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If you haven’t heard it yet, don’t worry. immediately. The call for “right unity” is likely to become a drumbeat in British politics and the dominant soundtrack for the conservative party world.
As the votes suggest next week’s local elections, Nigel Farage’s Reform British Party will be identified as a serious political force capable of winning council seats, mayors and by-elections. The UK has its own viable Maga Party and is set to replace the Tories as the main opposition to workers.
The UK election system punishes diversity of choice. Since Labour replaced the Liberal Party, votes have split on one side of the country’s political replica, but Tories have always ensured that they were large enough to eliminate meaningful competition on the right. Suddenly, it was over.
Opinion polls show that the Tories and reform vote shares are combined in the midterm surrounding the current position of double labor. Clearly, it is false to assume that these votes are reliable. But the fear among the right wing is that, unless they find some way to cooperate in the next general election, the anti-worker vote will divide Kiel’s starme into a second term.
Therefore, a call seeking “correct unity.” For now, these are limited to commentators and have whispered informal conversations, but in particular, Robert Jenrik, a candidate for beaten leadership last year, was personally talking about the need to close the department.
Jenrik, who sees immigration as the crucial issue of the day, has made it clear that his preference is to defeat reforms by robbing its territory. To that end, he provided a series of hard-pressed comments and policies on immigration, multiculturalism and the victims of imaginary Christianity. But if reforms cannot be alienated, he said the department must end “in some way.”
Do not hold your breath. The settlement is far from there if it comes at all. First, these calls only come from conservatives. After last year’s thrashing, they are plaguing third in the poll. In contrast, reform is buoyancy. Part of that argument is that Tories are broken and indistinguishable from labor. Farage sets a political agenda for both key parties and uses the fierce voter disillusionment in his belief that he can build a new anti-workforce. He sees his party as the true heir to Boris Johnson’s “Red Wall” Brexit Union.
There are currently no incentives for Parley on either side. The two are in a battle for political territories similar to Russians and Western allies who occupy an influential zone at the end of World War II. Now it’s the wrong condition for someone else. The Conservatives still have far more lawmakers than reforms and know that the agreement will permanently embed rivals on the right. They hope that anti-Trump sentiment will shrink Farage or that his party can burst before the general election. Finally, the history of reform leaders shows that he is not the one who finds collaboration easy.
But Farage has momentum. Whether he believes in his own rhetoric about replacing Tory, he knows that a now surprising deal will make reform a junior partner.
Above all, it is not clear that reform is truly the party of rights. It definitely has the right wing attribute. It is socially conservative and anti-immigrant. However, the economics of that populist is on the left. Farage talks about liberal Brexit’s speeches on free trade and low tax talks, but the party is economically naturalist in Pawhelite. Supports some nationalization and fetish manufacturing. Its core supporters rely heavily on public services.
Conservatives are also ideological confusion, torn between their rejection of Thatchait’s economics and globalization. Kemi Badenok is not wrong to say they need to resolve their core beliefs – their ultimate agenda may prove that they are still very different from reform.
Because of all this, “correct unity” becomes an increasingly obsessive call. Once Badenok is expelled as leader, replacing her will become a central issue in the battle.
In the case of unity, if you accept that British political rights are being reorganized, like in the United States, then you hold the water. Many Tories want to maintain their broad coalition. However, another view recognizes the ultimate choice between David Cameron’s more cosmopolitan, liberal and globalist voters and socially conservative suburban voters who have coalesced around Brexit.
There is very little clear form of collaboration. It could range from implicit election agreements to formal German CDU/CSU style cooperation based on various geographical strengths, avoiding efforts in each other’s targeted labor seats. Jenrik previously spoke about the Canadian example where old conservatives were absorbed into the new Reform Party. However, the reorganization took 13 years to counter.
The parties must first know the election limits of doing it alone. Tories recommends throwing away all agreement stories. Not only does it look desperate, it also marks surrender before actually losing. They are not wrong to fear division. But even if the alliance is the ultimate outcome, it is both interest to try to destroy each other first. They will treat the next few years as primary – establish who will provide a stronger challenge to labor. Rights cannot unite without a fight.
robert.shrimsley@ft.com
