Analysis: battles over issues such as statues and trans rights have become more prominent under Johnson’s leadership
It has always been a defining element of political party leadership contests that for success, candidates must appeal to the memberships’ niche interests. With Conservatives, this was generally about low tax. But now there is something else: the “culture wars”.
The field to succeed Boris Johnson, believed to be at least 10-strong and growing, is split roughly into enthusiastic culture warriors, those who borrow its tactics for their own ends, and a handful who would rather the whole subject just went away. But it is not about to.
