The article argues that British politics is overly influenced by a fictional 'zombie voter,' a conservative archetype who dictates the strategies of both Labour and Conservative parties, preventing them from fully embracing the views of their actual supporters.
Labour's policies on Europe are restrained by the fear of alienating this imagined voter, even though many Labour voters support rejoining the EU.
The Conservatives are similarly limited, refraining from offering significant support to their traditional voters in southern England, again due to the influence of this hypothetical voter.
The potential for this imagined voter to shift their allegiance to the Reform party compels both Labour and the Conservatives to prioritize their perceived preferences.
British politics revolves around an imagined voter. It is this voter who stops Labour moving too close, too quickly to Europe, even if practically every Labour voter would support rejoining the European Union (EU)—forget faffing about with a veterinary deal or a customs union. It is this voter who stops the Conservatives offering much to people in their former heartlands of well-to-do southern England. And it is the prospect of this voter’s departure to the likes of Reform that gives both Labour and the Conservatives the heebie-jeebies. Where does this voter live? In the graveyard, usually.
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