The Conservative Party’s losses in Britain’s local elections almost certainly foreshadow a bigger disaster for Rishi Sunak’s government at the next national election, likely later this year.
His Tories have ruled Britain for 105 of the past 150 years, albeit sometimes in coalition, a record that no other political party in Europe can match. But they now face a collapse that some experts suggest will mean their end as a national power, their disintegration into a rabble of bickering factions.
For a century and a half, unity of purpose has been the British Conservatives’ secret weapon: the will to cover up internal disagreements in a ruthless pursuit or retention of power. A grizzled old Tory MP used to say in the 1960s: โpro bono publico, don’t bloody panic!โ He meant that, for the sake of the state โ or, if you prefer, of his own tribe โ everyone should remain calm and carry on even in times of crisis.
