Global Britain versus Little England? National Identity and the Future of the British Right

Abstract The idea of ‘global Britain’ became a centrepiece of Conservative Party rhetoric in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. This article examines how this formulation may evolve in the face of renewed conflict over immigration and identity on the British right. It is argued that, in recent years, British conservatism has faced two principal long‐term challenges: first, the challenge of broadening its appeal in an increasingly diverse and multicultural Britain and, second, the challenge of a national populist insurgency emphasising white British (especially English) identity and hostility to immigration and multiculturalism. In this context, it is argued that the term ‘global Britain’ exists in implied opposition to the idea of ‘little England’ and that this binary opposition has shaped the use and reception of the global Britain concept within conservative politics. It is further argued that the usefulness of the global Britain concept relies on its capacity to be a ‘coalition magnet’ linking liberal internationalist ideas to the more nationalist mood of the contemporary British right.