Whether people's political views change depends in large measure on what they are based. If their views are based on religious convictions, change is rare. This also applies to new age, secular religions such as woke ideology. Someone for whom trans' rights is a defining issue is unlikely to vote for a party which believes in biological gender. If their views are those of a group to which they belong and from which they fear to be excluded, change is also difficult. I imagine that there are social circles in Putney in which any individuals who dared to say that they were going to vote for the Conservatives or Reform next time would soon find themselves unwelcome. But views based on rational analysis can change when the facts change. For example, I am sure sure that a number of people who were not particularly opposed to UK membership of the EU voted Leave simply because of the issue of immigrant numbers.
As regards Shabana Mahmood, I imagine that as a devout Muslim her underlying sympathy for the Palestinians remains the same as before. But she recognises that the appalling pogrom of October 7 reflects discredit on their cause. And the anti-Semitic hate crimes which have accompanied the pro-Palestinian demonstrations threaten civil order which, as Home Secretary, it is her job to maintain.
A more interesting case is Keir Starmer, whose originally left wing views were formed by the group of people with whom he associated as a university student and then as a radical lawyer. But when he became Leader of the Opposition he was confronted with a new group of hard nosed political figures such as Morgan Mc Sweeney and Pat Mc Fadden who persuaded him that a lot of the things he believed or thought he believed (because he had never subjected them to serious examination) were actually daft or impractical. Thus he soon ditched support for Jeremy Corbyn, renationalisation of the utilities, a second Referendum, freedom of movement for EU nationals, the abolition of student fees and so on. |