Political Philosophy – Wessex Regionalists

Wessex Political Thinkers: Alexander Thynn

I had long intended to write a post on the founder of our party as part of the Wessex Political Thinkers series. The sad news of his recent death makes a reflection upon his contribution to Wessex Regionalist thought even more timely. Alexander Thynn–then Viscount Weymouth, later Marquess of Bath–first became interested in formulating aContinueContinue reading “Wessex Political Thinkers: Alexander Thynn”

Wessex Political Thinkers: Rolf Gardiner

Rolf Gardiner (1902-1971) was a friend and neighbour of George Pitt-Rivers, who I have written about previously. Like Pitt-Rivers, he is a problematic figure, due to his early support for Hitler. Unlike Pitt-Rivers, his support appears to have been short-lived. Some have speculated that this was due to his having Jewish ancestry; but Hitler’s militarism,ContinueContinue reading “Wessex Political Thinkers: Rolf Gardiner”

Wessex Political Thinkers: George Pitt-Rivers

The Wessex Regionalists were not the first political party to revive the name of Wessex in the modern era. In the late 1920s, the anthropologist, World War I veteran and Dorset squire George Pitt-Rivers founded the Wessex Agricultural Defence Association (WADA), to protect the interests of rural landowners in the region, and particularly, to protestContinueContinue reading “Wessex Political Thinkers: George Pitt-Rivers”

Wessex political thinkers: William Barnes

We recently received an email criticising this blog for focusing too much on “an undifferentiated English radical tradition” and on influences from America and Eastern Europe at the expense of our own native Wessex political tradition. The Clubmen, argued our correspondent, were a distinctively Wessaxon movement, the Levellers were not. Whilst we make no apologiesContinueContinue reading “Wessex political thinkers: William Barnes”

Revisiting Kohr and Schumacher

A recent discussion on our Facebook page has given me an excuse to reread The Breakdown of Nations by Leopold Kohr and Small is Beautiful by EF Schumacher, after a commenter suggested that Kohr and Schumacher would have supported Brexit. It is always dangerous to speculate on what those who are no longer with usContinueContinue reading “Revisiting Kohr and Schumacher”

South By Southwest

Guest contribution by Nick Xylas, WR Council member and prospective candidate for Bristol City Council, Eastville WardAs someone who has lived in both Wessex and the American South, I can’t help but be struck by certain similarities between the two. Both are primarily rural and agricultural regions. Both have low-status accents that provide a lazyContinueContinue reading “South By Southwest”

Exceeding Expectations

We’ve always enjoyed watching Mebyon Kernow’s progress and learning from what they get right, or very occasionally wrong. Our association dates back to the 70s, when the founding generation of MK members was still at the helm. It was the era of grainy, photocopied leaflets and duplicated magazines, produced in a political climate that isContinueContinue reading “Exceeding Expectations”

The Progressive Patriot

Guest contribution by Nick Xylas, WR Council member The following is a review of The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging, by Billy Bragg, published in 2006 by Bantam of London.This is really three books in one. The first is an autobiography of Billy Bragg, the singer and songwriter who took the blues and theContinueContinue reading “The Progressive Patriot”

A Wealth of Possibilities

Last week, BBC1 aired a programme called Millionaire Basement Wars. It described how, over the past decade, some 2,000 new basements have been excavated beneath high-value properties in central London, most notably in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The buildings are often listed, so there’s little scope to extend up or out. ThatContinueContinue reading “A Wealth of Possibilities”

Toward a Truly Free Market

Guest contribution by Nick Xylas, WR Council member The following is a review of Toward a Truly Free Market: A Distributist Perspective on the Role of Government, Taxes, Health Care, Deficits, and More, by John C. Médaille, published in 2011 by ISI Books of Wilmington, Delaware, USA.When in my wife’s home town of Weirton, WestContinueContinue reading “Toward a Truly Free Market”