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Britain’s political system is undergoing a risky revolution
The two-party tradition is fraying under the pressure of the Americanisation of politics and ethnic loyalties.
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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has taken the Americanisation of British politics to a new level by importing Trumpism whole cloth.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Adrian Wooldridge
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Lots of odd things are happening in British politics. Reform UK, which was founded only four years ago, is leaving the established parties in the dust. The Green Party has more members than the Conservative Party. The Labour government, which was elected with a massive majority 16 months ago, is slipping further and further in the opinion polls. But the oddest of the lot is that British politics is becoming less British and more foreign.
This is strange for two big reasons. The British have traditionally prided themselves on the uniqueness of their political system: an aristocratic arrangement that evolved peacefully into a democratic one and a hard-headed regime that nevertheless gave people a chance to dress up in odd clothes and engage in weird rituals. About 35 other countries have adopted the Westminster model; one American president, Woodrow Wilson, wrote a learned book on why the British system is better than the US one.
