The Johnson government may be the most right-wing in modern British history. Yet its disastrous response to the COVID-19 outbreak hasn’t cost it support.
What accounts for its continuing popularity? With so many needlessly dying, it stands contrary to reason.
Looking for answers, I find myself back on the doorstep in Hendon. We were knocking doors for Labour in cold, damp November. We found the working-class areas were very pro-Labour, but this was not the case with every household.
“Fuck off! Fuck off, you cunts!” shouted the red-faced man in his bathrobe. “You fuckin’ muggy cunts! You muggy cunts!” he added for emphasis.
We decided to retreat rather than ask for clarification. It would have been nice to get an explanation for why he was so enraged at two Labour Party members turning up at his door. This was the worst encounter I had on the doorstep during the 2019 election campaign.
I had heard worse campaign horror stories. One elderly man was assaulted in South Yorkshire and was hospitalised. A friend in Coventry told me one person drew a sword and chased an activist from their front yard. It could have been much worse.
The man’s inflamed demeanour spoke of a different politics to ours. Yet stereotypes and clichés are not a safe guide to UK politics. This was the only incident of hostility we experienced that night.
I’ve encountered similar hostility from people who insist Boris Johnson is doing the best job anyone could do in this crisis. It was at its worst when Johnson was in intensive care having caught the virus. He became an unquestionable figurehead for a brief time.
Now, as the reality of COVID-19 is sinking in, the government is shedding unquestionable support. However, it’s still the case that the British government has more support than it should have – especially given that almost 35,000 people have died, according to the government’s own figures.
But this shouldn’t be surprising. The British right has successfully cultivated its hegemony on forms of recognition and distribution that privilege the national and patriotic, the individual and free enterprise over the international and social, the collective and trade unions.
The full article can be read at The Battleground.
Joshua White 