Today at the Conservative Party Conference I was part of a panel, discussing how we can get young people more engaged with politics. I was joined by Victoria Murphy, Chair of the London University Conservative Future and Calum Neilson, from CCHQ. It also gave me a chance to promote the launch of my new politics show, expressing ways students can get involved.

We looked to explore how Conservatives can become more influential and make students more engaged in youth politics in general.

Focussing on local angles is a large factor while also ensuring students feel we are approachable. Students are voting – a survey revealed the student vote is up from 38% to 58%, but we need to introduce more of them to the Conservative message.

A lot of students engage in politics through social media with 63% surveyed expressing they learnt about politics through their own research. This bought to the forefront, the disconnect between students and politicians and we have to plan a way forward.

Calum and Victoria both argued that on campus, students are experiencing intimidatation, sadly from some on the hard left who want to surpress free discussion.

It’s my belief that the way to move forward is to engage more with students through avenues such as social media. My new show will enable ordinary people to discuss these issues directly with leading figures and through questions and polls, share their views and be heard.

syed conference

 

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