Conservative politicians have started to be seen as “weird”, and few members of the public – even including the party’s own voters – are able to identify the Tory leadership candidates, research suggests.
Asked who had the best chance of winning the next election for the Tories, 70% of respondents either said they did not know or that they thought none of the candidates could win – with James Cleverly given the greatest chance, on 8%, followed by Priti Patel.
Multiple focus groups of former Tory voters suggested that those who switched their vote at the last election were not inclined to back to the Conservatives any time soon.
The research by More in Common said the party struggled with relatability, particularly in Liberal Democrat areas, by focusing on topics “which excite the base, or the highly politically engaged” but were distant from ordinary people’s lives.
In a similar vein to the attack that US Democrats have levelled against Republicans, especially the vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, the research found “there is a danger that the Conservatives have started to become seen as ‘weird’”.
Weird would be a step up in my assessment of them. Also “weird” needn’t be a bad thing. I like weird. I"d vote for a weird party if given the option.
They aren’t talking about Bob Mortimer weird.
They are Jimmy Saville weird.
I’m stealing that line, thankyou.
If care to argue that you’re normal, you’re not the good kind of weird.
Exactly. Good weird people embrace being weird. Bad weird people think they’re normal and everyone else is insane, they will get very annoyed by being called weird. That’s why it’s a good litmus test.
Most of them seem closer to being wrong’uns than weird.
It is only working in the US context as it isn’t an insult per se, yet really gets under the skin of their conservatives due to their obsession with conformity, and enables everyone to mock their ludicrous ideas without expending energy explaining why each of them are so awful.
,“Sickos” would be a better word.
We live in a weird world nowadays. I would accept a leader who embraces the weirdness to navigate the current situation.
But I would never vote for right wing populists.