The EconomistNovember 7th 2020 Britain 512 suit, but growing: support has fallen from
93% of voters in March to 72% now. The
low-trust, anti-immigration voters who
flitted between Mr Farage and Mr Johnson
are the “shakiest wing” of the Tory co-
alition, says Rob Ford, a political scientist
and co-author with Maria Sobolewska of
“Brexitland”, a new book. “It doesn’t take
much for them to be out the door.” The gov-
ernment’s net approval rating among Leave
voters stands at -3%, compared with 67% in
March. A growing share of Leavers say the
prime minister is weak rather than strong,
according to YouGov, a pollster. Most sig-
nificantly, Mr Johnson’s vote is spongy at
the edges. The proportion of people who
voted Tory in 2019 who are now either un-
decided or wouldn’t vote at all is up from
8% in January to 18% now. For Labour vot-
ers the figure has fallen one point to 12%.
This is fertile terrain for Mr Farage, who
undermines Mr Johnson’s raison d’être. The
prime minister’s appeal to his party lay in
his ability to match Mr Farage’s beery
charm. He is now mirthless, and deeply re-
liant on the Whitehall expertocracy he
once mocked. “Boris and his people want
us all to hide behind the sofa,” says Richard
Tice, chairman of Reform uk. The damage
may last even if a vaccine curbs the pan-
demic soon, for rebellion is habit-forming.
Mr Farage’s return will sharpen the Con-
servatives’ instinct to prioritise holding its
Brexit coalition together over pursuing
new voters. But the task will get harder.
Since 2015, the Tories have told Mr Farage’s
followers that while they might like the cut
of his jib, only they can deliver a referen-
dum on Europe, or an exit deal. A Labour
Party with a hard-left leader was a useful
bogey. But Brexit is nearly done, and Sir
Keir Starmer does not frighten the horses.
How is Mr Johnson to bind his co-
alition? One answer is money. The govern-
ment will launch an infrastructure spree in
its new northern constituencies. Another
is the threat of a Scottish independence ref-
erendum, which Mr Johnson will oppose. It
will also double down on cultural issues;
ministers think a row over the singing of
patriotic songs at the Proms music festival
resonated with their base. Many Conserva-
tives will conclude from Mr Trump’s bet-
ter-than-expected performance that a
disastrous response to covid-19 can be
overcome by whipping up angry identity
politics, says Mr Ford.
Yet that approach is fraught with risks.
It may push the liberal wing of the Tory co-
alition towards the soothing Sir Keir. Con-
tinental Europe’s experience suggests that
aping the rhetoric of the radical right fans
its flames rather than dousing them, reck-
ons Tim Bale, a political scientist. Mr John-
son may eventually succeed in managing
the pandemic. But a prime minister can
never match Mr Farage as a crusading out-
sider, nor as the toast of the golf club. 7
I
n pelsall, aSpitfire fighter plane is sus-
pended in flight above the memorial
clock. The wooden replica is part of Re-
membrance Day celebrations in the West
Midlands village. The event has been a hot-
ly anticipated annual spectacle since 2015,
when an ambitious display featuring 1,500
knitted poppies hit the headlines. “We are
becoming a Poppy Village,” says Garry Per-
ry, a councillor. Preparations for November
11th take up much of his year.
Remembrance Day was not always as
extravagant as this. In the years after the
first world war, Britons were split on how
best to remember the fallen. Some wanted
solemn parades; others alcohol-fuelled
parties. Restraint won the day. Poppies—a
reference to those that grew on the battle-
fields—were worn, a two-minute silence
was observed and veterans marched. It
seemed likely that, once all the survivors of
the Great War were dead, the ceremonies
would wither away.
The opposite has happened. Inspired by
the Tower of London’s 2014 installation of
888,246 ceramic poppies marking the war’s
centenary—each bloom representing a ca-
sualty from Britain and its colonies—
towns are now creating ever more ostenta-
tious displays. Giant roadside poppies
painted on grass verges are popular, as are
road markings. In Bolton, Greater Man-
chester, 12 poppies have been painted onto
strategic thoroughfares.
Poppycascadesarealsoinvogue.InCal-lington, Cornwall, 9,000 knitted poppies
float down a church wall. After dark in
Melksham, Wiltshire, an animation of a
poppy fading into love hearts plays contin-
ually on the town hall’s facade. Not even
covid-19 is allowed to interrupt remem-
brance ceremonies: the government has let
socially distanced parades go ahead.
This iconography helps fill the void left
by veterans, whose stoic marching in regi-
mental ties once provided a meditative im-
agery on its own. “Creativity comes for-
ward in the space of living advocates of the
events, to try to find other ways to prompt
people into thinking and reflecting,” says
Alexander Ehmann, a councillor in Rich-
mond, London, who turned a zebra cross-
ing into a multi-colour poppy design.
The boom in remembrance artistry has
coincided with a resurgence of patriotism.
“There was a period in this country where
you were afraid to show your nationalism,”
says Mr Perry. “Villages like mine...want to
be able to keep the traditions that they’re
proud of.” Andy Morgan, a Bolton council-
lor and veteran, thinks enthusiasm for the
armed forces has grown, too. “It’s much
more respectful, almost like it is in Ameri-
ca now.” He believes that the Iraq and Af-
ghanistan wars, which provided a fresh
supply of veterans for Bolton’s parades,
burnished that admiration.
Councils now vie to have the biggest
and boldest remembrance artworks, some
of which stay up for months. “It’s way more
pressure every year,” says Mr Perry. “We’re
sitting here thinking, ‘how are we going to
beat this?’” Pelsall has an edge: a committee
entitled the Preservation of Pelsall Remem-
brance Service, or poprsfor short. Pro-
nounced “poppers”, the abbreviation’s nar-
cotic overtones caused a little frisson when
people noticed. “I’m thinking, ‘Crikey,
they’re going to think we’re all going round
thevillagehighasa kite’,”saysMrPerry. 7MELKSHAM
Commemoration is getting more
ostentatiousRemembrance DayOver the top
Blooming heck