Britain is the most socially liberal it’s ever been. Could somebody let our politicians know?

‘Authoritarian British voters have a history of ultimately preferring Tory toughness to the Labour version, as Keir Starmer may discover in Downing Street – if not earlier.’ Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

If you’re a social conservative in Britain, these are the best of times and the worst of times. They are the worst because, as the rightwing press warns daily, liberal and other subversive values are spreading: in universities, cultural bodies, local councils, corporate boardrooms and big cities. Even private schools, previously assumed to be a reliable conservative production line, are showing signs of malfunction. “The hard-left’s woke private school revolution is here to stay,” despaired the Telegraph last year. “Private schools have started eagerly introducing their pupils to all the hottest new progressive ideas.”

Yet while social conservatism appears to be under threat in many institutions, in politics it seems more influential than ever. On complex issues such as crime, immigration, patriotism and the value of work, family and the monarchy, Labour and the Tories compete to offer the most traditionalist stances and policies, presented in a ritualised language calculated to appeal to socially conservative voters: “crackdowns”, “security”, “stability”, “respect”.