Katy Taylor-Richards: CF needs some depoliticising

Katy is a journalist for a national newspaper and plays as a political devil's advocate. However she is and will always be, a true blue Tory.

Believe me I do not want to sound critical, down-beat or at any cost venomous - but I fear that Conservative Future is fast turning into a ‘clique’ - mirroring the internal cliques that already exist within the void that is the Tory party. As “young people” (you must understand I despise this term and thus use it in an ironic sense) with invested interests in both politics and specifically the Conservative Party - any such organisation is bound to be of minority interest but it should not be selective nor dismissive in this.

As a 22-year-old “Tory girl”, I am in the slap-bang in the middle of Conservative Future in that I am not student and am only just coming into working life. As such one would think that such a specimen as I (and those like me) would be harnessed and embraced by CF and the party, but in fact the opposite is true but I am unsure as to why this is. Thus this has made me disillusioned against the CF and the Conservative party as a whole. I do not harbor political ambitions - I do not want to be an MP, nor do I want to be a councillor or chairman but I fear it is these admissions that have in turn now fragmented and separated me from CF and those I have met within the division. I am seen as not a valid member or of importance? (note the question mark)

However I am a paid up, true-blue advocate of the Conservative Party - a member of three local Conservative organisations. I do share in the values and fundamental core beliefs of the party and I anticipate the further direction of the party under the reigns of Mr Cameron. Which brings me to my point - I fear CF is becoming a clique of those who want to be the next Cameron's, Osborne’s and May’s and in doing so are overlooking those within the murky leftovers - and there are a number of us out there. Politics as a vocation is a dog-eat-dog world and the MPs have to play the game and to extent talk the talk - but at this stage CF and those in it do not! I stand to argue that within CF it should not all be about policy etc. Yes, we are a group built on a political notion, a political belief system but we all know this otherwise we would not have come across it.

We do not have to go so far to entertain political hyperbole, jargon and empty promises and admissions - we should take the front-seat and push for the future we envisage as a collective, diverse group, steering instead away from agendas. CF should be more relaxed and spirited. CF could make a real impact but events need to involve more people and not take form of mini-me politics. The CF website is moving and improving - there is more on there than simply politics - it is a start. The Conservative Party (the “grown up version!” - again note the irony) is forever preaching it is the party of change, the future and so on but why then is not more attention given to Conservative Future - the very sub-division with the word FUTURE in the title.

Why is it that no Shadow Cabinet member really takes an interest in CF? Why is it that no-one really reports on the movings of CF? Why is it no-one really within CF understands CF? Is it because CF has no real direction and is fragmented itself? Is CF just a mini-me version of the Shadow Cabinet?

CF could make a real difference if only the political motivation was somehow downplayed. As Llewellyn states in his own posting - CF does have potential and with allegedly 15,000 members (I think I have met about 5) CF could create a real stamp on the Conservative brand. Just think of what could happen at up-coming conference if during the programme some real time was given to CF - rather than CF members being made to hand out leaflets.

David Cameron was to talk about the future. David Cameron wants to make things better for future generations. But he does not see us? We don’t need to talk about it we are it right now - we just need to realise it, embrace it and get on with it.