British politics – and I say this as someone who’s had a lifelong fascination with it – used to be a fairly predictable affair, even, some would say, a little dull. Brexit, however, has helped to change all that – and probably for good. Until 2016, the center-left Labour Party and the center-right Conservatives alternated in power, while voting for other parties was seen as pretty much a waste of time. Now, however, we’ve entered an era of five- or six-party politics and – even more incredibly, perhaps – we’re about to see our seventh prime minister in 10 years.

After transforming Labour’s fortunes as opposition leader, Keir Starmer found governing the country far more difficult. A series of early missteps and his failure to effectively communicate an inspiring sense of direction saw his government lose votes to both its right and its left, causing Starmer’s personal ratings to fall below even those of his party. It was a situation that his colleagues could only put up with for so long. The dam finally broke after his longtime rival, Andy Burnham, returned to parliament this week and triggered Starmer’s resignation.

Brexit, of course, isn’t the only reason for Britain’s shift from comfortable to chaotic politics. The British party system has been fraying at the edges since the early 1970s when the Liberal Party began to attract more support and........

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