I Partied With the Next Generation of the British Right

"My lords, ladies, and gentlemen, you will, I think, agree with me that we currently on the right in Britain are not too far removed from the warring, squabbling kingdoms of early 10th century England, whose infighting left themselves vulnerable to the heathen-and thus dangerously progressive-Danes."

"Yes, there were many old-school, high Tories like himself, who used to dominate such spaces-men who, like him, still resented Wellington for allowing Catholic emancipation. But there were also, he pointed out, members of new and emerging popular movements on the right-especially at table 1, the most boisterous and boorish in the room."

At a House of Lords dining event in February, a 20-year-old vice chairman of Cambridge University's Conservative Association delivered a speech comparing contemporary right-wing infighting to 10th century English kingdoms vulnerable to invasion. The speaker, Arlo Alexander, highlighted tensions between traditional high Tories who resent historical reforms like Catholic emancipation and newer populist movements gaining prominence on the right. The observer, seated at a segregated table with few people of color, witnessed the speech revealing fractures within conservative politics. Alexander's references to "new and emerging popular movements" pointed toward Reform UK and Nigel Farage's far-right insurgency, indicating significant ideological and tactical divisions within Britain's right-wing political landscape.

Read at The Nation