Populism has long been speculated to be on the brink of dominating the political landscape in Britain. The country’s biggest shake-up in decades came in 2016 with the Brexit vote, which was heavily centered around a populist platform and was mainly influenced by a prime example of what a populist leader might look like, Nigel Farage.
Given the likelihood that Farage will head back to politics and take his rightful seat within Reform UK, a party he founded, will populism reign in UK?
What is populism?
Populism is a form of anti-establishment politics that divides a nation into two categories: ‘the pure people’ and the ‘corrupt elites’. The pure people are defined as the majority of the population with a unified will. The elites are defined as the system that puts their interests above the interests of the pure people.
Populist parties and social movements are frequently led by appealing or powerful leaders who masquerade as the “voice of the people.”
These leaders usually behave differently than the ‘usual politicians’ we see, as they reflect ‘the people.’ Former presidents Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte are two examples.
Brexit and Farage
When he campaigned in favour of Brexit, Farage epitomised what a populist leader might look like. In his famous speech, he declared that he had come to understand that the current political system will never deliver the Brexit that the people voted for.
“These two parties, filled with career politicians, influenced by big money and the politicians, simply won’t ever deliver it to us. They are trying to build a coalition of the politicians against the people,” he added.
The speech was simply a textbook example of a populist leader pitting the will of the pure people against dubious elites.
As Farage’s campaign saw a successful result, the UK broke free from the European Union, and the citizens in this case have both successfully exercised their rights and indicated their displeasure with existing elites (who refused to leave the union).
Should Farage take advantage of his present surge in popularity and rejoin Reform UK, he could bring with him an ideology that has been waiting to take over the nation for a long time.
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