The political landscape on the British right is currently gripped by a drama of defections and bitter recriminations. Yet, beneath the surface of this feud, a striking reality is emerging: the rival factions are increasingly singing from the same ideological hymn sheet.
A Rift in the Right-Wing Family
The recent high-profile defection of Robert Jenrick from the Conservatives to Reform UK has thrown this internal conflict into sharp relief. The episode, which culminated in a press conference alongside Nigel Farage on 2 November 2024, followed his swift sacking by new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. Badenoch framed the dismissal as part of "cleaning out the rubbish," while Jenrick derided his former colleagues as a "Tory posh party" out of touch with ordinary voters.
This exchange of fire, however personal, underscores a deeper truth. The battle for supremacy between the Conservatives and Reform is not a clash of fundamentally opposing philosophies, but a fierce family quarrel. Both groups are united by a core set of beliefs: a deep attachment to the legacy of Brexit, a reverence for Thatcherite economics, and a pronounced focus on immigration and culture war issues.
Shared Roots in Thatcherism
To understand this convergence, one must look at the origins of Reform's key figures. Farage's political awakening is stereotypically Tory, inspired by a lecture from Margaret Thatcher's guru, Keith Joseph, in 1978. He joined the Conservative Party the next day. His lieutenant, Richard Tice, was a long-standing party member until 2019.
Their rhetoric consistently echoes traditional Conservative economic themes. In a recent article, Farage positioned Reform as a "centre-right alliance" that would be "shamelessly pro-business and pro-entrepreneur." Tice has similarly championed fiscal conservatism and a flatter tax system, citing the City of London's 'Big Bang' deregulation as a model. These are not the cries of revolutionary populists, but the familiar refrains of Thatcherite disciples.
The Personal and the Political Divide
If their worldview is so aligned, what fuels the animosity? Part of the answer lies in a profound sense of cultural and personal estrangement forged during the Cameron-Osborne era. For figures like Farage and Tice, the party's modernisation under the "Notting Hill set"—with its embrace of social liberalism and coalition with the Lib Dems—was a visceral insult to their brand of hard-right conservatism.
They represent a different stratum of Tory society, one that seeks to return the right to the demotic, combative style of the Thatcher years. Jenrick's attack on "posh" colleagues taps directly into this sentiment. Their mission is to purge what they see as the metropolitan, Oxbridge-educated elite from conservatism's driving seat.
Yet, since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Conservative Party itself has lurched decisively in their direction. This ideological drift makes the current feud all the more perplexing. When challenged on the differences between Jenrick's hardline stance on illegal immigration and Islamism and the Tory position, new shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy could only argue that voters should choose the Conservatives for "the real deal"—effectively admitting they are offering variations on the same theme.
One Winner or a Forced Reunion?
The political market, unlike the music scene where two versions of the band UB40 can coexist, tends to have room for only one dominant force on a key part of the spectrum. Every defection blurs the lines further but also heightens the existential threat to the Conservatives. Farage has attempted to calm nervous allies by insisting Reform is not a "rescue charity for every panicky Tory MP," yet the influx continues.
The ultimate outcome of this feud may not be a clean ideological break, but a messy reconstitution. UK conservatism has been shifting rightwards for a decade. If Farage and his growing band of ex-Tory colleagues eventually become its standard-bearers, it would signify less a rupture and more of a reunion—a bringing together of estranged family members under a new, harder-right banner that mixes nativist, authoritarian politics with laissez-faire economics. The battle for the soul of the British right is, for now, a civil war.
