In a campaign season filled with surprises, Steve Hilton may be the biggest shock of them all. A conservative policy-meister born and bred in England who has never held elected office, Hilton has surged to the top of a splintered California gubernatorial primary field with a brand of what he calls “positive populism” — a movement that purports to downplay populist outrage in favor of practical solutions and that comes with (small) hints of social progressivism.
As a policy architect and comms advisor to a host of British politicians — including, eventually, former British PM David Cameron — Hilton in England carved out a reputation as an idea-driven pragmatist who shaped that same image for his boss. Later in the 2010’s he would move to Silicon Valley, starting a crowdfunding company called Crowdpac.
For his 2026 gubernatorial campaign Hilton has drawn on plenty of media and entertainment experience. He hosted The Next Revolution on
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