Meet the 24-year-old Trudeau lookalike who’s out to prove young people AREN’T all Corbynistas

This was a profile piece I worked on as part of The Sun Online's young conservative coverage ahead of the local elections. Roberto met with me to discuss his fight to become a local councillor at a young age.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6182467/justin-trudeau-londons-youngest-tory-councillor-barnet/

JEREMY Corbyn has seemingly swept up Britain’s youth into becoming loyal lefties who blindly follow their leader – but his personality cult isn’t as widespread as you might think.

One 24-year-old has not been lured in by Corbyn’s promise of cheaper tuition fees – in fact he views the Labour leader as the UK’s Donald Trump for promising things he “doesn’t intend to provide”.

Instead of sitting back, Roberto Weeden-Sanz is fighting to disprove the idea that all young people are Labour supporters, and is running to become a Conservative councillor in today’s local elections.

If successful in his bid to win a seat in Brunswick Park in Barnet, he will become the youngest councillor in London, and hopes to show that being a Tory is all about “a hand up not a handout”.

He told The Sun: “I think Conservatism is about helping people, ‘a hand up rather than a hand out’ and giving people the freedom to succeed and achieve what they want to do.

“I think the Conservative party gets a bad reputation among young people for not caring enough.

“But if you look at the facts in Barnet we’ve built more affordable houses than any surrounding Labour boroughs.

“For me Conservatism is all about helping people to be able to live the life they want to.

“For people my age, the main concern is being able to afford to buy a place in the same way our parents generation were able to buy a place.”

This time last year Corbyn lost many Labour councils to his Tory rivals – but with Theresa May’s current perceived weakness and faltering control over her own party, including a change in Home Secretary, some councils may return to Labour.

As Brunswick Park is one of the most marginal wards in the country, Roberto has a fight on his hands to claim a seat on the council and as do the Conservative Party to retain their majority.

They need to win 11 of the 21 wards to secure a majority on Barnet council which has been under Conservative control since 2002.

In last year’s by-election there were less than a hundred votes between each of the top seven candidates, with two Labour councillors and one Conservative being elected for Brunswick Park.

Between running for the local election and his job as Director of Counsellors and Funding Development at One Young World, Roberto volunteers at a soup kitchen, a food bank, and as a special constable.

He advocates that anyone who volunteers and wants to give back to the community is epitomising Conservative values, making them “a model Conservative”.

Roberto added: “I think there are lots more people like me who believe in volunteering and giving back such as the average person on the street who doesn’t get recognised.

“Perhaps people don’t realise these ideals match with the Conservative Party values.”

As a politically active young professional, the 24-year-old is disappointed that so many young people unthinkingly vote for Labour and support the Corbynista movement because it appears to be the “done thing” for millennials to do.

He said: “I’m stunned by the appeal Jeremy Corbyn seems to have.

“Yes he made a lot of promises such as getting rid of tuition fees and student debt, but at the end of the day he went back on his word.

“To me Jeremy Corbyn is just the UK’s Donald Trump. He’s tapping into an anger that is there, which has been expressed in many ways.

“Like Trump, Corbyn’s silence on certain issues actually speaks volumes, and it appears he’s promising things that he doesn’t intend to provide.

“For me it’s shocking that so many people continue to defend Corbyn’s actions and think 

that it’s acceptable for him to get away with things that would be unacceptable for any other politician, just like Trump.”

Throughout his campaigning Roberto has seen the worrying consequences of the antisemitism sweeping Corbyn’s Labour party, as Barnet has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country.

Roberto said: “The most heartbreaking conversation I’ve had in this entire campaign was with a Jewish lady who has lived her entire life in the UK.

“She told me that she is terrified and doesn’t think that she and other Jews will be welcome in this country in ten years.

“The idea that someone can feel that in the 21st century is appalling and I think it’s appalling that the Labour party hasn’t done more to combat that.”

Corbyn has been fighting for weeks against allegations of antisemitism within his party and  experts think it may cost him the local elections.

Last week he was blasted for not doing enough by Jewish leaders  about antisemitism within the party after vowing to tackle it head on.

Despite his misgivings with how the Labour leader has handled his party’s issues with antisemitism, Roberto believes that for councils and governments to function there needs to be a diversity in opinions and beliefs.

He said: “No one is right 100 per cent of the time and the only way we’re going to get the best results for all of society is to have a dialogue between people who have as many viewpoints as possible.

“In many cases for young people social media has created an echo chamber.

“This allows some left-wing Labour voters only interact with people who have the same view and may have never met a Conservative who might think a different way to them. I think it happens on both sides.

“I think it’s a safety mechanism to surround ourselves with people who think the same way we do and share the same values.

“But I think having your perspective challenged is very important – it’s key to stop the same mistakes being made.”

However, Roberto is most passionate about having young people get involved in politics so they can add their voice to the mix and hopefully see a few more young Conservative councillors stand in the next local elections.

He added: “I think young people should definitely get involved in politics. Democracy only functions if we’re all invested in it, if we all have a stake in it.

“Young people really need to join a party, start getting involved in the debate, standing up for things they believe in and running for elections because that is the only way we’re going to change the world.

“It’s our world as much as our parents and grandparents. It’s our duty to start taking an ownership and giving back.”