In this chapter we will provide an overview of the social and pol-
itical characteristics of the grass-roots Conservative party mem-
bership. This begins with an examination of Conservative members'
socio-economic backgrounds, and continues with a discussion of
their attitudes to certain key political issues. We will also compare
the party members with Conservative voters, to see what similarities
and differences exist between the two groups. Our survey of party
members and the 1992 British Election Study were conducted
within a few months of each other, so comparisons of Conserva-
tive voters and party members are particularly accurate. In the
final section of the chapter we examine their contacts with the
party organization, their rates of activism, and the extent to which
they vote in general elections.

The typical Conservative party member is retired, comes from a
middle-class occupational background, is an owner-occupier, and
possesses few educational qualifications. Men and women belong
to the party in roughly equal numbers.

The age profile of the membership is skewed very markedly
towards the elderly, the average age of the members being 62.
Almost one-half of the membership is aged 66 or over, while only
5 per cent are under the age of 35. This is a very striking profile,
and suggests that unless the Conservative party renews itself by
recruiting many more younger members in the near future, it could
face a very drastic decline in grass-roots membership over the
next decade. On the assumption that the average life expectancy
of a party member is 75 years, the party stands to lose more than
40 per cent of its membership over the next decade.

The task of recruiting additional young members is of course
made harder by the reluctance of young people to become involved

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