Britain’s Tories Are Radicalizing — and Losing Hope
Since becoming leader in 2024, Kemi Badenoch has taken Britain’s Tories onto hard-right territory — and dismal polling. Her call this week to abandon climate targets shows how Britain’s once dominant party has radicalized.
The British Tories’ hegemony has long relied on rallying a cross coalition behind their vision of prosperity. Current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is falling far short of this, instead basing her leadership on cheap culture-war sloganeering. (Peter Nicholls / Getty Images)
British politics is in a period of upheaval, with the two-party model unraveling as Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK gains ground. Yet amid this turmoil, the past fortnight has been surreal even by recent standards. On September 22, Farage vowed to totally scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain — a form of permanent residence granted by the British government to individuals who have shown a long-term commitment to living in the country. The change could affect hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Labour denounced Reform UK’s stance as racist, yet over its annual conference this week it nodded toward tougher settlement rules and mused about “tightening” how human rights law is applied. Even Labour edges the frame of debate rightward while unashamedly flirting with withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer specifically targeted Articles 3 and 8 — barring torture and safeguarding private and family life. The fallout could reshape how the state handles migrants and asylum seekers; at a time of democratic erosion, such safeguards are vital across Western democracies.
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