SFor six years now, the British have been enforcing constant position determinations, which is also due to the fact that four very different prime ministers took turns during this time. Even if they are all from the Conservative Party, the UK’s political dynamism and confusion, fueled largely by the Brexit referendum, is staggering and sets the country apart from other major European nations.
Liz Truss, the new prime minister, now wants to go back to the Tories’ historic “core values” and was given a grassroots mandate to do just that. Her predecessor’s recently acclaimed catchphrases — “levelling-up” and “net zero” — dropped out of her brief inaugural speech on Tuesday. Boris Johnson had already differed significantly from Theresa May, and she in turn differed from her predecessor David Cameron. It’s good that at least the 170,000 members of the Tories seem to know what real conservative substance is.
Inspired by Margaret Thatcher
From Cameron’s erratic left turn to May’s transitory indecisiveness to Johnson’s bold attempt to establish the Tories as a semi-populist labor party, the range in which a modern conservative party can reinvent itself has been demonstrated. All attempts failed, albeit for different reasons. Now Truss is looking to Margaret Thatcher for inspiration: low taxes, revival of British genius (vulgo: entrepreneurial spirit) and a robust performance abroad. For many, that sounds desperate, even after the last contingent.
The situation in the UK at the beginning of the cold season is no better – in terms of the inflation rate it is even worse – than in many other European countries. Although the UK economy does not depend on Russian gas, energy prices have soared to unimaginable heights, forcing the government to act. The relief package that Truss wants to present this Thursday is likely to scratch the £100 billion threshold and thus be even more expensive than Johnson’s generous corona aid. The citizens demand, also because they have become accustomed to it, that the state step in when external influences jeopardize their standard of living or plunge them into poverty. This doesn’t go with the classic Tory vision of the small state and will soon make the new prime minister look inconsistent.
She doesn’t shy away from conflict
Truss is energetic and doesn’t shy away from conflict. These are useful prerequisites for governing. She also shares with the Conservatives the belief that pragmatism can take the country far, even if beliefs go overboard. In this respect, the party will follow the new head of government for a while – even that majority in the faction that would have preferred to see Rishi Sunak as head of government. But the now structural unrest of the Tories does not give them much time to show successes. If it fails to allay the public’s concerns and reduce the Labor Party’s considerable lead in the polls, the next hatchet could soon fall.
The unrest in the party is also due to the fact that it has not yet managed to convince the British of the higher purpose of the Brexit project. The pandemic and war in Ukraine absorbed a lot of political energies, but they also served as an excuse for the lack of “fruits” of the exit from the EU. The Remainers – half of the nation to this day – are not surprised. You always spoke of an illusion.
But even the British, who had hoped for a new political start from Brexit, are left with a stale feeling. It is characterized by the impression that those in power have turned the country upside down in order not to make anything of the opportunity. Truss’ instinct to at least make Brexit shine through by being unforgiving towards the EU will do little to change that.
The painstakingly staged start of the fourth Tory government cannot hide the fact that, after more than twelve years of conservative rule, there is a hint of a change of mood over the country. Not that the Labor Party has any better ideas or more capable staff, but the Tories are looking drained. When they raise the threat of a change of power, they do not point to Labor leader Keir Starmer alone, but to the (not unreasonable) prospect that he could come to power with the help of the Scottish nationalists. Although that would create new problems, unlike in the days of Jeremy Corbyn, only a few Britons break out in a cold sweat.
