tories

The net has been abuzz recently with the recent success of David Cameron's Conservative Party in the recent English local elections, and how it impacts, if at all, the fortunes of the Right here in the United States. David Brooks  went so far as to declare the English Tories the leader of conservatism worldwide, a role traditionally held by the American Right. If I may be as bold as to offer my own humble thoughts and the lessons and cautions of the Tories recent victories and prospective majority.

First, the cautions, what must Americans seeking to understand the English Conservative Party's successes keep in mind.

1) Cameron's Tories are benefitly greatly from being the opposition, a luxury that the GOP may have in Congress but not in the White House and in the US, most people focus on the White House when determining who to blame for problems and economic downturns, a result of our wonderful presidential system. So unfortunately the GOP cannot campaign on not having been in power for 11 years like the Tories can. We have plainly seen in poll after poll and indeed vote after vote how independents and soft GOP voters are migrated to the Democrats when given a palatable alternative, something the Democrats have been stellar at since 2006, tailoring candidates perfectly for districts. Voters are tired of the GOP or more accurately what they perceive to be the GOP. Bush fatigue is real, as apparantly Labour fatigue is real on the other side of the Atlantic 

2) English Conservatism is different. Ever read National Review's The Corner blog and found a post which seems oddly out of place on a conservative blog? I have, and more often than not the "offending" post is from one of the English born writers on the website. Why is this? Well, the simple fact of the matter is that English conservatism is a different type of conservatism. The type of conservatism that exists in England is far more class conscience, than US conservatism. The GOP has become more and more the party of the white working class whilst the same is not true of the English Tories, who draw their base clearly from the monied classes of England (and I do mean England, the Tories are still pathetically lacking in support in Scotland and Wales.) In this vein, the Tories lack the broad support that the GOP enjoys from religious conservatives and gun owners, a support which all but guarantees the GOP 40 percent of the electorate and most the South and Plain states. Additionally, the welfare state is more firmly entrenched and comprehensive in Britain than in the United States, for example the Tories present themselves as defenders and more compentent administrators of the socialised National Health Service, whilst the American Right is in the position of opposing Democrats efforts to introduce government health care at all. All these factors lead to conclusion that Cameron's new Conservatives are more socially libertarian while at the same time being less economically libertarian than the American Right could ever be.

So, are we to conclude that Cameron's success offers no solutions to the position the GOP finds itself in? By no means. Cameron has shown two excellent traits in particular that I will explore in my next post