BRISBANE, Australia—Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss says conservatives and right-leaning groups need to build their own “political infrastructure” to counteract the decades-long prevalence of left-wing ideologies in society’s power centres.
Truss, who spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Australia on the weekend, said much of society’s political, business, academic, and media class leaned left.
“As conservatives, we have to acknowledge we are no longer the establishment. The establishment is now left-wing, and as conservatives, we either have to completely change our spots—and there are some who have done that—or we have to be prepared to take them on,” she told the audience on Oct. 5.
“That means taking on people we used to consider to be our allies. People who have senior jobs in corporations, people who are senior figures in the public sector, people who run charities—they are not necessarily on our side anymore.”
Truss said the general public was, however, largely still conservative or traditional leaning, and were proud of what Western society had achieved.
What is the Left Today?
Over the years, left wing or progressive ideologies have widened to encompass a broad range of positions including support for climate change, social justice, more government intervention in society, cradle-to-the-grave welfare services, and expanding the authority of global organisations like the United Nations.
Much of this change can be attributed to the ongoing, concerted efforts of Marxist and communist scholars to influence ideas and public policy.
“Any country grounded in Judaeo-Christian values can’t be overthrown until those roots are cut … socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches, and the media by transforming the consciousness of society,” wrote Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks in the early 20th century.
This transformation in political parties has played out publicly in recent times with once-traditional worker’s parties in Australia (Labor), the UK (Labour), Canada, and New Zealand now adopting socially progressive policies like abortion and transgender rights.
It has caused schisms between party factions.
Most notably, the federal Labor government in Australia has spent months trying to balance the interests of its western Sydney electorates, pro-Palestinian activists (generally left-leaning), against global condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The other challenge has been pursuing climate change policies while settling concerns from blue-collar workers that their jobs will not be impacted.
Truss’ Action Plan
Meanwhile, the former UK Conservative Party leader outlined key initiatives conservatives needed to remain relevant.
“The development of independent media is going to be incredibly important for taking the left on, and we need to be able to reach directly to those people [in the public].
“The second thing is that conservatives need much better political infrastructure, and that is why CPAC is important,” Truss said.
“This organisation is about building political infrastructure and a support place, because, believe me, these people are tough to take on. I spent 10 years as a government minister battling the bureaucracy at every level. It is not easy.”
She also called for conservative-leaning politicians, economists, lawyers, and people in all different fields to “deliver the conservative message.”
In recent years, the building of “infrastructure” has been underway, with the pandemic accelerating the process.
Organisations like Advance Australia have endeavoured to counteract left-wing grassroots campaign groups like GetUp!, while the H.R. Nicholls Society in Melbourne has been revived to tackle issues around workplace law.
Other movements include a push for classical education institutions and homeschooling, groups discussing COVID-19 policy, and smaller media outlets or grassroots activist groups (like Turning Points Australia and Citizen Go) aimed at communicating to voters.
