Reform UK’s shift towards stringent border controls and anti-net-zero rhetoric is further right than Badenoch’s previous attempts to balance ideological battles in her party. The Conservatives are 14 points behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in polls and lag four points behind the unpopular ruling Labour Party.
This move aligns the party more closely with Donald Trump’s politics, steering away from the traditional liberal center of Tory and UK politics.
Seeking the old ‘economy, stupid’ voters
In Manchester, senior Conservatives admit that it is a significant shift for a party traditionally successful in appealing to a broad voter base. After a significant defeat last year, being ousted after 14 years in power, Tories face the reality that the political center seems to have disappeared, similar to the U.S.
A Tory strategist, speaking anonymously, noted that their policy shift mirrors public sentiment. “The Overton Window has shifted,” the strategist said, referencing the concept of changing societal ideas influencing politics.
Former Home Secretary Grant Shapps, a self-described “centrist” who lost his seat to Labour in the last election, emphasized the importance of addressing undocumented migration’s political impact and ground-level realities: “I genuinely think that until a government, no matter what party, gets a grip of this issue, public trust in governance will never come back.”
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