Dear John,
The Conservatives’ race to the bottom continues. Yesterday, leadership contender James Cleverly was surprisingly knocked out of the race in the third voting stage. With the most moderate competitor eliminated, the divided party is left deciding between two fanatics.
Kemi Badenoch remains the most likely victor. We in the democracy sector remember her primarily for the disastrous Elections Act, which she remains culpable for as the relevant Minister at the time.
On Badenoch’s watch, our democracy was downgraded. The UK’s elections watchdog – the Electoral Commission – was stripped of its crucial independence and powers. Our Mayoral and PCC elections were forced to operate on First-Past-The-Post. A shoddy voter ID scheme was rushed through without consideration for how many it would exclude.
Her opponent, Robert Jenrick, doesn't exactly have a bright and shiny record either. He’s somehow survived a series of cronyism and corruption scandals. Formerly a moderate Conservative, he’s turned populist in recent years, echoing Farage’s dehumanising rhetoric on immigration and centring his campaign on leaving the European Court of Human Rights.
Both are committed to one cause above all else: fanning the flames of Britain’s never-ending culture wars. These are lazy leaders that boil complicated policy issues down to “wokeness.” They initiate juvenile feuds with students and climate scientists. Instead of laying out a functional vision for Britain, they batter the marginalised who can’t fight back.
The nativist faux populism of Farage and Trump has conquered the Conservatives. To many of us, it all may seem a silly charade, just watching a delusional party completely lose touch with the public and fade off into the political fringes.
But make no mistake, as Labour struggles to win over the public, the far-right’s easy answers will weasel their way back into mainstream political discourse.
This ideology – an unholy synthesis of radical American libertarianism, prejudiced identity politics, and illiberal disdain for democratic institutions – isn’t going anywhere.
Farage and the Conservatives will continue to toe this line over the next few years. Our job is to build a political system that prevents them from gaining an unfair advantage by forcing them to fight fair.
