Conservatives in the Cities
Beginning in the economic revolution of the early 1980’s many of Britain’s cities became increasingly anti-Conservative. Opposition, and in some cases hatred, towards the Conservative Party only appeared to increase and, as the ballot box shows, much of this has failed to fade away.
The opposition to what we were doing during the 1980’s became nowhere more prominent than on Liverpool City Council where the Militant tendency had taken control under the Labour banner. We will all know the stories of how Derek Hatton attempted to face off against Mrs Thatcher before being completely defeated after his Trade Union backers withdrew their support and Neil Kinnock’s eventual purging of the Militant tendency from Labour.
The legacy of men like Hatton has loomed over Merseyside and other such counties for decades and their anti-Conservative attitudes appear to linger, as evident in election results. However, there is an apparent glimmer of hope on Merseyside. After living in the county my entire life I have noticed that many people who are not yet eighteen and, therefore, unable to reflect their opinions in general or local elections appear to hold a set of quite conservative ideals.
When asking a great deal of these young people how they feel on matters such as taxation and government spending the vast majority of people respond with opinions that many people would consider to be conservative. Finding people with the same attitudes as our party is only the first step however. In cities such as Liverpool and its surrounding area the disdain for our party and individuals such as Mrs Thatcher are so entrenched that if one were to ask, “Would you consider voting for the Conservatives?” the answer is usually an abrupt and stern “No.”
I would never suggest, however, that we should attempt to rid ourselves of our history and distance ourselves from individuals such as Mrs Thatcher who, sadly, hold a poor reputation in some of our nations larger and more industrial cities but that we should focus on advertising our key policies that are cornerstones in the conservative mindset such as low taxation, spending within our means, responsibility and enterprise and as these cities evolve into the modern and advances hubs many of us recognise in the south of England then so, with a little encouragement, shall the voting intentions of young people in these large cities.
