Taking Pleasure In the Downfall of the Conservative Party? It's Understandable – Yet Totally Wrong

On various occasions when party chiefs have appeared reasonably coherent superficially – and different periods where they have come across as completely unhinged, yet continued to be cherished by their base. Currently, it's far from such a scenario. Kemi Badenoch left the crowd unmoved when she addressed her conference, while she offered the red meat of migrant-baiting she thought they wanted.

The issue wasn't 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. Effectively, a substitute. Conservatives despise that. A veteran Tory apparently called it a “jazz funeral”: boisterous, energetic, but nonetheless a parting.

Future Prospects for this Party That Can Reasonably Claim to Make for Itself as the Top-Performing Political Organization in Modern Times?

A faction is giving a fresh look at Robert Jenrick, who was a definite refusal at the beginning – but now it’s the end, and everyone else has left. Others are creating a interest around a newer MP, a young parliamentarian of the latest cohort, who looks like a traditional Conservative while filling her socials with immigration-critical posts.

Might she become the standard-bearer to beat back opposition forces, now leading the Tories by 20 points? Can we describe for overcoming competitors by adopting their policies? Moreover, should one not exist, maybe we can borrow one from martial arts?

If You’re Enjoying Such Events, in a Schadenfreude Way, in a Serves-Them-Right-for-Austerity Way, It's Comprehensible – Yet Absolutely Bananas

One need not consider overseas examples to grasp this point, or reference the scholar's influential work, his analysis of political systems: every one of your synapses is emphasizing it. Moderate conservatism is the key defense preventing the far right.

His research conclusion is that representative governments persist by keeping the “propertied and powerful” happy. Personally, I question this as an organising principle. It feels as though we’ve been catering to the propertied and powerful for decades, at the cost of everyone else, and they never seem quite happy enough to cease desiring to take a bite out of social welfare.

Yet his research is not speculation, it’s an comprehensive document review into the historical German conservative group during the interwar Germany (along with the UK Tories around the early 1900s). As moderate conservatism becomes uncertain, if it commences to adopt the buzzwords and symbolic politics of the far right, it hands them the steering wheel.

There Were Examples Comparable Behavior During the Brexit Years

The former Prime Minister associating with Steve Bannon was one particularly egregious example – but far-right flirtation has become so pronounced now as to overshadow all remaining party narratives. Where are the traditional Tories, who prize predictability, tradition, legal frameworks, the UK reputation on the world stage?

What happened to the progressives, who defined the nation in terms of powerhouses, not tension-filled environments? Don’t get me wrong, I had reservations regarding any of them either, but it’s absolutely striking how such perspectives – the broad-church approach, the reformist element – have been eliminated, superseded by constant vilification: of immigrants, religious groups, social support users and protesters.

Appear at Podiums to Music That Sounds Like the Theme Tune to the Television Drama

Emphasizing positions they oppose. They describe protests by 75-year-old pacifists as “festivals of animosity” and use flags – British flags, English symbols, anything with a vibrant national tones – as an clear provocation to those questioning that being British through and through is the best thing a human can aspire to.

There doesn’t seem to be any natural braking system, that prompts reflection with their own values, their traditional foundations, their stated objectives. Whatever provocation the political figure presents to them, they’ll chase. Consequently, absolutely not, there's no pleasure to watch them implode. They’re taking democratic norms along in their decline.

Meredith Quinn
Meredith Quinn

A passionate web developer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in creating innovative digital solutions.