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There have been times when Tory figureheads have sounded almost sensible superficially – and other moments where they have sounded wildly irrational, yet continued to be cherished by their party. Currently, it's far from that situation. A leading Tory failed to inspire attendees when she spoke at her conference, even as she threw out the divisive talking points of migrant-baiting she assumed they wanted.

This wasn't primarily that they’d all arisen with a renewed sense of humanity; more that they didn’t believe she’d ever be equipped to follow through. Effectively, an imitation. Conservatives despise that. A veteran Tory was said to label it a “New Orleans funeral”: loud, animated, but ultimately a farewell.

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Some are having another squiz at a particular MP, who was a definite refusal at the beginning – but with proceedings winding down, and rivals has departed. Another group is generating a excitement around Katie Lam, a recently elected representative of the 2024 intake, who appears as a countryside-based politician while filling her socials with anti-migrant content.

Is she poised as the standard-bearer to beat back Reform, now leading the Tories by a significant margin? Can we describe for beating your rivals by mirroring their stance? Furthermore, should one not exist, surely we could borrow one from fighting disciplines?

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It isn't necessary to consider overseas examples to understand this, or consult a prominent academic's seminal 2017 book, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy: every one of your synapses is shouting it. Moderate conservatism is the essential firewall against the radical elements.

His research conclusion is that political systems endure by satisfying the “elite classes” happy. I have reservations as an organising principle. One gets the impression as though we’ve been indulging the propertied and powerful over generations, at the expense of the broader population, and they rarely appear adequately satisfied to halt efforts to make cuts out of disability benefits.

However, his study isn’t a hunch, it’s an archival deep dive into the historical German conservative group during the Weimar Republic (combined with the UK Tories circa 1906). When the mainstream right loses its confidence, as it begins to adopt the buzzwords and gesture-based policies of the radical wing, it hands them the control.

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The former Prime Minister associating with an influential advisor was a clear case – but extremist sympathies has become so evident now as to eliminate competing party narratives. Whatever became of the old-school Conservatives, who value stability, tradition, governing principles, the pride of Britain on the world stage?

Why have we lost the progressives, who portrayed the nation in terms of powerhouses, not tension-filled environments? Don’t get me wrong, I didn't particularly support any of them either, but it's remarkably noticeable how such perspectives – the broad-church approach, the modernizing wing – have been marginalized, replaced by constant vilification: of immigrants, Islamic communities, welfare recipients and protesters.

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And talk about issues they reject. They portray rallies by older demonstrators as “festivals of animosity” and display banners – union flags, Saint George’s flags, any item featuring a splash of matadorial colour – as an direct confrontation to anyone who doesn’t think that being British through and through is the highest ideal a human can aspire to.

There doesn’t seem to be any natural braking system, encouraging reassessment with their own values, their own hinterland, their original agenda. Any stick the political figure presents to them, they follow. So, absolutely not, there's no pleasure to see their disintegration. They are dragging civil society into the abyss.