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Throughout history when Conservative leaders have appeared moderately rational outwardly – and other moments where they have come across as wildly irrational, yet were still adored by their party. This is not either of those times. One prominent Conservative didn't energize the audience when she presented to her conference, even as she threw out the red meat of anti-immigration sentiment she assumed they wanted.

The issue wasn't that they’d all awakened with a fresh awareness of humanity; more that they were skeptical she’d ever be in a position to implement it. It was, an imitation. The party dislikes such approaches. A veteran Tory reportedly described it as a “jazz funeral”: noisy, animated, but ultimately a parting.

What Next for the Organization Having Strong Arguments to Make for Itself as the Top-Performing Democratic Party in History?

Some are having a fresh look at a particular MP, who was a definite refusal at the beginning – but now it’s the end, and everyone else has departed. Others are creating a interest around a rising star, a 34-year-old MP of the 2024 intake, who presents as a traditional Conservative while saturating her social media with immigration-critical posts.

Might she become the standard-bearer to counter the rival party, now outpolling the Conservatives by a significant margin? Does a term exist for overcoming competitors by becoming exactly like them? Moreover, assuming no phrase fits, perhaps we might adopt a term from fighting disciplines?

If You’re Enjoying Such Events, in a Schadenfreude Way, in a Serves-Them-Right-for-Austerity Way, One Can See Why – However Absolutely Bananas

It isn't necessary to consider overseas examples to know this, or reference a prominent academic's influential work, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy: every one of your synapses is screaming it. Centrist right-wing parties is the crucial barrier against the far right.

Ziblatt’s thesis is that democracies survive by keeping the “elite classes” happy. I’m not wild about it as an organising principle. It seems as though we’ve been catering to the privileged groups for decades, at the detriment of everyone else, and they rarely appear quite happy enough to halt efforts to take a bite out of social welfare.

But his analysis goes beyond conjecture, it’s an archival deep dive into the Weimar-era political organization during the Weimar Republic (in parallel to the England's ruling party in that historical context). When the mainstream right loses its confidence, as it begins to adopt the terminology and superficial stances of the far right, it hands them the direction.

There Were Examples Some of This In the Referendum Aftermath

Boris Johnson associating with Steve Bannon was a notable instance – but far-right flirtation has become so evident now as to overshadow all remaining party narratives. Where are the established party members, who treasure predictability, conservation, legal frameworks, the national prestige on the international platform?

What happened to the reformers, who portrayed the United Kingdom in terms of economic engines, not volatile situations? Don’t get me wrong, I had reservations regarding both groups too, but the contrast is dramatic how those worldviews – the inclusive conservative, the reformist element – have been marginalized, replaced by constant vilification: of newcomers, Islamic communities, benefit claimants and protesters.

Take the Platform to Music That Sounds Like the Theme Tune to the Television Drama

Emphasizing what they cannot stand for any more. They describe protests by older demonstrators as “carnivals of hatred” and use flags – British flags, English symbols, anything with a bold patriotic hues – as an open challenge to anyone who doesn’t think 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, encouraging reassessment with core principles, their traditional foundations, their own plan. Any stick the political figure throws for them, they pursue. Consequently, definitely not, it’s not fun to see their disintegration. They are dragging social cohesion down with them.