The Tory line has always been "Work hard and get ahead." It's an outright lie, because the reality has always been "Go to the right school and have the right parents and get ahead."

But much middle class [1] and some working class Tory support still believes in the social status dream, and this fiasco has directly undermined that narrative.

The party is getting huge heat from its base over this, not just because of their future prospects, but because some of them are now wondering if "Work hard and get ahead" has ever been true for them.

[1] Note for the US - in the UK "middle class" specifically means "Highly educated professionals with significant cultural and political capital" not just "People with a degree making decent money."