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A special offer for our Substack community

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If you write about politics, if you contribute to the national conversation, then there comes a point when you have to sit down and level with people —when you have to tell them what you really think about the state of the country.

And over the last year or so, I’ve been doing exactly that, pulling together my thoughts and research for a new book in which I set out my view about how we got here as a country, about why millions of people have been rebelling against the elite.

I look at Britain today and see a country that’s been completely reshaped by a trilogy of revolts -by the rise of Nigel Farage’s national populist crusade, by the shock vote for Brexit, and then by the rise of Boris Johnson and the post-Brexit realignment.

But I also see a political, a media, and a cultural class which has consistently struggled to make sense of these revolts -where they came from, why so many people in the country found them appealing, and what they might give rise to next.

Routinely, we’ve been fed arguments which are simply unconvincing. We’ve been told that much of this was about social media, the legacy of Britain’s empire, the influence of individuals such as Jeremy Corbyn or Dominic Cummings, who said what on the side of a big red bus, or a country that’s become ‘institutionally racist’.

In this book I wanted to offer a different view. My argument, in short, is that it’s simply impossible to make sense of where we now are as a country, and where we might be heading, unless we take a step back from our day-to-day debates to explore how a much longer political and cultural revolution, led by a new elite, has been radically reshaping Britain over not just the last few years but the last half-century.

Readers, I’ve absolutely no doubt some of you will disagree, perhaps strongly, with some of the arguments I make in this book. Indeed, one of the things I genuinely love about this community of ours is receiving your e-mails in which you tell me why you think I’m wrong. Constructive disagreement is healthy!

But given the fact you belong to this community and have stayed with it also suggests to me you’re willing to engage with arguments which challenge your ideological priors, which challenge your existing beliefs.

And in this book there’s a lot of that because, deep down, I simply think the new elite who are running Britain, who dominate its institutions, have lost touch with much of the rest of the country. And I think much of the evidence backs me up.

We now live in a country in which this elite no longer reflects the values that are held by millions of people, no longer gives them a meaningful and respected voice in the institutions, and no longer sees all groups as virtuous, as morally worthy, as others.

If you’re interested in engaging with my argument then, to show my thanks to you, I’ve asked my publisher, Penguin, to make available a unique 15% discount code for our community which brings the price of the book down to just £9.34.

To get it, simply click on this link, pre-order the book and then, at the checkout, hit ‘promo code’ and enter this: VVVMG23.

The book will be published on March 30th. Normal service on the Substack will resume tomorrow -with some brand new polling.

Best wishes, Matt

Matt Goodwin’s Substack goes out to more than 12,000 subscribers from 105 countries around the globe each week and a growing number of active supporters who make this possible. To become an active supporter then upgrade. If you would like to ask Matt to speak at an event drop him a message or connect @GoodwinMJ.