The shapeshifting Tories have grown their base – but this could be their downfall | Andy Beckett

Despite gathering new voters, Boris Johnson’s promises to ‘level up’ the country could alienate his most faithful supporters

Conservatism is stretching its boundaries in Britain. Electorally it is extending ever further into previously hostile parts of England. In Downing Street, it is prolonging its tenure into a second decade, far beyond what many expected during all its disasters in office since 2010. In the opinion polls, it is widening its lead over Labour, in one recent survey to an impregnable feeling 18 points.

Above all, current Conservatism seems to be expanding what Tories are able to do in power. Increase corporation tax. Pay the wages of millions on furlough. Make “disruptive” protests illegal. Impose a border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Remove the borders between party donors, the state and Conservative cronies. Nationalise an airport, as the Tory mayor Ben Houchen has on Teesside. Privatise parts of the NHS in the middle of a pandemic.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3fpjVGC