To understand Britain's political situation it is vital to understand the Stuart Dynasty, of 1603-1714. The Stuarts are somewhat overshadowed by the Tudors who preceded them. But history tends to repeat itself and so much of the political scene today is a reenactment of events during the Stuart Era.
The beginning of the Stuart Dynasty was when Elizabeth I died childless in 1603. England and Scotland were separate countries but a king of Scotland had married Margaret Tudor, who was a daughter of Henry Tudor who began the Tudor Dynasty by reigning as Henry VII (7th). This resulted in the King of Scotland, James I, also inheriting the throne of England.
The rule of two countries by the same king is known as a "personal union", but it does not mean that the two countries are completely united. From 1603 to 1707, England and Scotland were joined in the "Union of the Crowns", as a personal union with the same king. Scotland then joined Britain in 1707.
When Scotland held a referendum on separation, in 2014, it was announced that an independent Scotland would still recognize the monarchy and use the pound as currency. They were seeking not a total separation but a return to the Union of the Crowns, of the Stuart Era.
While the central event of the Tudor Era had been the Reformation, the central event of the Stuart Era was the Civil War. The leaving of the European Union, known as "Brexit", is a reenactment of England leaving the Catholic Church in the Reformation. Notice that Scotland was generally opposed to Brexit. That was rooted in the fact that Scotland was not yet with England, in the Union of the Crowns, when England separated from the Catholic Church, although Scotland joined the Reformation separately.
The central event of the Stuart Era, the Civil War, was a religious war between Puritans and Anglicans. The Anglican Church had been founded by Elizabeth I, the final monarch of the Tudor Era, as a compromise between Puritans and the remaining Catholics. Puritans generally wanted to live by just the Bible, with a minimal church structure.
The Civil War was not between Protestants and Catholics, as were the wars around the same time on continental Europe, but between two denominations of Protestants. Religion had become entwined with politics and the Royalists supported the Anglicans while the Parliament supported the Puritans. This is the only major conflict that I can think of between denominations of Protestants.
The Puritans, led by Oliver Cromwell, emerged victorious and there was a resulting interruption in the monarchy from 1649-1660. The monarchy was abolished, King Charles I was executed and, the Crown Jewels destroyed. The son of Charles I escaped by hiding in an oak tree and then going into exile. But the Puritans fell out of favor after the death of Oliver Cromwell. The son of the executed king returned and was crowned as Charles II. Some of the Puritans left to build their own society in Massachusetts, and that is where America's Pilgrims and Puritans came from.
With that background, what do you notice about modern British politics? Margaret Thatcher, as a staunch Conservative, was a secular reenactment of Oliver Cromwell. Just as the Interregnum, the Puritans' interruption of the monarchy, lasted for eleven years, from 1649 to 1660, so Margaret Thatcher's term in office lasted for eleven years, from 1979 to 1990. Just as Cromwell's movement fell out of favor and the monarchy was restored, so Margaret Thatcher fell out of favor and was removed by her own party.
Now the Civil War battle between the Puritans and the Anglicans is being reenacted again, in modern secular form between the Conservatives and Labour. The Conservative Nigel Farage is the latest possible incarnation of Oliver Cromwell. Just as the Anglican Church, created by Elizabeth I, was intended to be a compromise between the Puritans and the remaining Catholics, so the present Labour Party has it's two sides.
The Anglican Church refers to it as the "high church", more Catholic, side and the "low church", more Puritan, side. The present prime minister is of the "low church", more rightward, side of the Labour Party and his possible replacement is the Mayor of Manchester who is of the "high church", more leftward side of the Labour Party.
There is some more recent history behind this, other than the Civil War. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are considered as the founders of Communism. Both lived in England, Marx in London and Engels in Manchester. Marx visited Engels and the two had a discussion in Chetham's Library. The result was the world-changing book, "The Communist Manifesto".
Their economic theory was intended for the industrial workers around Manchester and I am sure that they never imagined that Russia would be the first nation to adopt their theory.
This image of Chetham's Library, in Manchester, is from Google Street View.
For the full story of England's Civil War, and it's far-reaching effect on world history, here is a link to the posting "Charles I And II".
www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2023/05/charles-i-and-ii.html?m=0
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