If, as Chris Mullin argues, a new nationalist populism has taken charge of the Tory Party, just how far will it go? Ultimately, of course, that depends on how long it can dominate parliament. We’ve learned a lot about its chances this spring.
It was immediately obvious that the 2016 referendum could redraw the political map: England’s rust belt towns, traditionally solidly Labour, “disobeyed” their party and opted for Leave. The next year, after the Tories took a Brexit turn, they lost Remain redoubts such as Canterbury and Kensington in Theresa May’s misfiring election. Then, after two years of Brexit negotiations, many “Labour Leavers” decided they were more Leaver than Labour, and former industrial communities like Bolsover, Bassetlaw and Blyth Valley turned Tory for the first time.