Steve Hilton is one of the last decade-and-a-half’s most subtly influential figures on centre-right politics. For the first two years of David Cameron’s stint at Prime Minister, Steve Hilton served as director of strategy. Soon after, in 2014, he co-founded Crowdpac - a politics-oriented crowd-funding platform. In 2017, he hosted The Next Revolution, a popular weekly programme for Fox News - a position he held until 2023. In April of this year, he launched his campaign for California Governer as a Republican candidate, earning the endorsement of former Presidential-hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy.
Why did we invite him on?
When Steve announced his candidacy for California Governer, we were and weren’t shocked. On one hand, Steve has been an omnipresent character in British and American politics, and never once been shy about swinging for the fences. On the other, it seems like activity from a parallel universe; the only thing more unthinkable than a Republican governer of the ‘sunshine state’ is a British-born one.
It’s the mother of all up-hill battles. So why has he taken it on?
As we came to learn, Steve’s run is a defensive one; he wants to rescue his state from ruination. What kind? Worse than you likely imagined.
What did we learn?
Perhaps we shouldn’t overstate how bold Steve’s run for governership is. After all, why not? If Californians are sick of the current administration and are ready for change, what’s so outlandish about it?
All the data suggests that that is precisely how they feel. In fact - Steve’s leading in the polls.
”Imagine that… All that stuff that people say: ‘Oh a Republican can’t win… You’re never gonna do it.’ I just don’t think that’s true anymore.”
That might be true, but historically, California is as blue as blue gets. Not since 1988 has a Republican presidential candidate won the state, and even that was in the afterwind of a wildly popular Reagan term. If Steve is now the favourite, clearly something happened. So, what?
”A lot of bad things… This state is the most beautiful place in the world, it’s magnicient, it has an incredible spirit and soul. And it’s all been crushed by 15 years of Democrats being in charged of everything. We have the highest unemployment rate in America, the highest poverty rate, and the highest costs for everything that matters. We are the absolute worst state to do business in, and have been for 10 years. School results, homelessness… Everything.”
The best measure is perhaps the most basic: are people staying, or are they leaving? It’s one thing to complain about the governance, but if people who can afford to leave are not doing so, it’s hard to take it seriously.
In California, the evidence is clear - they’re fleeing in their masses.
We sit across from Steve on a beautiful day, overlooking Los Angeles from our balcony. It draws into focus just how bad things must be for people to be leaving this behind. Why?
”It’s because it’s so badly run. Businesses that are precious to the community - bars, restaurants - they’re all closing, and leaving. I hear stories every day… The cost of doing business is just insane. It’s a ridiculous, bloated nanny-state, all paid through by taxes that can’t stop going up. And nothing works.”
It’s hard to accept that this is what it’s come to. California was the envy of not just Americans, but the world; if you didn’t live there, you dreamt to one day. These strategies seem eternally unworkable, but still they were deployed. Why is California marching so wilfully into despair?
”This is what happens when the ideology of the left is allowed to run without constraint. It’s a warning to all of us; it’s the worst-run state in America. And it tells you where leftism leads: disaster.”
As is often the case when ideology runs rampant, the worst extremities of it manifest in all areas. First, and arguably foremost, in Steve’s view is the climate alarmism.
”The climate extremism is driving the price of everything up. I call it ‘climate elitism’, because the people really paying the price for it are the workers. We have all these groups churning out new rules that get in the way of building and producing anything. There was a gin distillery - a beautiful business by a young entrepreneur - that wasn’t granted planning permissoin because their new site would ‘increase VMT’. Vehicle Miles Travelled. Yes! That’s called growth. That’s development! California has some of the best oil reserves in the country. But climate activists have fought against us drilling it. So, instead of using our own and sending it around with a beautiful, clean pipe… We’re shipping it in. We’re using about as much as we ever have! It’s insane!”
One of the reasons Steve has become so popular, despite adverse conditions, is his central promise. Solving racism? Ending crime?
Steve’s pledge is much more humble than that. But no less important.
