The United Kingdom doesn't have the same, more or less locked-in two party system we do. But for much of recent history, the Brits have had two primary political parties to choose from: On the left, Labour, and on the right, the Conservatives. Bear in mind that the center in Britain is a little to the left of the center in the United States.
Nowadays, though, Britain's Conservative Party is getting to be a little like Joe Biden's presidency: Directionless, befuddled, and failing.
No political party survives for more than two centuries without a capacity for reinvention. Thatcher’s free-market economics and individualism stood in stark contrast with Benjamin Disraeli’s paternalistic, “one nation” social reforms. Edward Heath (1970–1974) took Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC); Boris Johnson (2019–2022) brought us out.
All this shapeshifting makes it hard to match up the beliefs of even the most celebrated Conservative leaders with an enduring philosophy of Conservatism. Both Roger Scruton and Michael Oakeshott, for example, emphasized the importance of tradition and continuity over radical change, and civil society over the machinations of the state. The Conservative, Scruton writes, knows that “we have collectively inherited good things” that “are easily destroyed, but not easily created.”
Fortunately, there's an up-and-coming alternative: Nigel Farage's Reform Party.
Reform UK, the insurgent populist party, is not tied down by historical baggage or outdated labels. It is socially conservative, anti-woke, and poses a radical challenge to the status quo. It celebrates neither capitalism nor unlimited government handouts.
In promising to put an end to mass migration, Reform recognizes that Britain is not an airport departure lounge but home to millions. Farage speaks of fairness, and of supporting citizens who have paid taxes and play by the rules, rather than those who have just arrived. As a result, his party enjoys the backing of a majority of working-class voters and consistently tops opinion polls.
That last item will be key to the success of the Reform Party.
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Unchecked, uncontrolled, unvetted immigration, it turns out, isn't any more popular among Brits than it is among Americans. That's an agenda item that Farage and his party may be able to ride to a plurality, in which they could form a majority coalition with the remaining Conservatives; or, with a dash of good cheer and all that, they may even land a majority. And that's seeming more and more likely, as some Conservatives are jumping ship to join Reform.
It’s easy to see why these onetime Conservatives are making the switch. Reform is more dynamic, and it offers converts better job prospects.
Welcoming defectors offers advantages for Reform. The upstart party gains not just publicity but also governing expertise. Of course, there are risks, too. It’s hard to pose credibly as a newcomer if people see your MPs as failed Tories fleeing a moribund party.
Both the Conservative and Labour parties are old, doddering, weak. That's just as well, and even more so that the only alternatives to the leftist Labour Party are the Greens and other far-left parties, who can't seem to manage a simple campaign appearance without getting their whack-job on - and who favor, not oppose, those waves of unchecked, unvetted Third World immigration that we mentioned earlier.
I've written a lot about how this nation that was, once upon a time, America, Original Recipe, is probably past the point of no return. I still think that this, sadly, is probably still the case. But if the Brits have any hope of turning things around, it lies with Nigel Farage and the Reform Party.
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