A plea to Theresa May from a young Conservative

Theresa May has been a gallant prime minister who has offered our country much prosperity. She has been nothing if not bloody-minded, and her persistence has impressed many, including me. But now as a young Conservative, I’m losing faith in her leadership.

Up until very recently, I believed that she was the right leader for my party and our country. I had hoped we could avoid the destabilising effects of a vote of no confidence.

However, she is refusing to acknowledge no Brexit – or any alternative to her deal. Because of this, she’s losing my support, and that of many young Conservatives besides.

This shoddy deal is fundamentally bad for young people’s futures, for our public services and business. Ultimately, it’s bad for the United Kingdom.

I respect her perseverance in getting a deal with the European Union and admire her ability to keep going through the toughest of times. Watching her take questions from parliament for three hours – in particular when the first positive intervention wasn’t until over an hour in – was impressive.

But the reality is those who voted Leave and Remain in 2016 are united in their disdain for this bad deal. The country is positively vexed.

MP Anna Soubry was right when she said the young would never forgive the party if we push through a bad deal. We won’t.

This deal does not offer more opportunities for the young. Frankly, it strips away those that we already have. It risks funding for Higher and Further Education, brings job losses that will disproportionately hurt the young and curtails our much-loved ability to work and travel abroad.

As the son of an NHS worker, I cannot support a leader or a deal willing to put our national health service at risk. It’s her government’s priority, yet this deal hurts not helps the NHS.

Whilst I continue to support our party, I cannot support a leader so willing to ignore the voices of the public and of our younger party members. It is easy to focus on Jacob Rees-Mogg and his merry band of hard Brexiteers – but they don’t represent the next generation of Conservative members.

And if Theresa May refuses to compromise, and listen to overwhelming view of young people and the public – I don’t believe that Jacob Rees-Mogg will be the only one who wanting to consider a new leader.

To Conservatives like Jo Johnson MP, who have stood up for their constituents and the national interest and said they will vote down this deal, and back a People’s Vote, I say thank you.

To our leader and prime minister I ask: is this really worth it?

If she believes her deal really is the best option, in the national interest, then prime minister I urge you to call for a People’s Vote.

• Dan Seamarks is a young Conservative member and a supporter of the For our Future’s Sake movement.