The next era of conservative politics will make John Howard look woke

(Angus) Taylorism is just another word for nothing left to lose

The election of Angus Taylor as Liberal Party leader is less about continuity of the two-party system than about its end. It is an indication we have entered a new era of post-material politics in which the ugliest aspects of the culture wars will be doubled down on by a fractured conservative movement with nothing else to offer and nothing more to lose.¹ It is about a structural and cultural shift in our politics that I don’t think the left are vaguely prepared for.

Detail showing emigration to “The Colony Across the Sea”, from William Booth’s illustration “In Darkest England and the Way Out” — Source.

The growing weakness of the traditional conservative parties has been less a boon for progressive politics than an impetus for a space to open up for One Nation and other manifestations of the far right—groups such as Advance—to fill. They will be aided and abetted by the fusion space of mainstream and social media that long ago gave up on serious analysis—even the ability to plainly repo…