The Conservative Party leadership contest, culminating this weekend, has followed an all-too-familiar trajectory. The moderate, pragmatic wing of the party has once again failed to assert itself or present a compelling vision for Britain’s future relationship with Europe. Instead, the race to become the next Prime Minister has been dominated by the radical right, with the two remaining candidates – Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick – vying to prove their Eurosceptic credentials.
A Legacy of Division
This ideological radicalization can be traced back to a fateful decision by former Prime Minister David Cameron. His choice to call a referendum on EU membership, intended to silence Eurosceptic voices within the party for a generation, spectacularly backfired. Rather than settling the “Europe question” once and for all, the 2016 vote to leave the EU elevated a fringe obsession into the defining issue of British politics.
Brexit now stands as the most consequential legacy of 14 years of Tory rule. And yet, remarkably, it has barely featured in the leadership debate – at least not in terms of its real-world economic and political ramifications.
Sovereignty and Human Rights
To the extent that the candidates have discussed “Europe” at all, it has almost exclusively revolved around scrapping the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Robert Jenrick has made withdrawing from this landmark treaty a centerpiece of his platform, while Kemi Badenoch has expressed sympathy for the idea without fully committing to it.
This fixation on the ECHR, which is not even part of the European Union, reflects the mutation of Brexit ideology into a broader revolt against the post-war liberal international order. Eurosceptics argue, on highly dubious grounds, that adherence to international human rights law has fueled mass immigration and constrained British sovereignty. Quitting the ECHR, in their view, represents the logical next step after Brexit in reasserting national control.
“Abandoning the ECHR amounts to a declaration that the UK will abide by international law selectively and only when convenient – an ethos shared by rogue states and autocratic regimes around the world.”
Ignoring Economic Reality
Strikingly absent from the Tory leadership contest has been any substantive discussion of the economic consequences of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Neither Badenoch, an ardent Brexiteer from the start, nor Jenrick, a reluctant Remainer turned true believer, have shown any inclination to soberly assess the real-world impacts of erecting trade barriers with our largest market.
This glaring omission is no accident. Anyone who understands the evidence knows that Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for the British economy, saddling businesses with red tape, deterring investment, and exacerbating the cost of living crisis. But the Conservative Party has traveled too far down the rabbit hole of Euroscepticism to acknowledge this reality. Honest analysis has been replaced by ideological delusion.
A Dangerous Trajectory
Divorced from practical considerations and increasingly animated by a spirit of illiberal nationalism, the Tories’ post-Brexit trajectory is deeply concerning. In their arguments and rhetorical style, Britain’s governing party increasingly resembles the Eurosceptic far-right in countries like Hungary and Poland. The key difference is that while those parties seek to weaken the EU from within, the Conservatives have already opted for the self-defeating path of isolation.
As the Conservative Party continues its cycle of radicalization – locking itself into a feedback loop of economic denialism and reactionary nationalism – it drifts ever further from political reality and the interests of the country it governs. Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick represent the latest manifestations of this worrying trend. Whoever emerges victorious, it appears virtually certain that under their leadership, the Tories will persist in prioritizing Brexit fantasies over the needs of the British people.
