The Brexit Party is the best thing to happen to the Conservative Party
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Yesterday, in these pages, Charlotte Gill argued that if Marxist Jeremy Corbyn gets into Number 10 it will be thanks to the Brexit Party. She went as far as to say that “if Farage is really against Marxist Britain, it is he who must allow the Tories space to get back their mojo”. But nothing could be further from the truth. And, if anything, it is only the presence of the Brexit Party that has breathed some mojo back into the Tories. If the Conservatives and the Brexit Party can now start working effectively together, we’ll save ourselves from Marxist Britain.
Over the last three years the Conservatives have not only botched Brexit, but have progressively drifted leftward. Not leftward in a good way that might have given the country, for example, new high quality social housing, or a strong vocational training and skills strategy — policies which might have won back working class and regional support, even if they annoyed the odd libertarian. No, the Conservatives have drifted down the rabbit hole of identity politics and political correctness in a self-defeating game of trying to please the identitarian left. In doing so, the Conservatives have just amplified that narrative. A narrative which the identitarian left will always be better at, because they believe in it with passionate intensity, whereas the Conservatives secretly lack all conviction, even as they play the game. You certainly can’t blame the Brexit Party for any of this.
Even now the Conservatives haven’t woken up. For example, according to the Daily Telegraph, on Wednesday morning , Penny Mordaunt, Secretary of State for Defence, will be unveiling her vision for gender equality in the UK with the publication of “Gender equality at all stages: A roadmap for change”. Apparently there is going to be a raft of policies amounting to “the biggest shake-up of the whole of Government approach to supporting women and enabling them to reach their full potential”. Ms Mordaunt is quoted saying: “We are not going to close the pay gap unless we address the fact that women are often prime carers because they step up and do their jobs.” What on earth does she mean? Should we expect more tax, more regulation, more mandatory reporting? Probably all three.
Does anyone think these are priorities for working class or regional Britain? When the Conservatives announced the Gender Pay Audit legislation a few years ago did they pick up voters in Hartlepool? Is anyone in the whole country grateful because grandma is refusing to downsize because of the high rates of stamp duty? Did the sacking of Roger Scruton elicit a sigh of relief from the poorer parts of the Isle of Wight? Did the commitment to meeting Net Zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 create a surge of new support for the Conservatives in Newcastle? Me neither.
Frankly there is only one thing in the UK right now that is going to save the Conservatives. It’s called the Brexit Party. The Conservatives seem to have simply lost sight of anything resembling a social conservative vision. Yet such a vision, articulated thoughtfully, and pursued with modern-conservative moderation, is vote winning. I have used this clip before, but it’s so good I’ll use it again. Here is the political scientist, Matthew Goodwin, in under two minutes, describing a social conservative vision, and the kind of policies British people, according to his ongoing polling, are looking for.
The Brexit Party seems to be the only party in Britain actually listening to the British people. And they have now begun articulating policies that are likely to be genuinely popular. Popular far across the country, not just in Islington. In doing so, they are providing a wake-up call to the Conservatives. They’re goading the Conservatives into getting their mojo back. The Brexit Party might even win some Leave-supporting socially-conservative Labour-held seats at the next general election. If the Conservatives want to keep Corbyn out of Downing Street they should start listening to the Brexit Party. Then imitating. Then they should pick up the phone. Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party are not getting back into any box. So we’ll probably take the call.
