Laksh Subhav Kumar: At last, the Conservative Party is orienting itself towards younger people

Laksh Subhav Kumar is an approved candidate in Croydon for the 2026 local elections.

Since Disraeli, we have championed a One Nation vision that promotes a meritocracy – where people are not disadvantaged due to immutable characteristics whilst simultaneously upholding fiscal responsibility and pragmatic statecraft. I recognise that effective policy must be informed by evidence and be systems oriented and cognizant of unintended consequences.

Our conference proved that the Conservative Party is renewing itself as the only political party capable of securing Britain’s future through pragmatic renewal and competent governance.

Labour and Reform UK embrace divisive identity politics and fiscal recklessness, whilst the Liberal Democrats and Greens offer little beyond protest and performance. We Conservatives, by contrast, are rebuilding Britain through competent governance and are starting to become the only political party standing for the youth and the future of Britain. We are not only fixing the past but building the future.

The average age of the Conservative voter in 2019 was 39; in 2024 was 63. If we want to keep the Party alive, we need to select young people like me to bridge the gap between young electors and the Party whilst retaining our core voters.

I have campaigned across Croydon and spoke to hundreds of Croydonians but many were surprised to see a young person being a prospective Tory Councillor because they incorrectly perceive the Party as being irrelevant to young people. Each conversation with these residents has been an opportunity for me to recalibrate voter perception of us and illustrate our renewal and show how we are doing politics differently.

Jason Perry, the Executive Mayor of Croydon, and Conservative councillors  worked tirelessly to beat the homebuilding targets for Croydon and attracted over £200m in private investment to create jobs and improve public spaces (all of which directly benefit young Croydonians) whilst rectifying Labour’s catastrophic financial mismanagement of Croydon Council – proving whilst Labour and Reform sell false promises and increase taxes; we do the hard work to help young people and secure their futures.

In Devon, Jack Barwell (former campaign manager and a member’s favourite to be the future Parliamentary Candidate for Honiton & Sidmouth) is doing things differently to lead a new model of engagement by building a team of young activists to design and deliver local campaigns. Jack is only 22, but embodies the commonsense ideology and innovative leadership that the next generation wants.

Dr Luke Evans was the first Tory MP I saw on TikTok and exemplifies how we can connect with younger voters through social media but also by creating campaigns for issues that disproportionately affect young people via such means the Body Image Pledge that he created. This also illustrates how Tory MPs are engineering interventions that prevent financial burdens on the government but are achieving public good via collaboration with industry rather than trying to pass performative legislation.

Chris Philp champions to safeguard young people by calling for more extensive measures to combat crime that disproportionately impact young people, such as knife crime, by changing the law to triple the use of Stop & Search. Such promotes will save lives and make communities safer and are far more in touch with what normal people need compared to Reform’s irresponsible plans or Labour’s tax hikes and the young people will be the biggest beneficiaries of his work.

Margaret Thatcher announced Right to Buy back in 1980 to give council house residents a stake in the economy; Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride at conference announced commitments to abolish Stamp Duty on primary residences and tax rebates to help young people onto the property ladder and give them a stake in the economy. We are making policy that does not mortgage Gen Z’s future, but instead helps Gen Z get a mortgage.

The Party is renewing itself and we have a massive portfolio of evidence to prove it. We have started to focus on young people – something that no other political party is serious about doing. We are engineering ingenious policies to solve problems that normal people face whilst Labour and Reform divide our communities and fail to deliver.

I encourage every party member – especially Young Conservatives – to come out and support local candidates by campaigning and recognise that members’ participation between now and the next general election determines whether Britain embraces the Conservative renewal or succumbs to wokeness and populism.