Something is moving on the islands

Northern Ireland does not belong exactly to this same election night, but it does belong to the same historical climate. Sinn Féin had already been the first force in the Northern Irish Assembly in 2022 and, in 2024, became the largest Northern Irish party in Westminster. The Irish question, which for years seemed to be managed by the inertia following the Belfast Agreement, is rephrased with another intensity. Not because a reunification referendum is immediate, but because the question ceased to seem purely abstract.

It is prudent to be cautious. In Scotland, participation fell. The SNP had already suffered previous setbacks in Westminster. In Wales, Plaid has no majority of its own. In England, Reform has yet to demonstrate whether it can transform protest vote into governing capacity. But even with those caveats, the set leaves a difficult picture to read with the usual categories.

Celtic nations reorganize politically at the same time that English bipartisanship loses centrality. And that happens, in addition, with a radical right-wing populist actor capitalizing on the vacuum of representation.

For those of us who think of liberal democracy as a fragile balance between representation, institutions, and memory, all of this demands attention. It is not enough to celebrate the new or regret the lost. We must look carefully at what is being built, what is being disassembled and what kind of political authority can be born when the center stops ordering.

Revista Conciencia Democrática

A voice for human dignity, liberal democracy and the republic

Independent publication · Buenos Aires · 2026