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Throughout history when party chiefs have seemed moderately rational outwardly – and other moments where they have come across as animal crackers, yet were still adored by party loyalists. This is not such a scenario. Kemi Badenoch didn't energize the audience when she spoke at her conference, despite she offered the divisive talking points of border-focused rhetoric she thought they wanted.

It’s not so much that they’d all woken up with a revived feeling of humanity; more that they didn’t believe she’d ever be in a position to deliver it. In practice, fake vegan meat. Conservatives despise that. A veteran Tory reportedly described it as a “themed procession”: noisy, animated, but nonetheless a farewell.

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Certain members are taking another squiz at one contender, who was a hard “no” at the beginning – but now it’s the end, and everyone else has withdrawn. Some are fostering a excitement around a rising star, a 34-year-old MP of the newest members, who presents as a Shires Tory while wallpapering her online profiles with immigration-critical posts.

Could she be the figurehead to challenge the rival party, now outpolling the Tories by a significant margin? Is there a word for beating your rivals by mirroring their stance? Moreover, should one not exist, surely we could use an expression from combat sports?

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One need not look at the US to know this, or consult a prominent academic's groundbreaking study, the historical examination: your entire mental framework is shouting it. Moderate conservatism is the key defense preventing the far right.

Ziblatt’s thesis is that political systems endure by keeping the “wealthy and influential” happy. I’m not wild about it as an guiding tenet. It feels as though we’ve been catering to the affluent and connected over generations, at the cost of the broader population, and they rarely appear quite happy enough to cease desiring to reduce support out of social welfare.

But his analysis isn’t a hunch, it’s an archival deep dive into the pre-Nazi German National People’s Party during the interwar Germany (along with the UK Tories in that historical context). When the mainstream right falters in conviction, as it begins to adopt the terminology and superficial stances of the far right, it transfers the direction.

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The former Prime Minister associating with an influential advisor was one particularly egregious example – but far-right flirtation has become so evident now as to obliterate any other party narratives. What happened to the established party members, who prize continuity, tradition, the constitution, the national prestige on the international platform?

What happened to the reformers, who defined the nation in terms of powerhouses, not tension-filled environments? Don’t get me wrong, I didn't particularly support any of them either, but it’s absolutely striking how such perspectives – the inclusive conservative, the reformist element – have been marginalized, in favour of relentless demonisation: of newcomers, religious groups, benefit claimants and demonstrators.

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Emphasizing positions they oppose. They characterize demonstrations by elderly peace activists as “carnivals of hatred” and use flags – British flags, English symbols, all objects bearing a splash of matadorial colour – as an direct confrontation to those questioning that being British through and through is the ultimate achievement a person could possibly be.

There doesn’t seem to be any inherent moderation, where they check back in with fundamental beliefs, their traditional foundations, their stated objectives. Any stick Nigel Farage offers them, they pursue. So, no, there's no pleasure to watch them implode. They are dragging civil society along in their decline.