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The Economist
The Economist
29 May 2024


NextImg:The British election is becoming an episode of mob justice
Britain | Bagehot

The British election is becoming an episode of mob justice 

A punishment beating is on the cards for the Conservatives  

The Conservative Party is deeply unpopular. That is a simple point, but one still often missed. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, enjoys an approval rating that matches Sir John Major’s at his mid-1990s nadir, when the party was on the cusp of a historic defeat at the hands of Sir Tony Blair. The Conservatives enjoy an average poll rating of 23—about 20 points behind the Labour Party. It is a decent score for a third party; it is a cataclysmically awful one for a party of government. Polls may narrow, say pathologically nervous Labour advisers and desperate Conservative ones. Equally, they may widen.

Every so often politics is more about punishment than policy. Sir Tony recognised as much when recalling his 1997 election victory. “Once the mood had turned from the government and embraced us, the mood was merciless in its pursuit, indifferent to anything other than satisfying itself.” Sometimes voters are judicious electors seeking a government. Sometimes they are nothing more than a mob seeking revenge.

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Sir Keir Starmer meets the public. Sort of

The Labour leader is better than he was at campaigning but that is not saying a lot