Hayton, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-9899-0035 (2025) To conserve or to reform? The reshaping of the right in British politics. British Politics. ISSN 1746-918X
Abstract
The right of British politics is being reshaped, threatening the dominant position of the Conservative Party. This paper analyses the symbiotic relationship between the Conservatives and Reform UK. It argues that both parties now represent and articulate what can be most accurately described as populist conservatism. This populist conservatism in part reflects the rise of national conservatism globally, but it is also a distinctively British phenomenon with its roots and development decisively shaped by the electoral competition on the right in the UK over several decades. Possible scenarios for the future of the right are explored. The dynamic competition between the two parties is reinforcing the dominance of populist conservatism on the right of British politics. A pact between the two would reinforce this further.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Conservative Party; Reform UK; Kemi Badenoch; Nigel Farage; Populist conservatism |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jun 2025 12:55 |
Last Modified: | 09 Jun 2025 12:55 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/s41293-025-00287-4 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227525 |