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Okay, so I heard 2016 is back and not
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just the Snapchat filters, but in
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politics, too. Ex Tory heavyweights Ruth
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Davidson and Andy Street have launched a
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new movement called Prosper UK, aimed at
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getting the Tories back to being a
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centrist party of business. Basically,
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the party that won a majority in the
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2015 election before getting torn apart
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in its Brexit civil war. And a lot of
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people who were on well the losing side
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in that conflict like Amber Rod, Philip
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Hammond, and David Gort have thrown
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their support behind this movement. It's
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easy to dismiss this as a bunch of
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people stuck in the past fighting
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yesterday's battles. But as the internet
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knows, 2016 was great. Well, at least
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before Brexit. Back then, under David
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Cameron, the Conservatives believed in
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business, paying down the national debt,
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reducing welfare spending, and spreading
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opportunity. Sound good? I remember I
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was there working in parliament for a
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newly elected MP. And while lots of
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tries like Suella Braveman and Robert
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Genre are looking at Nigel Faraj's
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massive poll lead, the issue which
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reform is strongest on immigration is
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actually falling in salience with voters
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as are immigration numbers while the
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economy is becoming more important. And
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if you look at actual election results,
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not just polls from 2024, the reform
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vote and the Tory vote added together
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don't get you an overall majority. For a
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party with the right to win, it needs to
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win over some of the 7% of 2019
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conservatives who voted Liberal Democrat
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in 2024. So maybe there is something in
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this whole throwback thing after all.
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Take me back. What do you think?
