Lord Dan Hannan

This week, we’re joined by Lord Daniel Hannan, one of the most thoughtful — and globally fluent — conservative voices in politics.

We explore the future of the right across the Anglosphere:

• Is the British Conservative Party dead or just regenerating?
• Has the U.S. abandoned the world it built?
• Why is Canadian conservatism still the sanest?
• And is the UK heading toward a merger moment like Canada’s in 2003?

What We Cover

1. The Anglosphere’s Conservative Crisis

• How lockdown changed the role of the state
• Why “Trumpism” is reshaping the right in every country — including Iceland
• And why Canada may be the only place where centre-right politics still feel normal

“Preserving the sanity and civility of Canadian politics is no small prize.” — Hannan

2. Can Reform and the Tories Work Together?

Hannan lays out the most detailed case yet for a non-merger, non-coalition electoral pact — and explains why time is running out.

“If we were all Dr. Spock from Star Trek, we’d have done this by now.”

He also draws a direct line from Farage’s playbook to Canada’s 1993-2003 Reform-Conservative story — and suggests it may all play out again, faster than we think.

3. The Long History of Toryism

Daniel is writing the first comprehensive history of the Conservative Party — from the 1600s onward.

He reminds us why old parties shouldn’t be underestimated… and why “Toryism” might survive even if the Tory party doesn’t.

4. On Brexit: Not a disaster — just underused

We close the episode by tackling the narrative around Brexit’s so-called failure.

“Brexit didn’t make you richer or poorer. It gave you back the right to make different choices. Whether you succeed or fail depends on what you do next.”

This is one of our favourite episodes of the season. Whether you’re a political junkie, a student of history, or just trying to make sense of where the right goes next — don’t miss it.

00:00 Welcome and introducing Dan Hannan
02:59 How COVID flicked switches and changed conservatism
03:48 MAGA versus traditional conservatism — The transformation of the right
05:45 Trump hollows out the centre-right everywhere — Iceland to Mexico
07:37 Should conservatives learn anything from MAGA?
08:23 Abandoning the Atlantic Charter — The post-war order under threat
12:02 An ungrateful generation — Rage tearing down what prudence built
13:11 Canada got it right — Harper's merger and electoral potency
15:01 The rally-around-the-flag moment — Carney's pivot and lefty Kanzuk
17:51 Kanzuk and free movement — Why it's not hypocritical after Brexit
23:07 British Tories at their worst moment since the 1760s
25:20 The Reform threat — Nigel Farage's 1993 Canada obsession
27:51 The case for a Tory-Reform pact — Complementary geography and policies
37:16 Why Reform needs the Tories — The experience gap and mandate problem
39:47 The institutional resistance problem — Lords, judges, and civil service
41:43 General principles of international law — How judges sabotaged Rwanda
44:50 Two-tier justice and the culture of the public sector
45:41 Free speech under attack — Not new laws, but new interpretations
49:55 The failure of police and crime commissioners
56:40 Brexit reality check — Britain has grown faster than the eurozone
59:38 The corrective is our own electorate — Democracy over technocracy
1:02:40 Why there's no prospect of rejoin — Labour knows they'd lose
1:03:32 Wrap — Writing the history of Toryism from 1680s to today