Lots of odd things are happening in British politics. Reform U.K., which was only founded four years ago, is leaving the established parties in the dust. The Green Party has more members than the Tory Party. The Labour government, which was elected with a massive majority 16 months ago, is slipping further and further in the opinion polls. But the oddest of the lot is that British politics is becoming less British and more foreign.
This is strange for two big reasons. The British have traditionally prided themselves on the uniqueness of their political system; an aristocratic arrangement that evolved peacefully into a democratic one and a hard-headed regime that nevertheless gave people a chance to dress up in odd clothes and engage in weird rituals. Some 35 other countries have adopted the Westminster model; one American president, Woodrow Wilson, wrote a learned book on why the British system is better than the U.S. one.
Yet today the pride has gone and the distinctiveness is disappearing. British politics is becoming simultaneously more American and more European. To add further complexity: The mainland is importing features of the most troubled corner of the British Isles, Ulster.
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