


Britain’s Conservatives are losing as they governed. Meekly
UwU Conservativism, and the end of smol government
Squint a little and the letters “UwU” resemble someone with large, cartoonish eyes and a serene smile. The cutesy emoticon is a staple of a certain corner of the internet, in which grown-ups speak to each other in an infantile tone (“I’m just a smol bean”) and adopt feigned helplessness.
What is grating enough online is much worse coming from a g7 government. The Conservatives, who have spent 14 years running Britain, increasingly subscribe to a narrative that they were a mere bit-part player, rather than its main actor. Gazing upon a dying Conservative administration in 1993, Lord Lamont, who had recently been sacked as chancellor, accused Sir John Major’s government of being “in office but not in power”. What was once an attack has now become the party’s principal defence: the Conservatives may have been in office, but they were never in power. Call it UwU Conservatism.
Explore more

Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones
The former Labour leader, and poet, goes canvassing

Britain’s Conservatives rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long
Our constituency poll in Gillingham and Rainham shows Labour on track for a thumping win

The covid-19 pandemic is hanging over Britain’s election
The latest edition of our Blighty newsletter

Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones
The former Labour leader, and poet, goes canvassing

Britain’s Conservatives rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long
Our constituency poll in Gillingham and Rainham shows Labour on track for a thumping win

The covid-19 pandemic is hanging over Britain’s election
The latest edition of our Blighty newsletter
Climate change casts a shadow over Britain’s biggest food export
Scottish salmon farms endure a rising mortality rate
Why this isn’t Britain’s TikTok election
And why the next one might be
Britain’s party manifestos lack detail but leave clues
Labour’s cagey plan would not give them a mandate for radical reform