It is abundantly clear that Alexander is fascinated by the exercise of power, and wants more of it. As Colin Talbot, Professor of Government at the University of Manchester, demonstrates in a recent blogpost for the Federal Trust, his poroguing of Parliament ; his grasping the opportunity of Brexit as a pretext for 'returning' powers to Westminster instead of to the devolved administrations (an idiosyncratic interpretation of 'taking back control' ?) ; the development of parallel bureaucracies (for contact tracing) ; and the power grab of coronavirus legislation, and its accompanying statutory instruments ; and the weaponising of infrastructure projects in Wales and Scotland to ensure fealty to the Union all show beyond any doubt that Alexander is engrossed by the idea of having power. But what does he want it for ? And does he understand how to exercise it ? And do these questions even figure in his concept of politics ?
The essence of politics is the unavoidable choice between difficult, or even unpalatable, options. This is an inescapable consequence of a world where resources and time are always scarce, and where human beings are imperfect. Although the wealth and bustle of affluent societies in the Global North usually conceal this uncomfortable truth, never are the unpalatability of political options more clearly demonstrated than in a pandemic. Never is it more clearly obvious that only the brute power of the state stands between us and complete catastrophe. And never has it been more cruelly and relentlessly demonstrated that Alexander is consstitutionally incapable of grasping this essential truth. If he sees a difficult decision that he needs to make, where no option will afford him facile popularity, and where all options offer a large degree of pain and risk, his instinct is to evade and to deny until the situation has become so desperate that only one option is possible. It would not be cynical, but entirely realistic, to assert that he wants power in order to amass more power. That is to say, he uses power to sew chaos and confusion, which is an excuse for consolidating and extending his power. His consistent evasion of responsibility is a tangible sign of arrested emotional development, a phenomenon that is reminiscent of Trump.
One would have thought that any Conservative would readily grasp any political concept to which the idea of human imperfection and the impossibility of realising utopian dreams were absolutely intrinsic ; but the Conservative and Unionist Party is no longer Conservative (or Unionist, for that matter), and it is doubtful whether Alexander has ever been a Conservative. He is temperamentally incapable of being one ; or of being a politician of any stripe, in any role whatsoever.