How magical thinking conquered the Conservative Party
joke, a condemned man is begging for clemency from a king. The prisoner makes a rash promise: let me live and I will teach your horse to talk. The king agrees, giving him one year to complete the challenge. An elated inmate returns to his cell. His cellmate asks why he is so happy. “A lot can happen in a year,” he replies. “The king might die. The horse might die. I might die. And maybe the horse will talk.
The first strange belief is that Mr Sunak, the prime minister, is popular. In 2020 he emerged as a fresh-faced chancellor, who sprayed about £400bn at voters at the start of the pandemic, becoming the most liked politician in the country. Voters prefer Mr Sunak to the party he leads. A presidential campaign, in which Mr Sunak is front and centre, would see off Sir Keir Starmer, who is either unknown or unliked by voters, runs the logic.
When it comes to policy some Conservatives swear they can hear the horse mumbling. A controversial blitz has gone down well.2, a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham and Manchester, is wildly popular among transport nerds but its likely curtailment will be welcomed by voters who never loved it.
Many Tories are relying on Labour’s incompetence rather than horse hypnosis. Labour is much less popular than it was in the run up to 1997, when Sir Tony posted approval ratings that would make an Uzbek autocrat blush. Labour has won a majority from opposition only three other times, under Clement Attlee after the second world war and twice under Harold Wilson in the 1960s and 1970s. Rigorous statistical analysis based on a sample size one can count on a single hand can lead to madness.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tories struggle for a legacy after 13 years of infighting, Brexit chaos and five PMsSome Tory think tanks are starting to hold talks with Labour as they anticipate a change of government
Read more »
Cambridgeshire: Council 'tampered' with four-day week report, Tories claimThe authority is accused of editing the report to artificially improve the results of the trial.
Read more »
Tories’ irrational immigration policy ignores Scotland’s ever-growing needTONIGHT, I will call – once again – for immigration to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament in a debate at Holyrood.
Read more »