"The Tories were in control but playing checkers on a Blairite chessboard."
The Critic: 15th July 2024: Doug Stokes writes that the "Conservatives must focus on our constitutional order."
"Many of the burning frustrations that many (former) Conservative voters feel towards the party are rooted in its failure to reform a deeper administrative state and constitutional settlement left over from the Blair years. This “blob” constrained policy-making whilst profoundly shaping British institutional life.
"For example, voters intensely dislike wokery and imposed forms of ideological diversity and inclusion. Despite the headline-chasing tough talk, the Conservatives failed to repeal Blair’s Equality Act, which legally mandates diversity and inclusion across the public sector to ensure equal outcomes based on an intersectional oppression matrix. Taxpayer-funded quangos and activist charities have received billions in taxpayer largesse to ensure ideological compliance. On illegal immigration, the seemingly endless tide of small-boat migrants, 90 per cent of whom are young men, remains a hot issue amongst voters. Why did the Tories fail to grasp the nettle of the ECHR’s “living instrument doctrine” that arrogates the powers to reinterpret the convention to encompass ever-expanding new rights, including those regarding the UK’s immigration policies? If the 2019 realignment was driven by the British people wishing to see the party deliver on its promise to “take back control”, why were so many ministers backseat drivers?
"As the British centre-right seeks to rebuild, it must become far more strategically aware of the challenges it faces and its likely entrenchment under Starmer’s supermajority."