Is it wrong for a working-class person to vote Conservatives (Personal Story)

Hi,

I would like to keep this anonymous for personal reasons.

I'm in my final year of a top 10 UK University, it's been quite a journey with lots of highs and lows since finishing A-levels and taking a Gap Year.

I come from the bottom 10% of society; we live in council housing, my father lives off welfare benefits after losing his job around 15years ago and my mother works part-time in Tesco. Our household income is probably around £10-12k per annum, however they are also gambling addicts. Life's been very hard for me, pretty much all my life - no security, no inheritance, no holidays, no role-models, my parents constantly arguing over money etc.

I kind of felt free when I came to university, where I could make a fresh start. During A-levels, I used to just go to the library every evening in my local town to escape the traumas and problems of home, it kind of felt like heaven to me. I managed to achieve straight-A grades at A-level and was determined to make something of my life as I knew if I ****ed up, I'd have nothing to lose anyway, how much worse could life get right haha?

Anyway I should hopefully be graduating this year, I've made lots of great friends and connections in the past 4years through being opportunistic and hungry..pretty much all my friends are middle/upper-middle class..so they've kind of changed my outlook and perspective on things. Like the way I speak now is a lot posher than before, you would probably think I'm middle-class if you met me..

I've also received a job offer from a top commerical law firm in London starting me on around £50k. Obviously this is a lot of money for someone from my background and it feels as though I'm gaining the fruits of my hardwork. Obviously coming from the bottom 10% of society, I will now be in the top 10% (income-wise)..paying 40% tax etc.

I share a lot of values with the Tory party, however when I tell people who know me from the beginning they say it's wrong for someone like me to vote Tory as it's full of toffs and middle/upper-middle class people who I can't relate to or don't care about the normal average joe on the street etc..

Was just wondering about the thoughts/views others had on this given my background..

The Conservative Party only ever gets elected with the help of large numbers of working class voters. It achieves this via a long-running con game (which goes back at least the the 19th century) which uses a range of tricks to persuade some working class people that they share their interests.

This can never really be true. The Tories exist to serve the interests of a tiny number of very wealthy people. (the owners of large scale capital) Nowadays, despite the way the Tories try to use patriotism, this is not even a British owning class - much of Tory funding comes from tax exiles and foreign interests. Their biggest backer owns much of Belize and is a major tax avoider. Cameron and Osborne are part of a circle of hedge fund owners, international capitalists and global tax evaders who refuse to participate in ordinary society and use the party as a tool to promote their personal interests.

Everything else is just an illusion, manufactured for the masses.

Working class people voting Tory has always been more common than people think, about a third of the working class habitually vote working class, I seem to remember. Though this is usually for social rather than economic reasons. I come from a background that would still be considered middle class, but our incomes have usually been at a more working class level. My family is Conservative, and I feel there's certainly a tendancy to only look at what we pay in, and to underestimate what we get out. You grew up hard, but clearly something went right. It can feel a bit like people from working class background who end up voting Tory are pulling up the ladder behind them. And sadly, if you get to know a lot of Tory people, you'll find they can be very disparaging about people like you and your family.

Have you met these people personally? I'm sure Old Etonians would probably look down on the poor but most Tories I've met from CF have tended to be middle class and not hold those attitudes at all.

Yeah. The working class sell outs with no compassion. Just like the OP wants to be.

I've not lost any compassion at all. I just don't believe that your prescription is the right one.