The Blues United

No, the Conservative Party is not split between a broadly or extremely pro-EU elite of broad or extreme social liberals (a very rare combination on the Continent, by the way), and a broadly or extremely anti-EU activist base and core electorate of broad or extreme social conservatives.

In the 11 years since the party membership in place in 2005 gave over two thirds of its vote to David Cameron against David Davis, large numbers of Eurosceptics and social conservatives have either left voluntarily, or simply died.

During that same period, the Conservatives have become the largest party in the House of Commons, where they have now won an overall majority.

Well over half of Labour Party members would either probably or, in a large number of cases, certainly not be in it if Jeremy Corbyn were not the Leader, and most of the rest are at least broadly supportive him.

No less surely, well over half of Conservative Party members would either probably or, in a large number of cases, certainly not be in it if David Cameron were not the Leader, and most of the rest are at least broadly supportive him.

Conservative Commons rebellions are negligibly small, with barely half a dozen souls, and generally the same souls every time.

Other than among its preening MPs, Labour is united from top to bottom; it is certainly united between its Leadership and its grassroots.

And even among its preening MPs, the Conservative Party is united from top to bottom, as a pro-EU party, and as an economically and socially ultraliberal party, including a liberal interventionist one in international affairs. Thatcherism without the Tories.

While it gives many of us no pleasure to say so, that party has won a General Election outright on that basis. All other strands of the British Right are dead. In many cases, literally so.