Conservatives must embrace a more open, liberal outlook in order to win over younger voters who see the party as anathema, says the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson.

Writing in the Guardian, Davidson argues: “The crash generation simply don’t trust the motivation of the right. Given the hand they’ve been dealt in the past decade, there’s little wonder. A bolder narrative about the benefits of our free society and a bit more practical delivery is required if we’re to show we want to speak to all, and act for all.”

Pointing to “depressing” polling conducted by YouGov for the Centre for Policy Studies, which revealed that nearly half of 18- to 24-year-olds would never vote Tory, Davidson acknowledges that voting Conservative has become counter-cultural for the under-40s and urges the party to learn from her success in Scotland.

“In the last few years the party in Scotland has sought to write our own history, tell our own story, and speak about why we do what we do – and in so doing, remove some of the negative stereotypes that follow us,” she writes.

In an apparent swipe at Jeremy Corbyn, who successfully captured the youth vote in last year’s general election, she insists: “The younger generation, and society at large, is not yearning for a five-year plan of centrally delivered tractor quotas.

“Instead, we are a society that prizes individual autonomy, assumes freedom of expression as a right, and expects government to help them to achieve their goals, not set them.”

But she goes on to warn her own party that Conservatives “should seek to embrace this open, liberal outlook as a positive not a threat.”

On Monday, Davidson will help to launch Onwards, a new centre-right thinktank with the express aim to generate policies that appeal to younger voters. She will do so alongside fellow Scot Michael Gove, with whom Davidson recently joined forces in the row over fishing rights after Brexit.

Davidson, still under 40 herself, is highly respected throughout the party after she secured an additional 12 Westminster seats at last year’s general election.

