After a year that saw him lead the charge for gay marriage in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron seemed to go back to his roots this week. Serving up red meat to his base at the Conservative Party's annual conference, Cameron repeatedly blasted the left and offered a core vision of tax cuts, reduced public spending, immigration caps and a war on welfare that would warm the hearts of the American tea party.

Cameron's speech was illustrative of a shift in Britain's political landscape being laid bare at the annual party conferences that hit the nation every fall.

With the sprint toward campaign season already taking shape 18 months ahead of national elections, an era in which politicians in the U.K. were tripping over themselves in a race to the center appears to be coming to a close. Instead, the party leaders in a nation that has long stood as Washington's closest ally are rushing back to their political comfort zones, highlighting a certain polarization in national politics that has become the new norm on both sides of the Atlantic.