5 - The Long Divorce: Parties and Voters Parting Ways

Summary

Chapter 5 focuses on the long-term political trends that helped to set the scene for Brexitland. Both Labour and the Conservatives changed in ways which alienated voters and eroded traditional partisan political identities. The two governing parties converged ideologically, and their elites became dominated by career politicians recruited from a limited number of graduate-dominated professions, reducing the differences between parties and narrowing the sections of society they represented. Voters responded to these changes by losing interest in politics and becoming more hostile to politicians, reflecting a growing belief that they were being denied a meaningful choice. This alienation was particularly acute among identity conservative voters, creating a political opportunity for a new issue or a new political force to mobilise the intense discontent of this group. Sure enough, in the second half of the New Labour governments, an issue emerged with the ability to realise this potential: immigration. We show how and why conflicts over immigration rose up the agenda in the later New Labour governments, and why this issue proved to be such a powerful lightning rod for discontent among identity conservatives.