The UK Conservative Party Is Incompetent — So Why Is The Opposition Floundering?

Why populism has erased previous political distinctions

Image credit: Daily Express

First, some necessary context: the United Kingdom is a nation comprised of four distinct countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The first three also comprise Britain, which is an island, while the last is part of the island of Ireland, which comprises Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic of Eire.

The United Kingdom gets its name because although Northern Ireland and Wales are the products of bloody conquest, Scotland chose (somewhat) voluntarily to unite with England in 1707. For the last few decades, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales have had their own Assemblies (mini-parliaments) which create the illusion of some degree of autonomy but in reality nearly all political power lies in the Houses of Parliament located in London — which is why England doesn’t have a separate Assembly of its own. The English dominate Parliament and thus dominate the UK as a whole. The English therefore don’t need to pretend to autonomy: they already have it.

Back in the 19th Century, the UK was alternatively governed by two opposing political Parties: the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party (which was the successor to the old Whig Party). The Conservatives…