Founder of Bright Blue to quit over 'betrayal by Tories' of his own generation

The founder of an influential Conservative think tank is to quit his post, accusing the government of betraying his generation as it faces stagnant wages and little help with punishing housing and childcare costs.

- Jessica Elgot

Ryan Shorthouse, 37, will next year leave Bright Blue, the Cameronite think tank he founded. He said he was deeply disillusioned with progress during the last 12 years under the Tories, saying Rishi Sunak had failed to reinvigorate Conservative vision or bring in fresh talent.

Shorthouse said: “The Tory government has failed my generation, the 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 [Tories] believe make the good life.

“There was excitement in the 00s from millennials entering the labour market about Cameron’s Conservatives representing purpose-driven, socially minded, enterprise – which has been totally lost.”

He said the party had left millennials “stuck in limbo – they want to do the things that Tories say get them to the good life, like raising a family or having a home”.