Priti Patel says that young people are scared to reveal they’re Tories

Priti Patel has told The Birmingham Tab that she believes young Conservatives are scared to reveal their political views because of a negative reaction.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has spoken to The Birmingham Tab to weigh in on the ongoing discussion about young people revealing they're Tories.

"It's ironic that Jeremy Corbyn promised kinder and gentler politics, and yet we have areas in some universities across the country where young people don't tell other that they're Conservatives because they are fearful of the reaction."

One member of the UoB Conservative Society told The Tab Birmingham they received a bad reception when telling friends about their politics.

"I've fallen out with friends because they just can't understand my political viewpoints. When I announced I was a Conservative, I had a lot of people get really mad at me. It was really uncomfortable. I had people constantly asking me to justify my membership".

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In a Times column last week by Kings lecturer Johnathan Grant, new research was reported to show "A quarter of students say they are unable to express their views at university because they’re scared of disagreeing with their peers, and 59 per cent of those who support the Conservative party say people with conservative views are reluctant to express them. However, significantly fewer Conservative supporters – 34 per cent – say that they themselves feel unable to express their views at their institution".

Ms. Patel continued "the Conservative Party are a broad church and we welcome all those that share our values". She said that students who believe in "a strong economy, huge investment in our NHS and a party that will focus on law and order with 20,000 extra police officers" should get involved.

With Tories claiming to be discriminated against as housemates and friends, the Home Secretary is aware of the the anti-Conservative stigma, especially amongst university students where Conservatism is the minority.