Britain's Political Decline: Why Keeping Bad Leaders May Be Better Than Change
Source: The American Conservative. "Britain Can Always Get Worse - The American Conservative." February 15, 2026. www.theamericanconservative.com
The Gist
The author argues that Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is terrible but shouldn't be replaced because his potential successors would be even worse. He believes Britain faces a deeper problem where no government can be truly legitimate anymore, so it's better to stick with bad leadership than risk something worse through change.
Conclusion
Despite Keir Starmer being a terrible prime minister, he should not resign because his likely replacements would be even worse, and Britain faces a deeper crisis of political legitimacy that makes any government change potentially harmful.
Premises
- Keir Starmer is incompetent, dull, and makes consistently wrong choices as prime minister
- All potential replacements for Starmer within his party are worse than he is
- Starmer's government lacks true democratic legitimacy, having been elected with only 20% of eligible voters and 34% of actual votes cast
- Britain's two-party system has broken down, making any future government similarly illegitimate
- The belief that change from a bad situation must be better is what brought Starmer to power and continues to drive poor political decisions
- Even marginal differences between politicians matter because life consists of many small things affected by governance
- Political change still has restraining effects on politicians even when fundamental problems persist
Assumptions
- Political leadership quality can be objectively ranked and compared
- Democratic legitimacy requires broader popular support than legal electoral victory
- The breakdown of traditional party systems necessarily leads to illegitimate governance
- Incremental political differences have meaningful real-world impacts on citizens' lives
- Voters and politicians are motivated primarily by the false belief that change equals improvement