Activate was a British political organisation, which described itself as a seeking to engage young people in

centre-right politics Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

. It was founded in August 2017 by young members of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. It had been compared to the left-wing group

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. The organisation was shut down on 31 May 2018 after less than 12 months.

History

Sam Ancliff claimed that Activate "evolved" from a collaboration of a lot of different people from different communities of people looking for a new Conservative youth group following the suspension of Conservative Future. The group appointed Conservative councillor and campaign manager Gary Markwell as their chairman. Because of this, '' Red Pepper'' described it as a Conservative "

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" group. The organisation was criticised when conservative blogger

Guido Fawkes Guido Fawkes is a right-wing political website published by British-Irish political blogger Paul Staines. History In September 2004, Staines began writing an anonymous blog about British politics under the name of Guido Fawkes, an alternative ...

revealed that individuals within a

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group described by Fawkes as a "precursor" to Activate made comments about gassing "

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s", performing "medical experiments on them ...

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them as substitutes for animals", as well as mandating "compulsory birth control on chavs". '' The Mirror'' claimed that at least two people involved in the chat had links to Activate. A spokesperson later said that none of the individuals "have any seniority" within Activate, and that they found the comments "sickening and are totally incompatible with what Activate is trying to achieve". The organisation had been criticised for being out of touch with younger people. The membership costs of up to £500 per person were widely seen as extortionate. An Activate source claimed that one of the founders of the organisation had received death threats, and that almost all of the main figures within Activate had been targeted by abuse and harassment. Having gained prominence in August 2017, Activate held a launch event in March 2018 in London, attended by 28 people in a room booked for 150. The event saw speeches from two Conservative councillors. Chairman Gary Markwell said at the launch, "It's amazing what a response Tommy Robinson and

Britain First Britain First is a far-right, British fascist political party formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP). The group was founded by Jim Dowson, an anti-abortion and far-right campaigner. * ''See also'': The organi ...

get on

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, how they engage people." In ''

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'', Ben van der Merwe wrote that the organisation was "doomed from the start", having an "impossible mission".

References

{{UK Conservative Party 2017 establishments in the United Kingdom 2018 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK) Political youth organisations based in the United Kingdom Political organizations established in 2017 Political organizations disestablished in 2018