The Conservative Party cannot survive as another routinely dishonest, unfaithful, and anti-democratic liberal-progressive party.
More parliamentary Conservatives are planning to bring down their own government, although for opposing reasons (either in favour of Brexit or Remain ? either way against the dissatisfactory compromise offered by Theresa May).
The opposition naturally wants to paint this split as inherent to Conservatism ? as evidence that Conservativism attracts racists and nationalists who pull the party right-wards and away from the sensible middle ground. Some Conservatives share this view, although they tenderly refer to "a romantic, nationalist streak."
Yet these views obscure the Party's leftwards split.
The Conservative Party today, like the Conservative Party of the 1970s under Ted Heath, is split between real conservatives and nominal conservatives who
The Parliamentary Conservative Party's EU-philia has never represented the other members, most of whom are Leavers. During the 2000s, members dropped out or defected to UKIP. To stop the haemorrhage, Cameron promised a referendum on leaving the
This is not just a split over Brexit. The Cameron and May administrations shifted leftwards until the Conservative Party ceased to look conservative. They competed with the opposition to spend more on health and social care without reform. They have maintained New Labour's commitment to spend a certain proportion of national wealth on foreign aid. The tax burden rose this year to its highest since 1970. Their austerity was contradictory: the traditional conservative priorities of
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In aping New Labour, Cameron and May embraced similar spin, Remember Cameron's claim in February 2016 to have negotiated a "special status" for Britain in the EU, even to have improved Britain's security (he hadn't negotiated anything to do with security). They embraced New Labour's evasion of democracy too, such that May sends civil servants to make international agreements without deference to her own Cabinet, let alone Parliament.
Both Cameron and May embraced identity politics. Cameron urged us all to "hug a hoodie," because, he argued, hooligans are victims too.
May has offered no Conservative vision or ideology – her vague references to working for "all Britons" and "hard-working families" are actually thefts from New Labour. At the unnecessary general election of 2017, she shifted leftwards in order to steal the opposition's thunder, even though the Labour Party already had shifted to Marxism. The nadir of her campaign was her manifesto to seize property from the elderly in order to pay for their care. She lost Cameron's slim working
May has made a habit of acquiescing in left-wing myths: the gender pay gap is due to sexism
Nevertheless, more Parliamentary conservatives are refusing to caucus with her unless she
Nick Boles is another Conservative-
A so-called "no deal" would be closer to Brexit than May's offering, so some Brexiteers also want to bring down May's government by voting no confidence in it
The Conservative Party has no future like this. It has betrayed its own members; its membership is at record lows, particularly in the youngest age groups. It has betrayed its manifesto commitments. It has betrayed the majority of those who voted in the referendum. May's administration has achieved nothing in government, except false claims and insincere promises. It will get no credit for whatever it achieves. The Conservative Party cannot survive as a variant of every other liberal-progressive party ? because every other liberal-progressive party can pose better. Having some conservatives is not sufficient differentiation – voters cannot count on a party that is so internally contradictory

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Bruce Oliver Newsome
Bruce Oliver Newsome, Ph.D. is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of San Diego