Have the culture war Conservatives killed off Cameron-style Tories?
David Cameron once actively tried to turn around the Conservative’s image as the “nasty party”, now the zealots at the National Conservatism Conference have taken hold of the party, writes Ben Cope.
Danny Kruger’s political career has taken an unusual trajectory. A former speechwriter of David Cameron, in 2006 Kruger coined the phrase ‘hug a hoodie’ as part of Cameron’s compassionate conservatism agenda. Yet yesterday, he stated that “the normative family, the mother and father… is the only basis for a safe and functioning society” at the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon).
Kruger’s descent into antiquated social conservatism is widespread among Conservatives. At the conference, Kruger was flanked by a coalition of ministers, senior backbenchers and conservative commentators, pushing a divided vision of conservatism emphasising traditional family values, anti-immigration and nationalism. One thing is clear: the conference spells the end of the forward-looking, unifying and competitive party Cameron created.
The NatCon movement has murky roots. Borne out of the populist moment of 2016, it was founded by Israeli American Bible scholar, Yoram Hazony, whose bestselling book is titled The Virtue of Nationalism. Attacking the neoliberal agenda from the Right, and siding with Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, it emphasises traditional social and cultural values over economic concerns.
One would hope this agenda would struggle to find a home in the UK. Instead, nearly half the Cabinet joined Kruger at the Conference. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, and Deputy Conservative Chairman Lee Anderson have all spoken at the event, as have other prominent Conservative politicians such as Jacob Rees-Mogg. Leading conservative commentators were also out in force, with Matthew Goodwin, Douglas Murray and James Orr all giving keynote speeches.
Far from rejecting the NatCon agenda, these speakers urged the Conservative Party to reimagine itself under its principles. From Kruger’s defence of traditional family values, Braverman’s immigration obsession, and Professor James Orr’s mantra of “Faith, Family, Flag”, conservatives lined up to embrace outdated social conservatism, even if they disagreed about exactly what that looks like.
Some went further still. Douglas Murray outrageously stated that “there was nothing wrong with nationalism in Britain. It’s just that there was something wrong with nationalism in Germany. I don’t see why no one should be allowed to love their country because the Germans mucked up twice in a century.” Not only does this show a shocking indifference to the suffering during the Holocaust, it displays a concerning conflation of patriotism and nationalism.
This is a million miles from the Conservatives Cameron made electable in 2010 after 13 years in the wilderness. He beat Gordon Brown with a modern, socially liberal agenda. Gone was the Thatcherite Nasty Party image. In its place, Cameron’s vision of the “Big Society” coupled traditional conservative paternalism with a cooperative community philosophy. Cameron’s “A-List” of parliamentary candidates prioritised talented women and ethnic minorities to shake up the Party’s “pale, male and stale” reputation. While in office, Cameron legalised same-sex marriage, despite opposition within his Party.
This all feels like a long time ago. The Big Society idea was quietly scrapped before the 2015 election after it was criticised for being a smokescreen to cut public services during austerity. And the Brexit vote emboldened the Right of the Party, a power shift that was cemented when Boris Johnson purged the Remain, One Nation faction over threats of a no-deal Brexit.
As the polls point towards a Labour majority at the next election, and the Conservatives prepare for soul searching in opposition, insular infighting about what the Party stands for is unfortunately inevitable. What’s disappointing is just how backwards looking these debates are.
This is bad for both the Conservative party and the country. For the party, it suggests its time out of office will be a long one. In a cost-of-living crisis, economic concerns trump social ones, and the public are increasingly socially liberal anyway. For the country, it means Rishi Sunak’s attempts at “sensible government” will be dogged by competing zealous ministers putting ideology over pragmatism. In the long-term, it deprives the country of a centre-right party, arguably giving Labour more power than its popularity warrants.
Unfortunately, there seems little hope of the Conservative Party resisting the pull of the social conservatives at NatCon. Electoral annihilation beckons. For Danny Kruger, David Cameron, and the Conservative Party – they were the future once.