Editing Conservative Future (section)

==History==
Conservative Future was formed on 7 October 1998 as part of a major series of cross-party reforms introduced by then party leader William Hague. Part of the reforms including the merging of the three movements that specifically handled youth affairs within the party: the [[Young Conservatives (UK)|Young Conservatives]], the [[Conservative Collegiate Forum]], and the National Association of Conservative Graduates.<ref name="Future launched with plans">{{Cite news |title=Future launched with plans to join NUS race |newspaper=[[Times Higher Education Supplement]] |date=9 October 1998 |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=109327&sectioncode=26 }}</ref> The merger of the organisations into a single body was controversial and opposed by most members and officers of the three organisations at the time.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} A key change was that whereas members of the party 'opted in' to join the three organisations, under the new unified organisation membership would be automatic for all members under 20. The name 'Conservative Future' stems from the title of the party reforms 'The Fresh Future' and was only intended to be temporary. The first national chairman was the last head of Conservative Graduates, Donal Blaney, followed by Gavin Megaw, who had been the chairman of Conservative Students in its last year of existence.<ref name="Future launched with plans" />

At its launch, the party's national performance and dwindling activist base led to the closure of most former Young Conservative branches and student branches struggled to attract members. As formal membership records were not kept on a national database there have never been any accurate membership figures for the youth organisations before or after the creation of Conservative Future.

In 1999 Conservative Future attracted national attention following a re-branding exercise that used the slogan "CFUK", a twist on the [[French Connection (clothing)|French Connection]] FCUK brand. The CFUK branding was to be used on promotional material for university branches from late August to mid October 1999 but the threat of court proceedings from French Connection over breach of copyright led to Conservative Future withdrawing the promotion in early October, just before the end of the campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marketingweek.com/1999/10/07/fcuk-seeks-damages-after-tories-agree-to-drop-name/|title=FCUK seeks damages after Tories agree to drop name|date=7 October 1999|website=Marketing Week|access-date=2016-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=148276&sectioncode=26|title=Youth wing call to cut the strings of labour 'puppets'|date=1999-10-07|access-date=2016-09-20}}</ref>

In 2002, Conservative Future gained two positions on the national executive committee of the [[National Union of Students (United Kingdom)|National Union of Students]], marking their first return in seven years.<ref name="On the road again">{{Cite news |title=On the road again |author=Polly Curtis |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 September 2002 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/sep/06/highereducation.uk }}</ref>  This was followed up by a national tour of universities, called 'Politics Unplugged', which involved ten [[Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)|Shadow Cabinet]] members and was aimed at making politicians more approachable.<ref name="On the road again" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Tories go on tour to woo students |author=Patrick Wintour |author2=Nicolas Watt |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 September 2002 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/sep/06/uk.conservatives }}</ref> CF gained further traction in 2003 and 2004, after it was announced that the party announced it would scrap university [[Top-up fees|tuition fees]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=NUS announces election candidates |author=Polly Curtis |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 February 2004 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/feb/06/students.uk }}</ref>  In 2004 alone, membership rose by 3,000,<ref name="Can Jessica Lever">{{Cite news |title=Can Jessica Lever, 17, save the Tories? |author=Tanya Gold |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=26 December 2004 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2004/dec/26/focus.news }}</ref> but stagnated at 15,000 members until the election of [[David Cameron]] as party leader.<ref name="Conservatives on campus">{{Cite news |title=Conservatives on campus: Dawn of a new blue future? |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=23 February 2006 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/conservatives-on-campus-dawn-of-a-new-blue-future-467403.html }}</ref>

Cameron's election was seen to be emblematic of a change of Conservative Future's image to 'cool', replacing the symbolism of the '[[Tory Boy]]' stereotype of previous years.<ref name="Forget Tory Boy" /><ref name="Students flock to newly-cool">{{Cite news |title=Students flock to newly-cool party |author=John O’Doherty |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |date=21 May 2008 |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/446f36d4-276d-11dd-b7cb-000077b07658.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/446f36d4-276d-11dd-b7cb-000077b07658.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This occurred most dramatically from 2006 onwards, particularly in [[northern England]].<ref name="Students flock to newly-cool" />  Described by [[Geordie Greig]] as '[[Counterculture|counter culture]]', this change is ascribed to 'Saatchi-isation', named for former Party Chairman [[Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi|Maurice Saatchi]], and ideological alignment to the so-called '[[Notting Hill Set]]' of the party leadership.<ref name="Can Jessica Lever" />