🔗 Share this article Taking Pleasure In the Collapse of the Conservative Party? It's Understandable – But Totally Incorrect On various occasions when Conservative leaders have seemed reasonably coherent outwardly – and different periods where they have come across as wildly irrational, yet were still adored by their party. This is not that situation. Kemi Badenoch left the crowd unmoved when she addressed her conference, even as she offered the divisive talking points of border-focused rhetoric she assumed they wanted. It’s not so much that they’d all awakened with a revived feeling of humanity; instead they lacked faith she’d ever be in a position to deliver it. It was, a substitute. The party dislikes such approaches. A veteran Tory reportedly described it as a “themed procession”: noisy, energetic, but nonetheless a parting. Coming Developments for the Group That Can Reasonably Claim to Make for Itself as the Top-Performing Governing Force in History? Certain members are taking a fresh look at one contender, who was a hard “no” at the outset – but with proceedings winding down, and everyone else has withdrawn. Others are creating a excitement around a rising star, a recently elected representative of the newest members, who presents as a Shires Tory while saturating her socials with border-control messaging. Is she poised as the figurehead to beat back the rival party, now outpolling the Tories by a substantial lead? Does a term exist for beating your rivals by becoming exactly like them? Moreover, should one not exist, surely we could borrow one from combat sports? If You’re Enjoying Any of This, in a How-the-Mighty-Are-Fallen Way, in a Serves-Them-Right-for-Austerity Way, That Is Understandable – Yet Absolutely Bananas You don’t even have to consider overseas examples to know this, nor read Daniel Ziblatt’s seminal 2017 book, the historical examination: every one of your synapses is emphasizing it. Moderate conservatism is the essential firewall preventing the extremist factions. His research conclusion is that political systems endure by satisfying the “propertied and powerful” happy. Personally, I question this as an organising principle. One gets the impression as though we’ve been indulging the privileged groups for ages, at the detriment of the broader population, and they never seem sufficiently content to halt efforts to reduce support out of social welfare. But his analysis is not speculation, it’s an thorough historical examination into the historical German conservative group during the pre-war period (combined with the UK Tories circa 1906). As moderate conservatism becomes uncertain, if it commences to chase the terminology and gesture-based policies of the radical wing, it hands them the steering wheel. We Saw Comparable Behavior During the Brexit Years The former Prime Minister associating with a controversial strategist was a clear case – but radical alignment has become so pronounced now as to eliminate competing party narratives. Whatever became of the traditional Tories, who prize continuity, preservation, the constitution, the national prestige on the world stage? What happened to the reformers, who described the country in terms of economic engines, not volatile situations? To be clear, I didn't particularly support both groups either, but the contrast is dramatic how these ideologies – the broad-church approach, the reformist element – have been erased, replaced by relentless demonisation: of migrants, religious groups, welfare recipients and activists. Take the Platform to Music That Sounds Like the Theme Tune to the Television Drama And talk about what they cannot stand for any more. They portray rallies by 75-year-old pacifists as “festivals of animosity” and use flags – British flags, English symbols, anything with a vibrant national tones – as an open challenge to individuals doubting that being British through and through is the ultimate achievement a human can aspire to. There doesn’t seem to be any built-in restraint, encouraging reassessment with core principles, their historical context, their own plan. Each incentive Nigel Farage throws for them, they pursue. Therefore, absolutely not, it isn't enjoyable to see their disintegration. They are dragging democratic norms down with them.