Mark Brolin is a political analyst, economist, and author. His most recent book is titled Healing Broken Democracies.
Cometh the hour, cometh the…woman. Kemi Badenoch is the right person at the right time.
She is one of few politicians who seems to truly get that today’s key political divide is not left versus right but between an increasingly self-serving bureaucratic class and rest of society. The stars now seem to align for Kemi Badenoch to prove pessimists wrong.
In no other country on the planet could a non-native female win a key leadership race solely on merit – so without gender or ethnicity even figuring as factors. Badenoch won because “racist Brexiteer” Conservative members saw her as best qualified. Ironically, Conservatives have led the way to the future that left-wingers have envisioned, although many of the latter will bend over backward before admitting as much since the development was spearheaded by both the “wrong country” and “wrong party”.
Badenoch nonetheless embodies not only modern Britain but in three key ways she also embodies modern politics.
Today’s problems, not yesterday’s
Firstly, unlike most others, she tackles today’s problems, not yesterday’s. She rightly identifies the true dividing line in politics between the bureaucratic class and the rest of the population. The former including key vested interests. This means that on the Conservative side stakeholders with a CBI mentality (such as Team Rishi Sunak) and on the Labour side stakeholders with a TUC mentality (such as Team Keir Starmer).
Just think about it. Team Sunak has avoided challenging bureaucracy despite conservatism’s roots, while Team Starmer’s patronising approach towards voters alienates the very working class the Labour Party was once formed to support.
Nothing wrong, per se, with vested interests. Lobbyists should lobby. The problem is if the society enchilada contains little else. If top politicians adopt few independent ideas, uncritically embrace lobbyist narratives, and dismiss dissenters with moral superiority.
This creates a corporatist, faceless, and static society, where unelected self-important figures, Sue Gray types, wield massive power through quite subjectively interpreting bureaucratic rule books treated as holy writs. When problems arise the system will close rank behind the notion that yet more rules are required. So society will turn out precisely like it has now.
Those of us who had at least hoped Team Starmer would surprise positively, and adapt to the strong change pressures from voters, have been left disappointed. The recent Budget was very much yesterday’s stale and flavourless cup of tea, certainly not a Budget for the future.
It does not take long to find out, for those with an open mindset, that corporatism, top-down control, and high taxes have never stimulated innovation and growth. Not ever. Not anywhere. So it remains a bit of a mystery how the Team Starmer strategic brains failed to get this. Today’s world is far too sophisticated and multipolar – information-wise – to swallow an approach as almost astonishingly one-eyed as the bureaucratic (corporatist) approach.
After all, the public – all of us – can turn to non-mainstream media, social media as well as AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot for instant access to counterarguments. Despite all the complaints about the quality of public discourse, it has never been higher, if one looks at the totality of what is on offer both instantly and cheaply.
Bridge-builder of the kind that gets things done
Secondly, Kemi Badenoch also represents modernity by her bridge-building stance. The European Convention on Human Rights has turned into a grotesquely politicised weapon that primarily safeguards the powers of the bureaucratic class.
Given how the issue would again rip apart the party it is still more politically astute not to be in favour of pulling out before checking all real-world implications, especially if depoliticisation can somehow be achieved (also other parties across Europe are aware of the ECHR problem).
The umbrella character of the Conservative Party has made it one of the most historically successful political parties in the democratic world. Recent history should leave no doubt that neither factional cockfighting nor Theresa May’s nothingness is a successful way forward. Clarity of thought coupled with grown-up compromise is. Sure, Kemi Badenoch has yet to deliver but she arguably won the leadership election not least while conveying that this is her approach.
She embraces rather than kills the AI revolution
Thirdly, Badenoch represents modernity with her engineering background during an era yet again driven by engineers (even if for the first time AI and robotics engineers). The UK is uniquely positioned to consolidate a position as one of the world’s key regional innovation clusters now driving global growth.
The main features of such innovation clusters? World-class (science) universities, investment capital, a trusted business environment, media scrutiny, and entrepreneurial freedom. Thanks to its size, top science universities, legal system, language, Brexit(!), and a tradition of fiercer media scrutiny than elsewhere, the UK also has a clear edge in Europe.
Yet much of the potential remains untapped given the decline of entrepreneurial freedom following higher taxes and over-regulation. On top of this, the current Team in Downing Street shows little signs of offering any meaningful resistance to public servants and lobbyists peddling their usual self-serving scare stories. Such as the classic notion that the world as we know it will end unless more control powers are given to them.
Badenoch might bomb, of course, but greatness is more likely
Sure, many promising leaders have bombed but Badenoch’s independent mindset, political instincts, and modernity (in all the ways mentioned above) suggest that greatness is a more likely part of her destiny than bombing. Once warmed up, no doubt birth pangs will be part of her journey also going forward.
It helps of course that she is immensely lucky with the timing. Team Starmer has already bombed. On top of that Team Badenoch has several years to do the legwork required for a flying start if she does manage to win also the keys to Downing Street.
Mark Brolin is a political analyst, economist, and author. His most recent book is titled Healing Broken Democracies.
Cometh the hour, cometh the…woman. Kemi Badenoch is the right person at the right time.
She is one of few politicians who seems to truly get that today’s key political divide is not left versus right but between an increasingly self-serving bureaucratic class and rest of society. The stars now seem to align for Kemi Badenoch to prove pessimists wrong.
In no other country on the planet could a non-native female win a key leadership race solely on merit – so without gender or ethnicity even figuring as factors. Badenoch won because “racist Brexiteer” Conservative members saw her as best qualified. Ironically, Conservatives have led the way to the future that left-wingers have envisioned, although many of the latter will bend over backward before admitting as much since the development was spearheaded by both the “wrong country” and “wrong party”.
Badenoch nonetheless embodies not only modern Britain but in three key ways she also embodies modern politics.
Today’s problems, not yesterday’s
Firstly, unlike most others, she tackles today’s problems, not yesterday’s. She rightly identifies the true dividing line in politics between the bureaucratic class and the rest of the population. The former including key vested interests. This means that on the Conservative side stakeholders with a CBI mentality (such as Team Rishi Sunak) and on the Labour side stakeholders with a TUC mentality (such as Team Keir Starmer).
Just think about it. Team Sunak has avoided challenging bureaucracy despite conservatism’s roots, while Team Starmer’s patronising approach towards voters alienates the very working class the Labour Party was once formed to support.
Nothing wrong, per se, with vested interests. Lobbyists should lobby. The problem is if the society enchilada contains little else. If top politicians adopt few independent ideas, uncritically embrace lobbyist narratives, and dismiss dissenters with moral superiority.
This creates a corporatist, faceless, and static society, where unelected self-important figures, Sue Gray types, wield massive power through quite subjectively interpreting bureaucratic rule books treated as holy writs. When problems arise the system will close rank behind the notion that yet more rules are required. So society will turn out precisely like it has now.
Those of us who had at least hoped Team Starmer would surprise positively, and adapt to the strong change pressures from voters, have been left disappointed. The recent Budget was very much yesterday’s stale and flavourless cup of tea, certainly not a Budget for the future.
It does not take long to find out, for those with an open mindset, that corporatism, top-down control, and high taxes have never stimulated innovation and growth. Not ever. Not anywhere. So it remains a bit of a mystery how the Team Starmer strategic brains failed to get this. Today’s world is far too sophisticated and multipolar – information-wise – to swallow an approach as almost astonishingly one-eyed as the bureaucratic (corporatist) approach.
After all, the public – all of us – can turn to non-mainstream media, social media as well as AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot for instant access to counterarguments. Despite all the complaints about the quality of public discourse, it has never been higher, if one looks at the totality of what is on offer both instantly and cheaply.
Bridge-builder of the kind that gets things done
Secondly, Kemi Badenoch also represents modernity by her bridge-building stance. The European Convention on Human Rights has turned into a grotesquely politicised weapon that primarily safeguards the powers of the bureaucratic class.
Given how the issue would again rip apart the party it is still more politically astute not to be in favour of pulling out before checking all real-world implications, especially if depoliticisation can somehow be achieved (also other parties across Europe are aware of the ECHR problem).
The umbrella character of the Conservative Party has made it one of the most historically successful political parties in the democratic world. Recent history should leave no doubt that neither factional cockfighting nor Theresa May’s nothingness is a successful way forward. Clarity of thought coupled with grown-up compromise is. Sure, Kemi Badenoch has yet to deliver but she arguably won the leadership election not least while conveying that this is her approach.
She embraces rather than kills the AI revolution
Thirdly, Badenoch represents modernity with her engineering background during an era yet again driven by engineers (even if for the first time AI and robotics engineers). The UK is uniquely positioned to consolidate a position as one of the world’s key regional innovation clusters now driving global growth.
The main features of such innovation clusters? World-class (science) universities, investment capital, a trusted business environment, media scrutiny, and entrepreneurial freedom. Thanks to its size, top science universities, legal system, language, Brexit(!), and a tradition of fiercer media scrutiny than elsewhere, the UK also has a clear edge in Europe.
Yet much of the potential remains untapped given the decline of entrepreneurial freedom following higher taxes and over-regulation. On top of this, the current Team in Downing Street shows little signs of offering any meaningful resistance to public servants and lobbyists peddling their usual self-serving scare stories. Such as the classic notion that the world as we know it will end unless more control powers are given to them.
Badenoch might bomb, of course, but greatness is more likely
Sure, many promising leaders have bombed but Badenoch’s independent mindset, political instincts, and modernity (in all the ways mentioned above) suggest that greatness is a more likely part of her destiny than bombing. Once warmed up, no doubt birth pangs will be part of her journey also going forward.
It helps of course that she is immensely lucky with the timing. Team Starmer has already bombed. On top of that Team Badenoch has several years to do the legwork required for a flying start if she does manage to win also the keys to Downing Street.