 Daniel Bacon, 17, from Dunmow, recently won the Association's annual essay competition for Sixth Form students. Here is his winning entry:
The Future of the Conservative Party: Change or Tradition?
The most enduring asset of the party is its ability to change. Circumstances are always transitory, and politics must adapt and shift in focus to accommodate this. In the nineteen-fifties, Churchill led a far more left-wing administration than that of Thatcher in the eighties. Both reflected the needs of Great Britain, and both were Tory.
Today, renewal is overdue. Factions of the party cling to the successes of yesteryear. While we are justified in the celebration of the New Right, we have to focus on the present and the future. Internationally, we should of course promote policies of free trade. We should take our economic formula to the heart of Europe and we should push for the economic reform of our relationship with America and the Third World. In this country, we should slash the burgeoning state and again embrace enterprise. This vibrant capitalism must be tempered, however, with caring institutions. The party should endow education with greater emphasis - because science and technology are what our wealth will depend on over the next millennium. Health should be a forerunning issue. Social cohesion should be central to our manifesto. Tory policy must now combine in earnest and in public one-nation approaches and economic liberalism. Where we pursue tax-cutting agendas these must be fundamental, not superficial. We have the expertise and the willing to achieve this. Reform depends upon enthusiasm. Enthusiasm for the party amongst the electorate has sadly waned in recent years, and increasingly, principled members have become disillusioned with the state of the centre-right. A leader should be chosen who would first renew enthusiasm amongst the grass-roots, who can draw on experience and popularity and who can mobilise a charisma that will definitively indicate the future of Conservatism. This enthusiasm will undoubtedly seep into the channels of popular opinion, and will reassert the credibility of our party.
The change that I am advocating is not accompanied by a change of principles. Conservatives must retain their commitment to the individual, protecting liberties. The party is unified in the conviction that most of the time individuals are better qualified than the state. There can be no reason to emasculate the basic liberty of the law-abiding, and no excuse for supporting such damaging initiatives as ID cards. We must not be afraid of defending these principles, and attacking the Government where it is required.
The Conservative Party has forever been loyal to the institutions of Great Britain. This is because we appreciate the importance of those national faculties that have withstood the battering of time. The party must continue in its resolve to defend our Queen and our democracy. There should be no further marginalising of royal authority, and we must reject absolutely the liberal calls for proportional representation and elected peers. Where reform is necessary though, the Tories should demand and enact it. We are right to accept membership of the E.U. providing that this body is one of intergovernmental co-operation. It is essential that we maintain a vigorous opposition to the Euro and federal supremacy. Tags: Conservative Future | 
