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On various occasions when Conservative leaders have appeared almost sensible superficially – and alternate phases where they have come across as wildly irrational, yet remained popular by their party. This is not that situation. Kemi Badenoch didn't energize the audience when she presented to her conference, despite she threw out the red meat of anti-immigration sentiment she thought they wanted.

It’s not so much that they’d all arisen with a fresh awareness of humanity; more that they lacked faith she’d ever be able to implement it. It was, a substitute. Tories hate that. An influential party member apparently called it a “New Orleans funeral”: boisterous, animated, but still a goodbye.

What Next for the Organization That Can Reasonably Claim to Make for Itself as the Most Historically Successful Political Organization in History?

Some are having another squiz at one contender, who was a definite refusal at the outset – but as things conclude, and other candidates has departed. Another group is generating a buzz around Katie Lam, a recently elected representative of the latest cohort, who presents as a countryside-based politician while filling her social media with immigration-critical posts.

Might she become the standard-bearer to challenge the rival party, now surpassing the Conservatives by a substantial lead? Is there a word for overcoming competitors by adopting their policies? And, assuming no phrase fits, maybe we can adopt a term from martial arts?

If You’re Enjoying Any of This, in a Schadenfreude Way, in a Just-Deserts Way, It's Comprehensible – Yet Absolutely Bananas

One need not consider overseas examples to grasp this point, nor read a prominent academic's seminal 2017 book, the historical examination: your entire mental framework is shouting it. Moderate conservatism is the crucial barrier against the far right.

His research conclusion is that representative governments persist by appeasing the “elite classes” happy. I have reservations as an organising principle. One gets the impression as though we’ve been keeping the propertied and powerful for ages, at the cost of other citizens, and they never seem sufficiently content to halt efforts to take a bite out of public assistance.

But his analysis is not speculation, it’s an archival deep dive into the Weimar-era political organization during the pre-war period (combined with the UK Tories in that historical context). When the mainstream right loses its confidence, when it starts to chase the buzzwords and superficial stances of the extremist elements, it cedes the steering wheel.

Previous Instances Showed Some of This Throughout the EU Exit Process

A key figure associating with Steve Bannon was one particularly egregious example – but radical alignment has become so pronounced now as to eliminate competing Tory talking points. Where are the traditional Tories, who prize stability, tradition, governing principles, the UK reputation on the world stage?

Why have we lost the progressives, who described the nation in terms of economic engines, not tension-filled environments? Don’t get me wrong, I didn't particularly support either faction as well, but it’s absolutely striking how those worldviews – the inclusive conservative, the Cameroonian Conservative – have been eliminated, replaced by relentless demonisation: of newcomers, Muslims, benefit claimants and activists.

Take the Platform to Themes Resembling the Theme Tune to the Television Drama

While discussing positions they oppose. They portray protests by older demonstrators as “carnivals of hatred” and display banners – national emblems, English symbols, anything with a vibrant national tones – as an open challenge to those questioning that being British through and through is the ultimate achievement a person could possibly be.

There doesn’t seem to be any built-in restraint, that prompts reflection with their own values, their own hinterland, their original agenda. Each incentive Nigel Farage presents to them, they follow. Consequently, no, it’s not fun to see their disintegration. They’re taking civil society along in their decline.