-produce apprenticeships and skill up a new generation of electricians, plumbers, decorators, builders, and professionals.

Without this, we risk returning to the economic stagnation of the 60s and 70s where there were no jobs, no homes, and no hope.

We are living in the golden age of Britain, yet Labour is dragging us — kicking and screaming — back into the jaws of poverty and despair.

Let’s use our Brexit freedoms to cut corporation tax and design a smarter, more agile tax system. Why couldn’t we create a 50-year plan to reduce the pension bill by mandating the private sector to invest in employee pension pots in return for tax breaks or VAT relief? Why not establish special economic zones across the country, offering tax incentives to businesses that invest in local schools, hospitals, and infrastructure?

Promote the Family

The welfare bill is dangerously unsustainable. The benefits system is open to abuse, and we must introduce tougher measures to crack down on fraud.

At the same time, we need to shift spending priorities. We must move away from pumping billions into pensions and instead reinvest in the future: young families.

Many young couples want to start a family, but the financial burden is overwhelming. We have some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Let’s scrap VAT on childcare products and redirect support to help parents, not the state, raise their children. Parents don’t want the government to raise their kids; they want the tools to do it themselves. Let’s give them that chance.

This is no time for timidity or tinkering at the edges. The Conservative Party must return to bold, visionary thinking that is grounded in the values of aspiration, self-reliance, and opportunity.

Young people are crying out for a reason to believe in Britain again. Let us be the party that lights that spark. That helps them own a home, start a family, and build a future. That backs them when they work hard. That stands not for state dependency but for self-determination.

If we are serious about winning the next generation, then we must act like it. Not with hollow slogans but with real reform. Let’s give young people a country worth inheriting, and a party worth voting for.

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