Fearghus Keogh

In this time of political and social instability, there are two things I know for certain. Football is not coming home, perpetuating 60 years of hurt and the death of the restoration of English sporting glory. People are also witnessing the ascension of Labour’s Messiah, Andy Burnham. After months of speculation and plotting, the self-styled ‘King of the North’ has finally won his crown on the promise of creating a ‘new politics’.

Politics is complicated, particularly for young people. My fellow Gen Z conservatives often find ourselves in a never-ending intellectual duel, not only with our progressive peers, but with ourselves. I am a small ‘c’ conservative and proudly so. Yet that does not mean I never question my assumptions.

What does it mean to be a conservative in modern society? The Centre Right in Australia has been engaged in an ongoing struggle with this question, especially within the Liberal Party. To me, there are three broad strands competing for the future direction of modern conservatism: the inner-city ‘moderates’, the ‘populists’, and ‘the establishment’.