The UK Conservative Party like to think that they are the embodiment of Winston Churchill. Former Prime Minister and fact dodger, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson wrote a hagiography job application book called The Churchill Factor adoringly re-anointing Churchill as the savour of the nation. It’s a good job that the UK had Johnson in power when COVID hit or a lot of people might have died needlessly.
However, on closer inspection, the Tories may be more like another famous figure - who also stands apart from the herd in our nation’s history.
Steven Patrick Morrissey was raised by Irish immigrant parents in the environs of Manchester. In the 80s, he was the lyricist of one of the most influential bands in the UK - Bucks Fizz The Smiths. At the time he loathed establishment figures - “The Queen Is Dead” is a wry skewering of royalty and “Margaret on the Guillotine” is, well, self-explanatory.
The contradiction here (one remarked on at the time) is that Morrissey is himself a deeply conservative person. He loved the music and the kitchen sink movies of his early childhood. He disdained dance music in general and electronic music in particularly. He both romanticized and loathed the working class hordes he grew up around. So, of course, he buggered off to Los Angeles at the first opportunity he got.
Over the years he has been kept afloat by a die hard base of adoring fans who will excuse his every mistake. Whilst loudly claiming he is not racist, he is very anti-immigrant. In 2007, he uttered the Enoch Powell-esque "The gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away."
In Morrissey’s defence, he is mostly clueless about the UK, preferring to imagine it in the nostalgic light of his 50s/60s boyhood. "If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won't hear an English accent. You'll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent." - with comments like that of course he would think that Nigel Farage would make a good Prime Minister. Of course, he would support Brexit. Of course, he would wear the badge of a far-right, nationalist party.
Appalled that these comments were not warmly welcomed by the UK music press, he now only allows himself to be interviewed by his fans on his web site. He is a man under seige. A man cruelly rejected by the world - yet again. Ever misunderstood. Somehow he finds the strength to carry on.
Trapped in a nostalgic fantasy of Britain’s past, dependent on a die-hard base to protect him from criticism, barely able to contain his loathing of immigrants, “accidently” finding common cause with far-right nationalists, culturally bankrupt and yet still living off the long lost glory days of the 80s. What could Morrissey possibly have in common with the British Conservative Party?
Rishi Sunak addressing the 2023 Conservative Party Conference in (where else?) Manchester
I suspect that Morrissey hated Thatcher so much because she wasn’t a conservative. She was a neoliberal radical who wanted to destroy the past of his memory.
I only saw Moz in concert once, 10 or so years ago (It was a great concert.) Something that really struck me was how evangelical it was. Grown-ups stretching out to touch a hem, to catch his eye. Turns out he wasn’t the Messiah, he was just a very naughty boy.