The secret of the Tories’ long domination of British politics

No other country, wrote Karl Marx in 1854, was so ripe for revolution as Britain. How wrong can you be? Despite two world wars, innumerable booms and busts, not to mention the extension of the franchise to the lower orders, 170-odd years later Britain’s ruling class are (or were until recently) almost as firmly in the saddle as they have ever been. Their influence, not to say control, over the commanding heights remains almost as absolute as ever.

The facts are stark. Not for nothing is the Conservative party widely regarded as the most formidable electoral machine in Europe. It has been in power for roughly two thirds of its 200-year history. Of its 19 leaders, only four have failed to win at least one election (and three of those were up against Tony Blair). In contrast, only four of Labour’s 19 leaders have ever won an election. Recent Tory prime ministers have included two Etonians and a Wykehamist.