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Throughout history when party chiefs have appeared moderately rational on the surface – and alternate phases where they have come across as wildly irrational, yet continued to be cherished by their party. Currently, it's far from either of those times. One prominent Conservative failed to inspire attendees when she spoke at her conference, despite she offered the provocative rhetoric of anti-immigration sentiment she thought they wanted.

This wasn't primarily that they’d all woken up with a fresh awareness of humanity; rather they were skeptical she’d ever be able to deliver it. In practice, an imitation. Tories hate that. An influential party member apparently called it a “themed procession”: boisterous, vigorous, but nonetheless a farewell.

What Next for this Party With a Decent Case to Make for Itself as the Most Historically Successful Governing Force in History?

Some are having a fresh look at Robert Jenrick, who was a firm rejection at the beginning – but now it’s the end, and everyone else has withdrawn. Others are creating a interest around Katie Lam, a young parliamentarian of the latest cohort, who presents as a countryside-based politician while filling her socials with border-control messaging.

Is she poised as the leader to beat back the rival party, now surpassing the incumbents by 20 points? Does a term exist for beating your rivals by mirroring their stance? Furthermore, should one not exist, 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, One Can See Why – Yet Absolutely Bananas

It isn't necessary to consider overseas examples to understand this, nor read Daniel Ziblatt’s seminal 2017 book, the historical examination: every one of your synapses is shouting it. Moderate conservatism is the key defense preventing the radical elements.

Ziblatt’s thesis is that political systems endure by appeasing the “propertied and powerful” happy. I have reservations as an guiding tenet. One gets the impression as though we’ve been catering to the privileged groups for ages, at the cost of the broader population, and they rarely appear sufficiently content to halt efforts to reduce support out of public assistance.

However, his study goes beyond conjecture, it’s an archival deep dive into the pre-Nazi German National People’s Party during the interwar Germany (along with the British Conservatives around the early 1900s). When the mainstream right loses its confidence, if it commences to chase the rhetoric and superficial stances of the extremist elements, it transfers the direction.

We Saw Some of This Throughout the EU Exit Process

Boris Johnson aligning with an influential advisor was a notable instance – but far-right flirtation has become so obvious now as to eliminate competing party narratives. What happened to the old-school Conservatives, who value stability, preservation, the constitution, the UK reputation on the world stage?

Where did they go the reformers, who described the nation in terms of economic engines, not tension-filled environments? Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t wild about any of them either, but the contrast is dramatic how those worldviews – the broad-church approach, the reformist element – have been marginalized, replaced by relentless demonisation: of migrants, Muslims, benefit claimants and protesters.

Take the Platform to Themes Resembling the Opening Credits to the Television Drama

Emphasizing positions they oppose. They portray rallies by 75-year-old pacifists as “festivals of animosity” and use flags – national emblems, patriotic icons, all objects bearing a splash of matadorial colour – as an clear provocation to individuals doubting that total cultural alignment is the best thing a human can aspire to.

There doesn’t seem to be any built-in restraint, encouraging reassessment with their own values, their historical context, their own plan. Each incentive Nigel Farage presents to them, they pursue. Therefore, absolutely not, there's no pleasure to observe their collapse. They’re taking social cohesion along in their decline.