Biscuitman

It was based mainly in Reading university - 400 members - most of them graduated

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IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!

Mikeuk

When the Young Conservative membership started falling off in the 1970s (it was still at a level they would be gagging to have now) they kept pushing the age limit up and up.

Some years ago I did some research for an article on the Ycs which was published in the Salisbury Review. I discovered that the pre-war Junior Imperial and Constitutional League, the forerunner of the YCs had enjoyed a membership well in excess of the YC record, and they 'retired' their members at 25!

Eventually the upper age for YCs was increased to 35, and if you were an honorary member as I was (Vice-President of Wessex YCs) you could hang about much longer if you wanted to,

There was one guy with a big car who kept popping up in branches ogling after girls (the main reason most men joined the YCs in those days) and he got on the area committee. I am quite certain he was over 50

Eventually the YCs was closed down after a bunch of bad publicity, eg 'Young Tory drunk shows Norma Major nothing's worn under kilt' . It has been replaced by a pathetic body of creeps known as 'Conservative Future'.

What future? :twisted:

Biscuitman

My Dad used to be a member of the conservatives Junior Unionists - well INTO phpbb_his forties.

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IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!

Mikeuk

Was that in Scotland?

Bluemerle

I belonged to the YCs. It was great fun and a wonderful marriage bureau. Events were organised regularly. I organised a Miss Young Conservative Competition and had two MPs (including Keith Joseph) to judge it. It was very popular.

There were speaking competitions, inter branch quizes, hog roasts, balls, and Conferences.

We had a day out on a canal boat, (which had a bar naturally), went to see the Blackpool lights and shared a train carriage with the girls from a local mill. That was fun

Weekends at Swinton Conservative College where we rubbed shoulders with the future leaders, debated policies etc.

Life was fun in those days. :wink:

Mikeuk

Those were the days, Margaret.

By the time I joined in 1970 things had fallen off from the peak (Beaconsfield YCs once had 1000 members) but we still had plenty of fun and the big national YC conferences attended by 1000+ really came INTO phpbb_their own while I was active. I was once a judge of one of those Miss YC contests BTW. No, I was not offered bribes in kind

Occasionally things got out of control. We were banned from a hotel in Bournemouth after water-filled condoms were exploded round the premises, a wardrobe demolished and someone did a Tarzan act on the chandeliers. I sat on the 'inquisition' over that one. :evil:

The key point, however, is that the political success of the YCs was based on social success. I met my wife through the YCs as did thousands of other people. It was better and much more successful than YF, IVC, 18+ and all the other rival 'non-political' youth groups.

I don't know whether you could ever recreate that kind of ethos now. Probably not. But anybody who starts by thinking that pure politics will do the trick is very much on the wrong track.

Biscuitman

We lived in Darlingotn at the time.

The Junior Unionists had a good working mens club in the town which i think was my dad's main reason for being a member.

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IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!

Mikeuk

Not quite sure where they fitted in. Officially the YCs were the Young Conservatives and Unionists. Maybe that was a local title for the same thing in the old days when some Tory associations (eg Willie Whitelaw's at Penrith) still wore red rosettes at elections.

There were other groups floating round the Tory party such as the Primrose League. Before they were renamed, the Federation of Conservative Students were - unbelievably - FUCUA (Federation of University Conservative and Unionist Associations) :shock:

Phil Gal

How many members does the BNP youth have Simon?

Alex McKee

All,

If you are aged between 16-26 and are interested in UKIP, or especially if you are a member of UKIP please can you pm me with your details.


Thanks,



Alex