Have you noticed how many things today’s politicians do that nobody ever voted for? It goes without saying that no one voted for the lockdown hysteria that included closing schools, making up social distancing requirements out of thin air, throwing darts at a phone book to decide which small (never large) businesses would close, pressuring social media companies to ban and shadow ban sceptics, spending and printing so much money to keep these idiocies going that it exploded asset inflation and transferred huge wealth from poor to rich and from young to old, basically doing more for inequality at home and around the globe than all the pre-pandemic policies of all the right-of-centre parties in the world put together. And multiplied by ten. And all while delightfully being cheered on by the ABC, BBC and CBC. As I said, I don’t recall anyone voting for any of that.

Nor do I recall voters sixty, fifty and forty years ago voting for the sort of mass immigration policies that have led us, in some serpentining way, to the recent riots and protests that could only be described as anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic. (Come on. The sophistical and Jesuitical attempts to argue that being anti-Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East that abides by far more careful military strictures than the US or Britain did in the second world war, in no way amounts to being anti-Jewish simply aren’t credible when that country’s enemies want to wipe every Jew out of the country. They say so openly. They deliberately park fighters and weapons in schools and hospitals.) Put differently, we have had hard-core multiculturalism shoved down our throats when, had the near-certain ramifications been explained to us, we the punters would never have voted for them.

Or what about the mania in government and big business for hard-core affirmative action under the guise of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Did anyone vote for that, with its demand that none of us think in terms of the individual human being but instead in terms of groups? Step one, you bunch people together in terms of their type of reproductive organs or skin pigmentation or when their DNA arrived somewhere on earth. (And why those arbitrary groupings and categories? Why not Christians as a group getting special privileges or ex-military types or working class men?) Step two, you demand statistical equivalence for these arbitrarily selected groups as regards corporate board places or university professorships or anything desirable. (Note that no one ever demands this for undesirable jobs or says that because 95 per cent of deaths at work are jobs held by men therefore we really need to get women into these jobs so that they can die at a statistically equivalent rate. That would be idiotic, right?) And step three is to claim that any statistical divergences are solely the result of discrimination and racism and sexism. It can never be due to people’s differing preferences and abilities and individual work ethics. The result is that we are only allowed to see things through the prism of identity politics and supposed oppression. Did you vote for any of that garbage? I didn’t. But when the Coalition gets into office what do they do about it? Nothing. Nada. Zippo.

And that brings me to Donald Trump’s recent sweeping victory. Establishment conservatives hate the man. My theory is that for many of them it’s because he embarrasses them by trying his utmost to keep his promises. Fourteen years of consecutive Conservative governments in the UK promising to significantly bring down mass immigration and it only ever went massively up.  By contrast Trump tries to keep his pledges, establishment Senate Republicans willing.  Mr Morrison wins an election here on the basis of sane energy policies and then out of the blue signs us up to net zero. Did anyone vote for that? Does any sentient being believe that Donald Trump would do that? All the snide and sneering remarks about how boorish and crass he is (and not just by left-wing commentators but by a host of right-wing establishment types too) assume that voters prefer a suave, debonair politician with impeccable manners but no backbone and no willingness to go to the wall for his promises over a Trump-like politician who intends to keep his word to the extent of his available powers. I know which option I want.

Consider this stunning set of poll results.  In 2018 young men voted for the Democrats by over 19 points. In 2020 they voted Democrat by over 15 points. In 2022 it was the Dems by over 1 point. And in last month’s election? Young men voted for Mr Trump and the Republicans by over 13 points. That means that in six years young men have moved 32 per centage points to the right. And that was largely due to Mr Trump – not the Karl Rove type of advisor class policies or because of a candidate like John Pesutto. No, it’s because of such things as Trump’s promising to get rid of DEI everywhere he can. And just by being elected it’s happening already with Walmart and other big companies last week ditching DEI. Likewise, Trump’s cabinet nominees are promising to eradicate it from the federal government and the military. Young, white, working-class men have been some of the most disadvantaged people over the last quarter-century.  So going back to a merit-based view of the world is political gold.

Here’s another way of putting all this.  Unlike politicians for much of the last half-century, Trump is trying to do what his voters voted for. No caving in to a legacy media that US surveys show have only four per cent Republican-leaning journalists. No caving in to the bureaucracy (because, again, Washington DC voted 93 per cent for Kamala). And best of all, Trump simply did not listen to the advisor class that surrounds conservative politicians in the Anglosphere. Remember all the talk of how any other Republican candidate would do better in the election from the likes of, well, just about all conservative talking heads? Well, we know that was simply wrong. In all seven swing states Trump outperformed the down-ticket Senate and House candidates. He brought out voters the usual suspects could not. Why? Well, he’s brave in doing all that he can to keep his promises. And he fights the culture wars. And he seems to have an instinctive respect for free speech. Where do I sign up?

Compare that to the Coalition’s disgraceful support for the under-16 social media ban Bill. This is possibly the dumbest call Dutton could have made. And from all accounts it was a Dutton captain’s call. Why? In practice this thing will either collapse into meaningless ‘tick this box if you’re over 16’ or it will make everyone sign up online to what is step one of a digital ID. Can’t the Libs see that after their warm embrace of lockdown thuggery and fear-mongering all sorts of the base, their natural voters, don’t trust them? Dutton had moved most of these voters back home and then in one steroidally stupid choice – made worse by past Coalition appointees who’d operate this thing – he threw it all away. Can you imagine what the government would have done to lockdown and vaccine sceptics were digital ID in place? I can.

And here’s the really depressing bit.  Only Senators Matt Canavan and Alex Antic thought principle outweighed career prospects and were brave. Don’t talk to me about Trump being flawed.

As a politician he’s orders of magnitude better than what the Liberals and Nationals offer up to us in this country.