Why the British right is lost

Friday, 29 July 2005, 18:55

Third Avenue has an excellent post on why Republicans dominate American politics, but the Tories are lost the wilderness here. Basically, he says, it’s down to a different attitude to “golden age” rhetoric:

The British right, unlike their American cousins, show a deep unease, bordering on disdain, for their country in its contemporary manifestation. Unfortunately, all voters, by definition, live in modern Britain, not in some bucolic paradise of yore. Republicans here understand that patriotism is first and foremost about being proud of one’s country now, not the foreign land that is the past. Until the British right ditches its love affair with exclusively bygone glories, it has little chance of winning back the hearts of the many modern compatriots that have deserted it.

As they say, go read the rest.

Entry Filed under: UK