Here in the U.S., it is often said that the Democrats are the Evil Party, and the Republicans are the Stupid Party. That goes in spades in Britain, where the Conservative Party is in the midst of a historic self-immolation.
It started when they ousted Boris Johnson as party leader and thus as Prime Minister. Boris has his faults, most notably an unaccountable fondness for “green” energy. Which of course is not a campaign plus in today’s Europe. Still, Johnson was the Tories’ most plausible leader, and they kicked him out because a gay Tory groped another guy at some kind of a party event. I don’t understand it, either.
When Johnson was voted out, there was a rather bitter contest to succeed him that ultimately was won by Liz Truss. Truss tried to channel Margaret Thatcher, and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng produced a budget that included income tax cuts. As Steve explained, those cuts were modest, but they were denounced by the “financial community,” the IMF, and the usual liberal suspects.
Truss retreated and fired Chancellor Kwarteng, throwing him under the bus in an effort to save her own skin. Predictably, it didn’t help. The London Times reports that Truss’s head is now on the chopping block: “Tories hold secret talks on crowning new leader.”
Liz Truss will appeal to moderate Tory MPs to save her premiership on Monday night after it emerged that powerbrokers had held secret discussions about ousting her and arranging a “coronation”.
The prime minister will address the One Nation group of centrist Conservatives after a weekend in which three of her MPs called on her to quit and her new chancellor tore up the agenda on which she was elected only last month.
So much for the second coming of Margaret Thatcher. In a separate article, the Times (which, to be fair, is largely hostile to the Conservatives) headlines: “Truss is the latest victim of a never-ending Tory death cult.” The subhead: “Many Conservative MPs say it is a question of when, not if, they select a fifth party leader in six years.”
I suppose we Republicans can take a certain solace in not being the world’s stupidest conservative party. But one laments, with Casey Stengel: Can’t anyone here play this game?
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