WEEKEND ESSAY

Liberal elite have captured the conversation — expect a revolt

While the old ruling class was defined by wealth and titles, a new crowd has emerged that prizes progressive politics and diversity above all else. Yet its groupthink and moral superiority alienates swathes of the electorate, writes Matthew Goodwin

The new elite includes actor Hugh Grant, former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the BBC’s Gary Lineker and actress Emma Watson
The new elite includes actor Hugh Grant, former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the BBC’s Gary Lineker and actress Emma Watson
The Times

Britain is in the grip of a new elite, which over the past decade has been rapidly losing touch with the rest of the country, setting the stage for a backlash among millions of weary voters. If you want to understand why, over the past decade, British politics was radically reshaped by the rise of Nigel Farage’s national populism, Brexit and then the post-Brexit realignment, symbolised by Boris Johnson’s invasion of the red wall, then you need to make sense of this new elite and why it has been losing touch.

Britain has always had an out-of-touch elite, of course. Henry Fairlie first talked about “the Establishment” in the 1950s, an old boys’ network of wealthy, right-leaning elites in the City, the Tory donor class