Harriet Dolby: What should the Conservatives give Gen Z? Ambition

Harriet Dolby is the Treasurer of the Oxford University Conservative Association, and the most recent and youngest member of the Next Gen Tories executive.

‘Work hard, get a good job, buy a house and enjoy your life’ is a motto ingrained in my psyche by my father from a young age.

For his generation (Generation X), this trajectory followed a fast-paced timeline, buying his first home in his mid-20s. For much of my university cohort this remains the desired- but not guaranteed- path.

The ambition that drove so many of us to Oxbridge seems to stall when we start discussing life post-degree.

This sentiment amongst students and recent graduates is an opportunity for the Conservative Party to re-pitch their core value as fostering ambition. This Renewal 2030 process, akin to the party ‘finding themselves in Bali’ , has been – and will continue to be – a period of much needed soul searching.

For a start, if we identify our core value as ambition, there would be greater certainty and clarity for the direction of policy.

It is clear, to me at least, that Gen Z, small ‘c’ conservative, apathy stems from a disconnect: a generational divide. As Next Gen Tories highlight we have a broken social contract, one in which young people no longer feel that they have a stake in society.

Therefore, it is unsurprising that we do not live in a Burkean society of ‘little platoons.

Many young people will not feel able to imbed themselves into local communities if they cannot buy a house, the short-termism and instability of renting exacerbates this atomistic society. Indeed, housing unaffordability has pushed the average first-time buyer’s age to 34, while just 28 per cent of 25–34-year-olds own their own home, down from 51 per cent in 1989.

This picture unsurprisingly makes home ownership a distant and abstract prospect for many of my peers, who have become accustomed to the reality that they will be sharing a box in zone 6 for the next 6 years, if not sleeping in their parents’ loft.

Equally, the graduate job market appears to be a purgatory of hope, dreams, and ambitions. Whilst some may wisely swap their pub nights for evenings preparing for psychometric tests in hope of glimpsing the offices of the Big Four or the Magic Circle; most engage in extracurriculars that excite them, possibly get the occasional work experience, and cross their fingers.

Whilst the graduate employment rate in the UK stands at 87 per cent, the underemployment rate (graduates in non-graduate roles) stands at a concerning 32 per cent.

What, therefore, is the point of attending university, accruing vast amounts of debt, approximately £53,000, for the privilege of working in a job you could have done without three years of hard work?

It is no wonder that many people endeavour to buy their time through a masters, praying that the job market may look upon them more favourably, a philosophy reflected in the number of master’s degrees increasing by 67 per cent since 2019. With more and more talented young people fleeing to Dubai or to the USA to avoid the taxman, we need to as the Conservative party, to pitch them a reason to stay. We used to, and still can, tell a convincing story of opportunity and optimism. This rhetoric was synthesised in John Major’s 1992 slogan:

“What do the Conservatives do for a working-class boy in Brixton? They made him Prime Minister.”

The tide is certainly turning, however, with Kemi Badenoch and many other Conservative MPs admitting that we do need to increase housebuilding, particularly through densifying our cities.

There is starting to be a recognition that the party needs to look to younger people rather than appeasing the grey vote through the triple lock and NIMBYism. This is particularly pressing as one in six of 2024 Conservative voters are likely to die before the election.

Yet it is not just about policy, it is about giving opportunities to more Gen Zs within the party.

Although Reform has been lambasted for having a nineteen-year-old as the Warwickshire council leader, its Gen Z appeal is likely not just about what it says. It is because Reform enables and platforms younger people who share its beliefs.

Young people, many of which were former young conservatives, flock to reform, in part, because they see the chance to appear on the ballot paper themselves. Politically minded young people, especially on the right, are undoubtedly ambitious; why else would they be willing to ostracise and alienate themselves from campus if they did not believe that they had something to gain.

Therefore, if the Conservative Party recognised this more- perhaps in some cases sacrificing experience for a new perspective, when it comes to policy, positions or platforms- they could demonstrate this value of ambition convincingly.

As English roads are lined with St George’s flags and red crosses are painted on mini roundabouts, in some desperate ploy to prove one’s identity, it is important to remember what makes us British. Our pride in Britain should not stem from ethno-nationalistic spiel. Rather, it should reflect the belief that hard work breeds success, and that innovation and risk are rewarded.

But for the Conservative Party to survive, it must accelerate the Next Gen Tories’ agenda and take onboard their philosophy to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to ‘work hard, get a good job, buy a house and enjoy their life’.