The Parties: 2021 Edition

[Blakesley]

The Parties: 2021

At this time we are allowed players to join the two major parties: the Conservatives (currently in government) and Labour (currently in opposition). Here you will find a brief description of the two major parties and the factions that make them up.

Conservative Party

The current governing party helmed by Boris Johnson, the Conservatives have been through a series of significant transformations in the past eleven years. While the party under David Cameron was more liberal in its orientation, it shifted to being a more working class focused under Theresa May, and into a "patriotic" party under Boris Johnson focused on appeasing his biggest disrupters (largely the right wing). The COVID-19 pandemic upended the Conservative Party to the point where it needs to figure out what it stands for again as the pandemic recedes. And that is where you come in! The groups (broadly) that make up the Conservative Party include:

Spartans

Spartans are tough pricks that value loyalty to a hard Brexit as absolute. Having held their nose to vote for Boris' Brexit both before and after the 2019 General Election they are not here to play nice when it comes to the Northern Ireland protocol. These people are the definition of single issue voters, a block of around 30 or so MPs who will play nicely with the leadership if they play nastily with Europe on getting the backstop arrangements thrown in a skip but will be pains in the Government's backsides if we do not get progress in a more DUP-friendly direction. Prominent MPs from this persuasion include Steve Baker, the man who wielded the knife against Theresa May.

Wets

Wets are very wishy washy, liberal, and centrist. They overwhelmingly opposed Brexit during the vote but the days of trying to frustrate the "will of the people" are long gone since Boris removed the Whip from over 20 of them during 2019. Wets are exactly what you'd expect if I said "Lib Dem who wanted to get elected". They favour LGBT rights, welfare support, soft Brexit tending towards Single Market entry, a softer touch on immigration. These people have been aghast at several members of the Cabinet, especially fixated on Nadine Dorries at Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and Priti Patel at the Home Office. This group is not very likely to find its way high up in Boris Johnson's Cabinet... but maybe a new leader? A prominent MP in this category would be someone like Tobias Elwood (the man who called for us to rejoin the Single Market in Boris Johnson's real life Confidence Vote)

Red Wallers

Red Wallers have very little in common with each other but they represent the 50-60 constituencies that the Conservative Party took from Labour in traditionally Labour voting areas. While the definitions vary from pollster to pollster the Red Wallers are any first term Tory MP who is looking over their shoulder at Labour whether they be in Blyth Valley, Clwyd South, Carlisle, or the Don Valley. These people value investment in their constituencies because they want to be re-elected, they value getting the best out of Brexit because their constituents love it, and beyond that they can be anything even vaguely Tory. Some love the LGBT community, some are LGBT, some hate them - as an example. A prominent MP in this category would be Dehenna Davidson or Jake Berry.

Loyalists

Loyalists always magically reflect the opinions of the leader, when May was Leader they backed her Brexit, now Boris is Leader they back his Brexit. When Cameron was Leader they backed a softer image, now they value a tougher image. These people are the ultimate mirrors and a good Loyalist will find themselves in the Cabinet first out of any of these groups. A prominent example of an MP in this category would be Michael Gove.

Modern Monday Club

These guys are the traditionalists. They're not fond of the LGBT Community but they really hate illegal immigrants (a fair few of them probably also privately dislike all immigrants) and refugees who cross the Channel. These guys really want to get tough on illegal immigration, not just because politics but also because they just hate it so much. If you want to be a raging traditionalist, this lot are the ones for you. A prominent example would be Priti Patel.

Free Marketeers

These guys value the free market above all else. They want easy trade, low taxes, balanced budgets, and a small state. Government intervention is a no-no and Rishi Sunak is not their Chancellor. This school of thought is very repressed in the Conservative Party right now due to the new electoral coalition by a prominent example would be how Rishi Sunak likes to think of himself, even if he actually raises taxes. Several of the 2010 intake are free marketeers and rallied around the Free Enterprise Group. George Osborne was largely supported during his time as Chancellor by this group.

Labour Party

The current opposition party helmed by Keir Starmer, Labour experience ideological whiplash over the past decade, traveling from New Labour to Blue Labour (under Ed Miliband) to the very left wing (under Corbyn) and now to a more soft left with blue undertones (under Starmer). Starmer, famously, does not like taking a stand on issues, which is proving difficult for selling Labour's message (or even crafting on). Without flagship policies, many wonder what course Labour will chart - and you get to shape that future now! The groups (broadly) that make up the Labour Party include:

Progressives
Not like the American progressives, who are on the left wing of their party, these Progressives are firmly the opposite. Named after Progress, the pressure group, these folks are the Blairites of today, on the party's right who are supporting of some austerity measures, strongly pro-Europe, and business friendly. Some of them left Labour in 2019 to support CUK/TIG and then maybe the Lib Dems. Current leading MPs in this faction include Liz Kendall, Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting, Ali McGovern, and maybe Keir Starmer.

Blue Labour
A different breed of right wingers than the Progressives, Blue Labourites are small 'c' conservatives on values and blue-collar issues, such as Europe, immigration, and crime. There's a wide swath of 'socially conservative and fiscally liberal' policy realms, from Brexiteers like Kate Hoey towards more communitarian and Christian democratic folks like Frank Field. There's also a racial element, with some older BAME Labourites falling into this realm. David Lammy and maybe Keir Starmer are both in this realm, but Lisa Nandy is the Blue Labourite par excellence.

Brownites
Remember Gordon Brown? Some people still do and they wish he was still in office. It's a really wide net of people who are normally a few steps to the left of the Progressives on most issues and a number of steps to the left of Blue Labour on social issues. Ideas like "social markets" get a healthy reception here, as does using markets to augment (but not supplant) the state in public services delivery. When you remove people who are also in one of the other three compatible groups, Brownites are probably the smallest grouping in the Commons currently. Yvette Cooper is the last leading light of this group, although Brown probably wished it was Ed Balls instead. Of course, Keir Starmer also fits here.

Open Labour
Sometimes called the 'soft left', the heirs to Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock are socialists but not those kind of socialists, you know? Primarily democratic socialism, many here were Remainers and hold ties to some of the more left-wing unions and are probably also fans of Tribune. The only issue that the soft left normally can't agree on is Corbyn - with a number who both supported and opposed his leadership. Louise Haigh, Ed Miliband, Emily Thornberry, Angela Rayner, and, of course, maybe Keir Starmer are all leading members.

Socialist Campaign Group
The SCG, founded in 1982 by Tony Benn, are the standard hard-core socialists of Labour, associated with two men these days - Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. Previously in power and now mostly agitating for Corbyn to be let back in, 35 MPs in the 2019 Parliament is a historical high point for them, many of whom were elected in 2017 and 2019. Unlike their sibling group, Momentum, SCG members are more likely to be Eurosceptics. Corbyn, McDonnell, and Diane Abbott are the bright stars, but don't count out the younger members like Andy McDonald, Dan Carden, Marsha de Cordova, and Richard Burgon.

Momentum
Founded by supporter of Corbyn's 2015 leadership campaign, Momentum is the younger, hipper sibling to the SCG. They are socially progressive and keen on environmental causes and internationalism (though they don't like the international financial system, they do like development and human rights causes - their internationalism is not tied to the socialist revolution). The only real dividing line with the SCG is Europe - they're more likely to have supported Remain. Zarah Sultana, Sam Tarry, and Nadia Whittome are three young rising stars in the party, but many are hoping that some of their colleagues will return to parliament, like Laura Pidcock.