HOW TO BUILD A YOUTH WING

“BE CRITICAL AND
INDEPENDENT WHEN
WORKING TOGETHER WITH
THE MOTHER PARTY”
There is a certain pride connected to the Young Conservatives. Founded in
1904 it was the first political youth wing at all in Denmark and on top of that
it was founded 10 years even before its mother party. The self-esteem also
reflects the attitude of Kristoffer Beck when talking about the relationship
and the collaboration between the ‘two conservatives’.
“It’s hard to say what the ideal cooperation between the youth
wing and the mother party should be like, but I think the way
we are doing it works quite good,” says Kristoffer Beck. “The
fact that we are ten years older than our mother party, that
we actually were here before them, means that we are quite
independent – and it has always been like that.”
Whether you as a youth wing were established before or
after your mother party Kristoffer Beck underlines the importance
of being totally independent and critical. “Not just
somebody the mother party can call and tell what to do and
think.”
“I believe that due to our history, we are more independent than others, but it’s a very
strong part of our culture. Of course this will result in discussions from time to time, but
that is also what it’s all about. It is a relationship between two equal partners. We are not
here to please the mother party. We are here to discuss and work for conservative policies
and a conservative agenda,” says Kristoffer Beck, who also emphasizes the fact that the
conservative youth is not a mere producer of future conservative local and national politicians.
“Our role is indeed also to train young people in the conservative values and support
them as future debaters,” says Kristoffer Beck.
The fact that the conservative youth is indeed an independent organisation can also be
seen as an extra advantage these days, since the mother party is in crisis with facing historically
low opinion polls. The bad numbers have no effect on the followers of the youth wing,
because it now has more members than at any time during the last 20 years. According to
Kristoffer Beck this is because people know they are different from the mother party, “and
maybe also because people tend to stick together in times of crisis.”
HOW TO BUILD A YOUTH WING DANIsH INsTITUTe fOr pArTIes AND DemOcrAcY pAGe 44