Conservatives re-launch youth wing in a bid to take on Labour
2 min read
The controversial youth arm of the Conservative party has been relaunched, three years after it was rocked by bullying allegations.
Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis, relaunched the Young Conservatives at the party’s spring conference alongside a series of reforms designed to prevent any further scandals.
Mr Lewis said the young arm of the party was vital to engage with “thousands of young people who keep being told they must be Corbynistas, but aren’t.”
The organisation will be run from CCHQ and will be overseen by Conservative vice chairs Ben Bradley and James Morris.
The relaunch comes three years after a bullying scandal rocked the youth wing of the party, then called Conservative Future.
Mark Clarke, who ran the infamous Road Trip 2015 was accused of bullying by a young activist, Elliot Johnson, shortly before he committed suicide.
The scandal unfolded shortly after the 2015 general election and Conservative Future was disbanded shortly afterwards.
Mr Clarke faced further allegations of bullying, including some of an inappropriate sexual nature.
“Nobody wants to see a repeat of that kind of thing,” Mr Lewis said last night. “One of the things that needs to be clear is that can never happen again.
"But actually the reason we’ve put such a strong team in place is because we care about our young members, and we want to make sure that they take something out of it and it delivers something for the party.”
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