The Politics of the New: The Regenerating Conservative Party

The Government of Boris Johnson ended like it began; with a circus performance led by the main protagonist on the steps of Downing Street.

Singularly unsuited to the role of Prime Minister; Johnson sought to entertain and distract us. His frequent transgressions and his casual relationship with the truth have dishonoured his office. And yet he departed to standing ovations from his MPs (who had only earlier defenestrated him) and polling across the Conservative party suggesting he maintained more support than either of his potential successors. On the one level there were no real surprises, his faults were ‘baked in’ they said. But his popularity in the country had plummeted after his Covid lockdown rule-breaking, this downtick primed by scandals of cronyism, corruption and incompetence. The true believers may have been the last to have the wool pulled from their eyes.

Given how his period in power ended it can be hard to recall how it started. Not only did Johnson orchestrate a true believer Brexit counter-revolution within the government of Teresa May, (perhaps with the exception of the chief conductor Johnson himself), he then left the Conservatives to a shock stonking majority, with the loss of many Labour seats previously considered untouchable. It seems scarcely believable, but reassuring, that the edifice he built could be so quickly brought down.

Could the reason for this be found in theory of the politics of the new? Those who achieve political success are often explained by the winners weaving one of two narratives. The first is the power of ‘incumbency’; ‘Better the devil you know’; ‘Cling onto nurse for fear of something worse’. More positively, ‘You’ve never had it so good’ (the latter didn’t work). Incumbent parties and politicians can use the power of office to pursue popular policies, and if the country is seen to be doing reasonably the incumbent tends to do well. However if this changes and the percecption is that the incumbent is messing it up, the mood of the electorate switches to be receptive to a ‘change’ narrative, favouring the insurgent party or candidate.

Where Johnson showed his political cunning was to present himself as the ‘change’ candidate, literally from within the Government itself (albeit one he had recently resigned from). The Teresa May regime was struggling in 2019, bogged down by Brexit, she was unable to pursue any of the other prioroties she had set out, during which time the sense of national drift and decline was palpable. The window was open for a ‘time for a change’ political narrative, but unfortunately for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, it was Johnson who seized the crown belonging to the freshest face and spun the web of illusion to present himself as being a breath of fresh air and a new start for the country.

Thankfully for those of us horrified by the antics of the last three years, this illusion shattered and Johnson was revealed for who he was all along - a self-serving narcissist and charlatan prepared to do whatever it takes in service of the cause: that is the cause of one Boris Johnson. But the whole episode shows the power of regeneration, just like Dr Who managing to outwit his galactic enemies and cheating death by regenerating into a new face - there is the political equivalent, as we have seen.

The pressing question now, which should be one that keeps the Labour leadership up at night, is - could Liz Truss pull of a similar feat of chutzpah and despite being at the heart of a failing government for 10 years, present herself as a new face - the change candidate.

It would be difficult, but she has already demonstrated her shape shifting abilities throughout her career and she is undoubtedly a cunning political player. She will know that the power of the narrative of change - the politics of the new, are what is needed to save her and her party’s skin.

It is up to Labour to prevent her pulling off this political magic trick, to stop her pulling a new rabbit out of the hat and regenerating again. Their narrative must show they are the exciting change that is needed. The result of the next election depends on it.