Recent polls show that the ‘culture war’ tactics being used by the right-wing are turning voters off. Data from the survey suggests voters will show their frustrations with the tactics at the ballot box.
Playing the Blame Game
The last decade of Tory rule has been typified with and the blame game. It’s personified by taking a particular group with adjacent politics and exaggerating their ills.
Scottish Independence, the EU, Woke Agenda, Immigrants
These are some of the examples so far. It’s a simple playbook. Isolate your political enemy and heap blame on them. Exaggerate the size of the problem and unite your supporters behind the cause.
Brexit Won by a Version of Culture War Politics
With claims such as ‘the EU is in control of UK law’, and ‘we’ve lost our sovereignty’, the Leave campaign exaggerated the size of the problem, and ignored the benefits of EU membership. It’s a simple message and easy to attack.
Immigrants Subject of Latest Culture Wars
The current line of attack involves immigrants. Some of the rhetoric from former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is indicative of the culture wars politics. She has said things such as immigrants bring “threats to public safety”, which are exaggerated claims.
‘Woke’ Culture Also Being Attacked
Recently the right has ‘woke’ culture in its sights. However, a survey by the National Centre for Social Research says that “public opinion in Britain has tipped in favour of ‘woke’ attitudes on ‘culture war’ issues such as identity, immigration and equality”.
Approach Is Frustrating Voters
The think tank More in Common produced research which shows the public feel politicians are “playing to the crowd” and “jumping on the bandwagon” when they use culture wars as a tactic.
The Approach Has Previously Been Successful
Perhaps politicians keep using the approach because it has worked in the past. By telling the public the EU was the reason for all of our country’s ills, the majority voted to leave the EU. If the tactic works, politicians are going to be loath to change tack.
Experimental Data Is Clear
In the experiment, a Tory campaign message saying “the woke mob is taking over” saw a 10% reduction in people saying they’d vote Tory in the next election.
Public Over the Fear Mongering
Social media commentary appears to back up the research. On X (formerly Twitter), many people under the hashtag of culture wars are criticising the right for their narrative on immigrants and people they’ve labelled as ‘woke’.
Research Telling Politicians to Focus on Solving Real Issues
In a surprise to nobody, the campaign titles that people said would make them vote for a party included promises to ‘create jobs’, ‘tackle antisocial behaviour’ and ‘save the high street’.
Floating Voters Likely to Back Protection of Public Services
The research showed that the voters who were typically Tory supporters were more enticed by Labour when the campaign message was based on protecting public services.
Divisive Comments Turn Most Voters Off
Whilst some politicians make a name for themselves with divisive and controversial comments, the reality is the public are largely turned off by the approach.
A Small Number of Voters Influenced by Controversial Commentary
The research shows that only 17% of people said that politicians like Lee Anderson speak for them on issues such as Islam, immigration and woke culture. Even amongst people who describe themselves as ‘very patriotic’, the figure only rises to 22%.
Confusion Rules the Roost
An interesting figure from the research shows that those with strong views are most likely to engage in online debates, and only 20% of people could explain exactly what a culture war is.
Will the Conservatives Change Their Approach?
This is interesting, because they’ve based their entire strategy on attack. From labelling the Remain campaigns approach as ‘project fear’, to questionable use of language on immigration, they’ve made it their go-to play.
Signs Things Are Changing
There are indications that change is in the air though. In recent months, two of the most high profile Tory MPs have found themselves leaving either the party or being relieved of their duties.
The Tories Have Shed Controversial Members
Suella Braverman was relieved of her Home Secretary job following a controversial article in the Times newspaper, and Lee Anderson had the Conservative whip suspended after he said “The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now”.
Distraction Doesn’t Work Now
Frankly, after 14 years of cuts to public services, austerity, the Brexit debacle and the cost of living increase, the voters are fed up. They’re simply not going to be distracted by pretend problems such as gender identity impacting children.
Election Looming – Is There Time to Rehab the Tory Image?
The Tories might be hoping they’ve got time to convince the electorate that they’re the best party to lead, but after 14 years with no real progress, the general feeling is that the public have had enough and want change.
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The post Political Culture War and ‘Woke Weaponizing’ Is Turning Voters Away From the Ballot Box first appeared on Edge Media.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Rupert Rivett.