Margaret

• Sunak recently watered down his climate change mitigation policies, and refused to “speculate” on the future of rail project HS2.
• The Sunak government is seemingly unable to reverse a harmful narrative or maintain its own.
• But political leaders are successful when they present a grand narrative and find a way to connect themselves to it.
• Simply finding a bigger narrative is not enough – political leaders must be compelling characters within their narrative.

Contradictions in Sunak’s narrative

• The audience (in this case, the voting public) must feel able to personally connect with the narrative and the narrator.
• It is difficult to align yourself with a revival narrative, or an everyman narrative, from a position of privilege.
• It’s possible that Sunak’s wealth and privilege may render him singularly incapable of connecting to a bigger narrative at this moment in British history.

A narrative of decline

• As argued in an article in The Economist: “There is just one problem with this narrative.
• He may follow the example of Thatcher: when faced with a decline narrative, she chose not to reverse it but to embrace it – and blame it on her opponents.
• Whatever Sunak decides, reversing the narrative of an impending British collapse or leveraging decline to his advantage, his search for a grand narrative is already replete with incongruities.
• In the end, the stark realities outside Westminster may force him to acknowledge decline and his role within it.

• The Jackson, Wyoming-based Teton Science Schools will present the prestigious 13th annual Murie Spirit of Conservation award to the Kingdom of Bhutan on October 17.
• JACKSON HOLE, Wyo., Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Teton Science Schools will host the 13th Annual Murie Spirit of Conservation Awards on October 17, 2023, at 7 p.m. MST at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyoming.
• Teton Science Schools is proud to honor the Kingdom of Bhutan with the Murie Spirit of Conservation Award for its dedication to environmental preservation, making it the first-ever country to receive the esteemed recognition.
• Event proceeds go to support the Murie Ranch of Teton Science Schools and the Bhutan Foundation.

• This is not the first time politicians have used cars to sell themselves to voters.
• The cultural and economic importance of cars may have waned, but they remain important enough for politicians to use for electoral gain.
• And it reveals a new tactic from the political right to maintain relevance as the climate crisis unfolds.

What’s changed since 1997?

• In the lead-up to 2023, there has similarly been a lot of direct action by protesters against cars.
• Then, as now, a Conservative government lurching from crisis to crisis has sought popular issues to revive its fortunes.
• In 1997, the Tories were embroiled in a series of corruption scandals and nurturing an internal war over the EU.


Because of these changes, Sunak’s championing of motorists today works differently to the Mondeo man appeal in 1997. Then, both major parties agreed on the social and economic value of the car and sought to sideline and undermine the road protest campaigns. Both shored up this pro-car ideology and competed over who could best serve it.

Two pro-car parties

• In practice, there remains little difference between the two parties on the question of cars.
• Both assume that society will continue to be dominated by cars, but both have introduced enough (modest) policies to limit car use and promote alternatives.
• To actively promote cars now requires a clearer affirmation and creates the possibility of using it as a wedge issue to attack the opposition with.
• This rhetoric also borrows from populists undermining climate policy more generally, because the political logic of promoting cars is now one of backlash which claims “the people” have lost out from the various anti-car initiatives of both parties.

• DALLAS, July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- JW Marriott, part of Marriott Bonvoy's global portfolio of 31 extraordinary hotel brands, today announced the opening of JW Marriott Dallas Arts District, marking the brand's highly anticipated debut at the epicenter of the robust cultural arts scene in Dallas, Texas.
• Dallas boasts the largest contiguous urban arts district in the United States and holds an official "Cultural District'' designation by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
• "We are excited to bring JW Marriott's legacy of extraordinary hospitality, thoughtful design and enriching experiences to the Dallas Arts District," said Bruce Rohr, Global Brand Leader, JW Marriott.
• JW Marriott Dallas Arts District features three elevated dining venues each with its own tie to the artistic community surrounding the hotel.