Westminster and the farce: is the UK ungovernable?

LondonBritish politics has been advancing for decades like a Shakespearean comedy of errors: the characters change, but the pattern repeats. Long before the Brexit referendum, a decade ago, Westminster was already chaining cycles of confusion, miscalculated maneuvers, and governments trapped in their own mistakes. From 1974 – with two general elections, the fall of the conservative government, the winter of discontent, and unions at war – to parliaments without an absolute majority in the 21st century, passing through the illegal suspension of Parliament in 2019, the British system has shown a recurring fragility that contrasts with an image of impeccable solidity. The resignation announcement made this Monday by Keir Starmer, when he has not yet been in government for two years, once again highlights this.

As political scientist Nick Dickinson of the University of Exeter recalled to el ARA, "before the Brexit referendum, six of the fourteen prime ministers since 1945 came to Downing Street replacing their predecessor and not after an election." In recent days, this infection has spread again throughout the so-called Westminster bubble. The patient is now the Labour Party, threatened by Nigel Farage's far-right, which last week swept them in the English local elections and the national elections in Scotland and Wales.

swept the English local electionsThe

slow-motion fall of Starmer at the hands of his own colleagues was inevitable. His successor will be the seventh prime minister in a decade. Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss (Conservatives) suffered this firsthand. David Cameron resigned following the defeat in the Brexit referendum (2016), and Rishi Sunak lost the July 2024 elections, when Labour won with a much more than comfortable majority

. A majority that has served Starmer no purpose, although in his farewell speech he wanted to boast about the successes achieved. The mistakes have been much more evident.

A 'premier' on life support

Is the United Kingdom ungovernable, then? In a speech with which he intended to relaunch his leadership, the premier already in office said no in mid-May. But the fact is that since then it has been living on life support, while waiting for the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to return to Parliament – this Monday he will take his seat and, if he has no rival, between July 15 and 20 he could become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom-.

In a speech with which he intended to relaunch his leadershipNick Dickinson agrees in highlighting that "the British economic model has been broken for almost two decades". And he adds: "All governments have had to face the problem of very limited public spending, which restricts the ability to undertake large projects. It is the main long-term problem after immigration". Immigration, paradoxically, soared in the wake of Brexit when Nigel Farage, and the conservatives who supported him, assured that it would decrease. It ended up taking its toll on the Tories; not on Farage. Not by a long shot. And he exploits the vein while pointing fingers of blame everywhere.

Here enters another element of 21st-century politics: the influence of social media, which has led to what Rory Stewart, former minister under Theresa May –very popular for his podcast The rest is politics, and author, among others, of the book Politics on the edge– it finally caught up with them; not with Farage. Not by a long shot. And he exploits the vein while pointing fingers at scapegoats everywhere.

Some political actors use digital mobilization better than others. "The best thing many politicians could do is step back a bit, because social media does not represent all of society. They often end up overreacting to very loud campaigns or criticisms that do not reflect general opinion," says Tom Caygill in turn, who also recalls the idea that "social media have completely changed the pace of politics and information, but many governments continue to operate with an analog mentality in a fully digital environment".

A crumbling palace

One of the leading intellectuals of the Reform Party, sociologist and former professor at the University of Manchester, Matt Goodwin, uses them in an inflammatory way. But for this former candidate of Farage's party for the Commons in one of the districts of the northern great city, "the networks do not fuel the problem, but rather reveal it". The claim may be debatable. His most recent book is Suicide of a nation. Immigration, islam, identity.

The thesis, in very brief terms, is that

of the Great Replacement. According to him, the United Kingdom is experiencing a crisis caused by mass immigration, multiculturalism, and the loss of a shared national identity. Goodwin argues that the demographic increase of communities of immigrant origin —especially Muslim— is altering the British cultural and political balance. He never says anything about wealth redistribution and a progressive tax reform. Quite the opposite: taxes should be lowered.

The fake news, populism, and the supposed easy solutions, which don't arrive, equally contribute to the discrediting of politics and the distancing of citizens from their representatives. Particularly in Westminster, there is another structural problem surrounding the figure of the prime minister. "The great ministries have hundreds or thousands of civil servants, while Downing Street operates with a very small team, between 50 and 80 people," explains Tom Caygill. From number 10 Downing Street, one doesn't get very far. On the contrary, public opinion is in a great hurry. And as in the Measure of "Much Ado About Nothing", rumors and maneuvers spread even faster. The result is that an institutional architecture from the 20th or even the 19th century does not fit into the world of the 21st century.

Perhaps the most visual metaphor for the situation is the degradation of the Palace of Westminster. Seen from the outside, it is impressive. When you walk through its corridors, the cracks that reveal the ruin are seen with incredulous eyes. And yet, the 650 Members of Parliament continue to postpone the budgetary decision on its urgent reform because it will have an astronomical cost and no one dares to take the step: a lot of demagoguery would be generated.

But any day the palace will fall on the heads of Conservatives and Labourists. Now, the emergency architect is most likely called Andy Burnham. The details of his plans are yet to be known. Despite everything, many have already assumed that he will be able to reconcile the interests of those who supported Brexit and oppose immigration with those who voted for the EU and live in cities where not only English is spoken. If it doesn't succeed, by 2029 or sooner, Nigel Farage will finish demolishing Westminster. And the comedy will turn into a great tragedy. As Burnham himself said in his victory speech last Friday, "Labour is facing its last chance".