The Tories’ phony peace

The real battle of ideas will begin when the party’s time in office reaches the end of the road

THE CONSERVATIVES TAKE comfort in being Britain’s oldest political party. As history aficionados, some will recall Tacitus’s quip about an ill-fated emperor that “everyone thought they would be capable of governing, until they actually took charge”. The Roman historian was writing about a time of unprecedented political bloodshed, in which supreme power changed hands repeatedly in the so-called Year of the Four Emperors. Nearly two millennia later, Boris Johnson can console himself that his ousting was just the start of a modern tribute act by the Tories in their own Year of the Three Prime Ministers. Rishi Sunak came out on top from the turmoil, elevated to the leadership by the acclamation of Tory MPs. If the British people had hailed him with the same acclaim, he would be safely…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2023

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