The British right's 'civil war' is a staged charade masking a unified ideological project
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jonathan-liew. "This civil war on the British right is a charade – its politics are more united than ever | Jonathan Liew | The Guardian." October 14, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that the Conservatives, Reform and Restore only look like they are fighting each other. On the issues that matter they hold almost the same views, and each party plays a different role for different voters. He expects them to team up if they need to, so the left shouldn't take comfort from the feuding.
Conclusion
The apparent civil war among the Conservatives, Reform UK and Restore Britain is largely a performance: the three parties share essentially the same politics and are likely to end up cooperating, so the left should not take comfort in the right's infighting or in the idea that a moderate Conservative party acts as a bulwark against the far right.
Premises
- The Conservatives' rebranding is aimed at 'Waitrose Woman' voters and is superficial: insiders admit they must 'appear reasonable' and have 'outsourced our toxicity to Reform'.
- In substance, Conservative figures hold positions close to those of Reform and Restore, including shadow cabinet members' remarks on Islam and mass deportations, opposition to net zero, and the selective treatment of protest bans.
- Reform and Restore are converging on hardline immigration policies, such as suspending the asylum system, ICE-style raids and stripping citizenship, and the three parties largely agree on net zero, welfare, tax cuts, Israel, Brexit, defence, trans rights, Trump, grooming gangs and immigration.
- The three parties play complementary roles: the Conservatives are the acceptable face, Reform the flag bearer, and Restore the pressure group that shifts the rhetorical window rightwards, which lets the others look reasonable by comparison.
- The parties can tailor their offerings to different regional and demographic audiences, and Reform is already in informal talks with Restore, which suggests coordination rather than real rivalry.
- The Conservative party is founded on gaining and exercising power, so it would be unlikely to turn down a coalition if one were needed.
Assumptions
- Policy and ideological overlap matters more than personal feuds and tactical disagreements in determining whether the parties are really divided.
- The statements and policy positions of the cited individuals are representative of their parties.
- Public infighting among the three parties is performed or calibrated rather than a genuine clash of interests, leadership ambitions or strategy.
- A party's primary motive is to gain power, so the parties will put that ahead of rivalry.
- Rebranding without changes to platform does not amount to genuine moderation.
- Media coverage of a Conservative revival is driven by narrative framing rather than by real change.