The American Nightmare is Real and It's Happening in England

The dreary state of British conservatism has many lessons for America and the Republican Party.

Joey Shagoury covers foreign affairs for The American Postliberal. He is an undergraduate at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he studies world politics.

I want to preface this piece by saying that I consider myself, in part, an anglophile. Every true American takes some degree of interest in our mother nation, the nation that bore us into existence. We derive most of our political traditions from her, our language, and our culture. The United Kingdom and the United States have enjoyed a close friendship and special relationship for well over a century. However, this is why the current state of the United Kingdom, like its weather, is so dreary to us as Americans.

I feel that special connection between our nation and their nation, so when I see issues over there I am acutely aware of how they could cross the pond. If you feel voiceless in the American political world, take a look at the British and appreciate what you have. Right now, while Europe is in a rightward shift, the United Kingdom is experiencing the opposite. Rishi Sunak, the embattled prime minister, is on the verge of political damnation — not death — damnation. 

Should we feel bad for Rishi Sunak? Should we, as conservatives, rally to his defense? No, the pending electoral winter for the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom was rightly earned by the Tories and it has been a long time coming. For Americans not initiated in British politics a simple comparison may help: picture the “RINOs” of the Republican Party. For this piece, I will now say any names, but you and I both know who is in mind. Now imagine they led the entire Republican Party. That is a summation of the state of Conservative leadership in England.

The British people voted for Brexit in 2016, much to the horror of Conservative Party leadership. The leaders then stalled for three years on the execution of Brexit. This is because there is a fundamental break between conservative voters and party leadership. Even after the perceived populism of Boris Johnson and the Conservative 2019 landslide, there was a fundamental problem with the admin — they did not do much that was conservative.

The British people will not benefit from Labour Party rule, but they will benefit from the humiliation and the rebirth of the Conservative Party that will come after the election. The leadership of that Conservative Party has for so many years spit in the eyes of their own voters, to earn praise and short term gain. Now, with their electoral defeat seemingly imminent, they will be forced to confront total failure.

If the Conservative Party refuses to be conservative, then it cannot be allowed to continue. This is something to remember for conservatives both there, but more important to us, at home in the United States. A party that is disconnected from its base can not hope to survive in the long term. Eventually, the chickens come home to roost and the people become dissatisfied with picking the “lesser of two evils.” Voters will eventually have the strength to bite the bullet and demand change through the ballot box. Conservative voters in the United Kingdom refuse to be taken for granted again, and maybe there will come a time when you should too.

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