According to this piece in i news by Will Tanner who was an adviser to Theresa May from 2014-2017, and Deputy Head of the Policy Unit during her first year in Number 10 the membership of the Tory Party is shifting demographically at an alarming rate. Those are my words not his! The average age of Tory party members is now 72, which is a change from 2 years ago when the average age was 66. This speed of change and the direction of travel is an indication that the party is heading for a major challenge. Even if the hemorrhaging of younger members is ended and the speed of change is reduced, that is not going to reverse the trend without a huge change to a party whose name clearly states that it won’t make radical changes. One of the major issues for the aging party is for it to be accountable to its members and also for it to respond to the wider electorate. This means it is increasingly needing to look and listen in two different directions simultaneously. Will goes on to contrast the ageing demographic of his party with the appeal by Labour through Momentum and other initiatives and his final paragraph states:

“This year will be remembered as the year the generational arithmetic changed. If the Conservative Party takes bold decisions, and exposes Labour’s empty promises, young people can be converted – the Left has no monopoly on youth. But if the Conservatives don’t, the party will decline with each generation, until there is nothing – much less a majority – left.”

I confess that my own political views are to the left of the Tory party on most matters and I have no worries at their disappearance, except that if faced with a dominant political party, those whose politics fits comfortably into the space currently being filled by the Tories will need to find an alternative and this is where far right parties could emerge to fill the vacuum.

My own view is that the way forward for our political system is not that we prop up a dying party, but rather we develop a new way of doing politics. A way that relies on a much broader concept than a two party or even 2.2 party system. What is needed in my view is a refocus back on who I want to see as my MP. Their political allegiance is far less important than their political views and their views on matters of real concern such as strengthening communities, which may include accepting difficult decisions in a locality in order for a wider strengthening to take place, holding governments to account rather than simply opposing one brand and supporting the other, ensuring all voices are heard and listened to and having the honesty to explain why some of those voices cannot be responded too, irrespective of how loud and articulate they are. If people like Will Tanner are trying to save the Tory party, they are in my view misguided, what we need is a new political paradigm that is not based around party needs, but is focused on societies needs.