It is no secret that The Conservative Party’s greatest supporters are the white, middle aged male demographic, whilst the demographic(s) that the Conservative Party struggles to engage with the most are younger voters, particularly younger black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) voters. This fact is not due to the Conservative Party’s ideology being mutually exclusive with the priorities of young and BAME voters, nor is it the case that the Conservative’s priorities are distinctly different from that of young and BAME voters. The cause for such a divide between the demographics we attract is due, largely, to the perceptions of the Conservative Party and a lack of trust that we will deliver on these shared priorities.
Demographic voting patterns from the 2017 and 2019 General Elections along with the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election highlights the challenge faced by the Conservative Party. Data from Yougov shows that in 2017, less than a quarter of those aged 18-29 voted for the Conservative party, with just under two thirds of this demographic voting for the Labour Party. While Labour’s vote share dropped to just over half in this demographic in 2019, it was due to a movement of young voters from Labour to the Liberal Democrats, the SNP or the Greens, as the Conservative Party remained at under a quarter of the voted for those aged 18-29. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election, ComRes found that just 10% of 16–34-year-olds voted for the Scottish Conservative Party, compared to 58% who voted for the SNP. This was a drop from 2016 where 23% of 16–34-year-olds voted for the Scottish Conservatives.
The picture gets bleaker when we look at Black Asian and Minority Ethnic voting patterns, where Ipsos Mori details that 64% of BAME individuals voted for Labour, whilst just 20% voted for the Conservative Party in the 2019 General Election. In terms of seats, Labour won 113 seats with a larger-than-average BAME population, whilst the Conservative Party won 53. What’s more is that of those seats that had a higher than 50% BAME population, the Labour Party won 25, and the Conservative Party won just one. But this doesn’t just show the dire picture of the Conservative Party’s failure to engage with BAME and young voters, it also shows the enormous potential these demographics have to influence the future electoral success of the Conservative Party.
So how does the Conservative Party engage and convince BAME and young voters? The answer comes from understanding their priorities and what they want from a government, then from there, common ground can be discovered – something that has been difficult to communicate in the past. From speaking to young BAME individuals, it is clear that they want a government that will provide quality infrastructure, a need exacerbated by Covid-19 highlighting the wealth gap between BAME communities and white communities. They also want good quality education, seen most desperately in the attainment gap where Black students are 1.5 times more likely to not complete their degree than their white counterparts. In light of the trying effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, young BAME voters want access to good healthcare, which, according to the BBC is not being met – with BAME individuals being more likely to receive worse mental health support than white individuals. These are all issues that the Conservative Party agree on, as we stood on a manifesto in 2019 promising to “level up” the United Kingdom, increasing healthcare access and staff, boosting infrastructure around the UK, and improving our education system. Yet, while the common ground is already there, our messaging is not, and more importantly, we do not have the trust of young BAME voters. To gain that trust, we need to deliver on our promises to level up our country, and ensure that young BAME voters benefit, thus changing our party’s image in their eyes.
Economically, young BAME voters share the same priorities as the Conservative party, with a desire to see small businesses supported. This guarantees their entrance into the job market instead of being stuck in a menial job for the rest of their lives. The latter scenario is common for young individuals of African descent as a some of their parents can desire and require instant gratification and thus don’t support these young people to take on proper professions that take years of training. Therefore, in supporting small businesses we will also be supporting young BAME individuals to become financially independent and as a result, they will be free to pursue their own aspirations.
Aspiration, after all, has been the foundation of the Conservative Party for decades. Investing in jobs, infrastructure and education to ensure that individuals can pursue their aspirations has been our economic priority for as long as most can remember. It is our responsibility now to get the message out to young BAME voters that we understand the importance of helping them achieve their aspirations, and we are dedicated to doing so.