A thaw in Britain’s frozen union
Labour’s surge and the Tories’ troubles could refresh the United Kingdom
Outsiders watching Britain in recent years have toyed with a gloomy calculation. Which would survive longer: the ancient Conservative and Unionist Party, or the even older United Kingdom that it governs? The Tories love the union, but the shocks of their 12 years in office—the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, the Brexit referendum in 2016 and Boris Johnson’s scandal-prone premiership—stirred nationalist sentiments. It was an unforgiving dynamic: the more Conservative dominance in England seemed assured, the more likely it seemed Britain would fracture. The party or the country: something had to give.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The great thaw in the union”
Britain October 15th 2022
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