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Old/white/men: How do you make The Conservative Party more diverse?

22:36 / 29.08.06

This thread kind of springs out of the multiculturalism thread on a number of levels...

As you may or may not be aware, The Conservative Party in the UK has been in a pretty moribund state for the best part of two decades now. One oft repeated criticism is that the majority of members of the Conservative Party are old/white/men and consequently fail to appeal to electorate who are not old/white/men. The problems the Tories face are underlined in this article - As Teresa May puts it "It is a little-known fact that there are more men in the shadow cabinet called David than there are women."

In order to make themselves electable, The new Conservative leader David Cameron has announced plans to broaden diversity of Tory MPs but these measures have not proven particularly popular and have been attacked as undemocratic and unmeritocratic.

So, how should the Tories seek to become a more diverse political party? Through quotas and positive discrimination/afirmative action or through some other means? Or is this whole exercise doomed from the outset? Is the reason that Conservative Party has such a high membership of old/white/men because that is exactly who their policies are aimed at benefiting? Would any attempt to change the make-up of the party be purely cosmetic or something more radical?

What do you think?

23:22 / 29.08.06

I am not very au fait with Conservative policy but I would have thought that the reason the party has a glut of old white men is exactly because that's who the party benefits.

Actually, that's a very flip thing to say. I don't associate the Conservatives with caring social policy for example, but that's not to say that old white men aren't interested in it.

I understood the Conservative party to suffer from a lack of new recruits not necessarily because it's policies are not suited to the younger generation, but because it did nothing to encourage the impression it was 'all about the younger voter' whereas, as we all know, the Labour party practically wet themselves to convince the younger voter they were hip and at it. I still wince at the thought of Noel on 10 Downing Street's steps.

The Labour party has all sorts of celeb champions, or it did. The Conservatives don't really seem to have encouraged that kind of PR, I know not why.

Tryphena Absent

23:19 / 30.08.06

While the leader of the opposition might be a forward thinking young conservative of Blair's ilk (ouch), he hasn't managed or really had the opportunity to get rid of or shut up the people who are dragging the Conservative party consistently through the old fashioned mud of Westminster. I think this is his main problem because he can't possibly create a party perceived as socially forward when it's populated by a load of guys moaning about reforming the doddering beast into something a bit more reflective of society. That isn't such an issue though, whacking Teresa May out to complain about this is very sensible because she is famed for her hott shoes and is the acceptable face of the Tory party. The more she moans the more it deflects from the fact that Conservatives don't like it. As long as it sits well with the media friendly party members it can be overlooked a bit. In fact it's kind of the equivalent of Noel Gallagher, in that it's deflection from the core of the party, it undermines them, they're going for defeat of the oldies via the media. That's why old Gordon is bound to be the leader of the opposition and young, spritely Dave is going to be the Prime Minister.

Let's buy an island and get out of here. Who's with me?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:56 / 31.08.06

I agree with Olulabelle, the political parties attract the kind of people that they benefit. If the party doesn't have enough black female disabled lesbian pregnant MPs that's not necessarily because there are colonels at the local level blocking them, although that may be an issue. The Tories should be selecting their candidates based on the blinkered prejudices of local parties, David Cameron should be doing no more than pointing out gently to them that this attitude is what's kept them out of power since 1997 and could keep them out longer. Imposed solutions like imposed candidates won't work. It needs a grassroots change.

On the other hand, selective culling of older Tories might be a more humane solution.

22:59 / 31.08.06

I don;'t think we should discuss this though, because it's possible we could come up with a workable solution.

03:14 / 04.09.06

New Tory - Tough on social spending, tough on the causes of social spending.

The thread could have read;

'Old/white/men: How do you make British Politics more diverse?'

or

'Old/white/men: How do you make heirarchical power structures more diverse?'

or

'Old/white/men: How do you make old/white/men more diverse?'

To my mind they are all the same oxymoron.

18:14 / 05.09.06

Which reasoning quickly brings us to the question of how to make Western civilization less old/white/male... is this an oxymoron too and if so whither the struggle for equality?

10:19 / 06.09.06

Last time I looked western civilization is far more diverse than that. Not being old or male I can attest to this.

The seats of power and their gate keepers are, however. Our leaders and their handlers do not define us (well me at least, and a few other poeple I know who wont mind me speaking for them). As for the struggle for equality, encouraging the evolution of the curent adveserial system of two party government and flattening hyrarchical power structures would be a start.