As the Conservatives lick their wounds, a new generation of activists fear an extended period in the political wilderness

When Jayde Tanisha Edwards saw the exit poll on 4 July, she was shocked. “I think everybody came to the conclusion that the Conservatives were going to lose, but I don’t think we realised how badly we were going to lose,” she says.

Edwards is an unlikely Tory activist. She is 25 years old, and when she got involved with the party some years ago – standing as a councillor in 2019 – she was a teenage mother living in temporary accommodation. Although everyone in her family and community supported Labour, she was attracted by the Conservative message of aspiration. “It was that fundamental belief in prosperity and being able to build yourself up, and just do whatever you want to do,” she says. Most people in her age group do not share this view: just 8% of people under 25 voted Conservative on 4 July. In 2019, it was 21%. With so few in their age group supporting the party, young Conservative members are a vanishingly small number. Even Edwards, a committed activist who is out knocking on doors in every local and general election, is uncertain. “During this campaign, that fire and that passion for young voters just wasn’t there,” she says. “So how can I convince people on the doorstep?”