Tory think tank chief quits over party’s betrayal of millennials

‘The Tory government has failed my generation ... preventing the building blocks of what Conservatives believe make the good life’

The head of an influential Conservative think tank is quitting, accusing his party of betraying millennials left with little hope of a “good life”.

Ryan Shorthouse, who founded Bright Blue in 2014, said the Tories had “failed my generation” on housing and childcare costs – despite having “12 years to fix these things”.

He pointed to a botched Brexit and Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget as factors behind the return to austerity, which he predicted would put the Conservatives out of power for two terms.

He also argued there was no sign of Rishi Sunak turning it around, saying: “He has just shifted the deckchairs, surrounding himself with the same people who have been in charge for a long time now.”

Bright Blue is a think tank for party modernisers, born out of David Cameron’s attempts to remake the Conservatives, which has become increasingly critical of its shift to the right under successive prime ministers.

Mr Shorthouse said: “The Tory government has failed my generation – millennials – who have come of age and entered the labour market under 12 years of Tory rule, with punishing housing and childcare costs – combined with stagnant wages – preventing the building blocks of what Conservatives believe make ‘the good life’.

“There was excitement in the 2000s from millennials, who were entering the labour market, about Cameron’s Conservatives representing purpose-driven, socially minded enterprise, which has been totally lost.”

He told The Guardian: “They’ve had 12 years to fix these things and the cost of renting and owning a home is as high as ever. The costs of starting a family, particularly for women’s wages, but also the cost of childcare, is very punishing.”

Mr Shorthouse, 37, said there are “global factors” behind the return to austerity, but added: “Some of it is to do with the policies of the Tory party, the mini-Budget in particular, but also Brexit has had a massive impact.

“A lot of people just will not forgive the Tories for having another round of austerity, which is going to be quite painful.”

Last month, Bright Blue condemned the “amateurism and amorality” of Ms Truss’s short-lived administration, in a blow to her hopes of regaining authority.

Bright Blue hit out at the prime minister within minutes of her “growth, growth, growth” speech to close the Conservative conference.

Better education and getting more people into work – not an obsession with tax cuts – was the route to achieving the hoped-for 2.5 per cent annual growth rate, it said.

Mr Shorthouse added, on her replacement: “Rishi Sunak is a thoughtful and decent person, but he is short-sighted politically and seems to be a bad judge of character.

“He has missed an opportunity to promote young, experienced and talented ministers to the cabinet to refresh the government, which could have been good for him and his party politically, as well as improving policymaking.”