Andrew Gamble argues that Johnson, by "siding firmly with the Brexiters" and "reshaping" the cabinet and parliamentary party, is aiming to replace Conservative Remain voters with "Labour working class Leave voters" (Adapt or die: how the Tories kept power in centuries of pragmatism, 03.11.19). Presumably, with Cummings at the helm, the thinking is that by relentless repetition of dubious facts and downright untruths, most of the public can be persuaded to accept Johnson as a "one-nation" Tory.
Disraeli, the originator of the Conservative "one-nation formula for government", had similar hopes: by claiming to want to "elevate the condition of the people", he aimed to forge an alliance between the Conservative party and the working class males who had the vote. Like Johnson, he treated voters as mugs, and was removed from office in the 1880 election after his "reforms" were seen for what they really were, window-dressing! Johnson and Cummings are in grave danger of underestimating voters in the same way!
If, as Michael Heseltine recently wrote in the Guardian, "one- nation" Conservatism is about "governing for the whole country", its existence recently has been confined to election propaganda (Boris Johnson has no right to call himself a one-nation Conservative, 12/09/19). Pouring money into the south, doing next to nothing either to ease the plight of the poor and black people, or to prevent tax avoidance and evasion whilst reducing tax for the rich, all typical of government policy since 2010, are not exactly "one-nation" criteria, and Johnson`s sudden and duplicitous Damascene conversion should fool no one!
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