You know you’re not a proper political party, until you’ve had the obligatory youth wing scandal. Pubescent politicos have long been a feature of Westminster life. In the Starmer army they have NOLS – National Labour Students, where generations of power-crazed identikit drones have been churned out, each bearing the same dead eyes and rictus grin. The Tories meanwhile have – or, had – Conservative Future, the successor to the Young Conservatives. Part-dating agency, part-ideological madrasa, these outlets served to inculcate generations of Tories with the attitudes, contacts and god-awful catchphrases needed to govern.
Now, in their quest for power, it seems Reform UK has finally got serious. After months of umming and erring about the merits (or lack thereof) about such a youth wing, the party is now formally launching ‘Students4Reform.’ A ‘soft launch’ was conducted last week at party HQ, with more plans set to be announced in the coming weeks. Writter Matt Goodwin is the honorary president of this latest iniaitive, with student branches currently being launched across the country. Within Milbank Tower, there is an increasing acceptance of the need to engage in the campus wars. Jack Anderton, who has helped build up Nigel Farage’s social media profile, last week hit the headlines while speaking at York University. James Orr, the party’s latest defector, is tasked with building the intellectual pipeline from the universities to a future Farage administration.
For the sake of party spinners’ blood pressure, Mr S hopes that ‘Students4Reform’ is not quite as colourful as the old Federation of Conservative Students…
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