Will ‘Measures, Not Men’ Carry Conservatism Forward in the United Kingdom?
This is a question that can be answered with ‘Only the Shadow knows.’
“England does not love coalitions,” Disraeli famously declared, adding: “I appeal from the coalition to that public opinion which governs this country.” Yet what if populist discontent — “public opinion” — is the foundation upon which that coalition is formed? That is the visceral appeal of the much-discussed Nigel Farage–Boris Johnson “third-party” alternative that sprang into life at the weekend Sunday since, as Mr. Farage warns, “the whole Brexit project is under threat.”
Appearing on a GB News Sunday morning broadcast, Mr. Farage noted several things en passant. First, both BoJo and he have their Brexit legacy to defend. Second, that the ex-prime minister has “run out of road with the Conservative party,” scuttling any chances of standing for a constituency under their standard, let alone resuming the leadership.
Third, the differences between the two main parties are “pretty minimal” and “pretty marginal,” at least in respect of their disregard of the Brexit mandate of the EU referendum in 2016. Conservatives are predominantly “Brino,” meaning Brexit in Name Only, while Labour ideologically leans toward the Remainers.
Fourth, into this political gap it is possible that we could see the rise of an alternative “Brexit Party.” So Mr. Farage not-so-subtly indicated that in defense of maximal liberty and minimal government, he was willing to work with Mr. Johnson in “a new coming together on the center-right.”
Alas. As T.S. Eliot wrote, “between the idea and the reality falls the Shadow.” Count among the murky politics the difficulty of a third party competing against established party machines and deeply rooted “brand loyalty” among the electorate. Then there is the question of partisan rivalry between these two outsized “Big Beasts.” Call it wary distrust but not hatred.
Mind you, this would be as nothing compared to the Fox-North coalition of 1783 that saw a former Tory premier, Lord North, align with Whig firebrand Charles James Fox. North, known for his conviviality, presided over the mismanagement of the war in the American colonies, for which Fox castigated the Government mercilessly in the House of Commons.
“From the moment when he should make any terms with one of them,” Fox declared of himself, “he would rest satisfied to be called the most infamous of mankind. He could not for an instant think of a coalition with men who, in every public and private transaction, as ministers, had shown themselves void of every principle of honor or honesty.” To wit: “In the hands of such men he would not trust his honor for a minute.” Ouch.
Fortunately, no such perfervid animosities exist between Messrs. Farage and Johnson. Yet in little over a year, Fox and North were joined in what George III called “the most profligate and ungrateful coalition that ever was made in this kingdom.” Thus prompting Disraeli’s oft-quoted denunciation.
The source of its discredit is due to being based not on comity of principles, but rather on shared dislike of Lord Shelburne — who succeeded North at Downing Street and was charged with negotiating peace with America.
Fox and North combined to defeat his administration but when their Coalition Government produced an American peace treaty identical with Shelburne’s own efforts, William Pitt the Younger saw through their farce.
“It was in my opinion a dislike to men, and not to measures,” stood Pitt’s assessment of the Coalition’s raison d’être. The public agreed. Before the year was over Fox-North were out of power and Pitt placed at No. 10. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Measures not men,” then, is vital when reconciling discordant personalities. On that score, the whispered Farage-Johnson alliance could yet be vindicated, for its stated purpose would be to fulfill the promise of Brexit — notwithstanding, and not to put too fine a point on it, BoJo’s heightening war of words with Prime Minister Sunak and his rumored vengeance for Tory colleagues that turfed him from power.
That is not to say that personal charisma will not play a part in whether or not this Brexit Coalition moves into reality from idea. Perhaps thinking of alliances past and of Fox-North in particular, Mr. Farage laughingly told his interviewer: “Well, I’m easy going, obviously.”
Of benefit, too, is Boris Johnson’s uncanny ability to dominate the public square — “He’s very good at dominating news, he does have personality, he does make people smile,” Mr. Farage admitted Sunday — where he may prove the lynchpin to the alliance’s ultimate success or failure.
As for your Brexit Diarist, he acknowledges Boris’s irreplaceable role in getting Brexit over the finish line and the United Kingdom freed from (many) of the shackles of the European Union. In terms of enunciating, let alone executing, conservative policies in line with the promise of Brexit, though, BoJo was an utter failure. That’s the ink of truth.
No one realizes this more than Mr. Farage himself. Yet the hero of UK independence is soberly aware of what is at stake. Brexit was to have been the start of “a new kind of politics.” Instead, the “Brexit battle is going to have to be refought.” So, a tacit offer to Mr. Johnson: “If he wants a future in British politics, then he’s going to have to take on something much bigger than he’s done before.”
Which brings me back to the fact that the mantra must be “measures not men.” And to remember, that a coalition must first appeal to “that public opinion whose mild and irresistible influence can control even the decrees of Parliaments,” as Disraeli foresaw, “and without whose support the most august and ancient institutions are but ‘the baseless fabric of a vision.’ ”
