In this week's Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to author and historian Robert Saunders about Britain's transition from decades of political stability to having six prime ministers in ten years and how this reflects deep systemic pressures rather than just poor individual leadership. Robert explains that modern leaders have faced an unprecedented convergence of global crises—including Brexit, COVID-19, and soaring public debt—with very little governance experience. He views Brexit as both a symptom of long-term political decline and an amplifier that polarized the electorate into rigid identities and normalised political dishonesty.
Unlike the unstable 1920s, which maintained experienced leadership and defended democratic norms against extremism, today's crisis is unprecedented because both major parties have lost their traditional social roots, resulting in a highly volatile electorate. This instability is compounded by massive public debt, which severely constrains government action. Rather than addressing these constraints honestly, modern politicians have largely abandoned their \"educative\" role, choosing to hide difficult economic trade-offs from the public.
This systemic decay is further accelerated by a plutocratic assault on democracy, led by billionaire-controlled platforms and populist media that actively promote anti-establishment sentiment. Robert argues that mainstream politicians must stop legitimising this \"anti-politics\" rhetoric and instead actively defend democratic institutions by highlighting their tangible successes. Ultimately, he warns that universal suffrage is less than a century old, and citizens must stop acting as complacent \"vandals\" of a highly fragile democratic ecosystem.
Robert Saunders - @redhistorian - author and academic. Author of \"Yes to Europe! The 1975 Referendum & Seventies Britain\". \"A jaw-dislocating page turner\"(Andrew Marr). Co-director the Mile End Institute @MileEndInst , Reader Queen Mary's @QMHistory
Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.
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