Majorism and the Renter’s Economy

Traditionally, the British Tories have been known as the stupid party. At key moments in twentieth-century British history, such as Munich, Suez, and the destruction of manufacturing after 1980, they have taken decisions as a government that beggar belief. However, in light of their election successes in the 1980s, they might seem a very clever party, and their decision to ditch Margaret Thatcher was also clever.

Yet there is mounting evidence that in the years of Tory rule since 1979,...