David Cameron has returned from space to say Nigel Farage wants to destroy the Conservative Party, is playing “dog whistle” politics and the Conservative Party should move a mile away from him. Thus the battle lines for the next leadership contest are being drawn. The early advantage goes to elites who say the party has moved too far to the Right; A view supported by billions of deadly boring podcasts made by people who think the Today show isn’t subjective enough.
Let’s put this myth to rest so that I never have to write this column again. The Conservative Party is not right-wing. He won in 2019 when people thought he was right wing, would implement Brexit, reduce immigration and cut taxes. It is now losing out due to rising taxes, skyrocketing immigration and Brexit, which you may think has never happened (unless you’re trying to introduce a dog to Ulster).
Moreover, the Conservatives are losing not to Reform, but to Labor, which claims low taxes and low immigration. Although one or two polls show Reform running neck and neck with the Tories or trailing them, others have the figure hovering around 14 per cent.
In fact, Reform is not as popular as it was under David Cameron, when Ukip came first in the 2014 European elections and won two seats in Parliament. He once had 25 percent in the polls; In July 2013, he was within striking distance of beating the Conservative Party, which trailed Labor by 13 percentage points. Nostalgic wets forget that Ed Miliband led Cameron through much of the Coalition, or that George Osborne was booed at the 2012 Paralympics (the pinnacle of the British Grand Society).
George also intervened this year, quoting John Major’s advice that “we will never win as long as we remain in thrall to the hard Right of the party”. I’m not sure who this far right is in 2024 or who should bow to them. Liz Truss? Jacob Rees-Mogg? They were all relegated to the backbenches and sadly ignored. As for Major, he lost in 1997 because the country had endured a painful recession and the Conservative Party had raised taxes to compensate. Of course, factionalism didn’t help, but it’s certainly a leader’s job to bridge the cracks.
After all, there is a better case than Farage for claiming that David Cameron is destroying the Tory party. If you’re a Remainer, you might say he’s guilty of doing exactly what he’s now warning the Conservatives about: capitulating to the “four-eyed fools” by promising to hold an in/out referendum while cutting the “green”. nonsense” and labeling multiculturalism as a failure. As a Prime Minister, Dave blew enough whistles to cause a riot at Crufts.
On the other hand, if you’re a Brexiteer, Dave’s problem was that he made a virtue of alienating traditionalists. Centrist fathers believe that for every Right-wing vote the Conservatives deliberately lose, they gain four votes from the middle. But Farage proved that you still need a base to win; The middle part is lively, Starmer said. In 2024, the midfield has shifted significantly to the right. So when asked in the ITV debate who wanted to stop legal immigration, all four main parties, including the Liberal Democrats, raised their hands.
Maybe they’re all wrong. Maybe immigration is a moral good and we need more of it. So why didn’t previous Tory leaders explain this to us, rather than concocting an unrealistic policy that would reduce net migration to “tens of thousands”? Remind me: who did this?
Brexit did not destroy the Conservative Party; He revived it in 2019. Farage did not destroy the Conservative Party; he effectively withdrew from the election, making Boris’s majority possible. Lockdown destroyed the economy, work ethic and NHS, destroying any government’s chances of re-election. But Cameron also destroyed the party’s ability to weather such storms by uprooting Toryism from its electorate and philosophy. Deprived of land and water, the animal lies dying.
Putting matters into perspective
Peter Hitchens recently said that “Conservatism” is “the love of God, country and family, freedom, truth, duty, courage, the law of the land, tradition, beauty and honour.” I might add “love” Midsomer Murders”, otherwise: “bingo”. By this definition, conservatism’s greatest moment was not Nigel Lawson’s 1988 budget, as Rishi Sunak believes, but when Jose Sanchez del Rio, executed by Mexican revolutionaries, used his last breath to draw a cross on the ground with his blood.
Contrast this with the Conservative manifesto, which has all the idealism of the Argos catalogue, with no coherent statement of philosophy and retail policy proposals we simply cannot afford. The longer the election goes on, the madder the Conservatives become; Penny Mordaunt “higher taxes!” he shouts. to the astonished panelists. Weakest Link – and one’s anger at the fact that they are still in office, or that any government exists at all, only grows.
It can be seen clearly only in the kingdom of dogs. Last week in the nearby field the dogs lined up – they actually took turns – to roll something. “Don’t worry,” a woman said, “it’s just a worm.” And after my dog did a few tumbles, he got some sun on his belly and refused to move. He lay tanning on a worm, unaware of polls, tax rises or Sir Keir Starmer.