The article below is not an endorsement of any political party, organisation or individual.
Nigel Farage's newly founded Brexit Party has surged to the top of the polls for the upcoming European elections. According to a recent poll from Opinum, 34% of voters intend on voting for the Brexit Party in the upcoming elections, as compared to just 21% for Labour, 12% for the Liberal Democrats and 11% for the Conservatives.
The reason for The Brexit Party's recent success is that a number of Tory voters feel betrayed by Theresa May; they feel that the Tory Establishment has sold them out. Popular talk show host Julia Hartley-Brewer recently hosted Farage on talkRADIO, who stated that, "We've been betrayed by our career political class.
The Brexit Party has succeeded because they have not presented a multi-issue platform. They have presented one supposed problem: the European Union. They have presented one solution: leaving. This simple messaging has resonated in pro-Leave areas and has won voters from the major political parties. Their campaign leaflet proves this. No policy ideas are shared, except, in bold letters, "We must leave the EU". If you contrast this with the Labour Party, we find that in their leaflet, they promise to:
Nigel Farage's newly founded Brexit Party has surged to the top of the polls for the upcoming European elections. According to a recent poll from Opinum, 34% of voters intend on voting for the Brexit Party in the upcoming elections, as compared to just 21% for Labour, 12% for the Liberal Democrats and 11% for the Conservatives.
The Brexit Party has succeeded because they have not presented a multi-issue platform. They have presented one supposed problem: the European Union. They have presented one solution: leaving. This simple messaging has resonated in pro-Leave areas and has won voters from the major political parties. Their campaign leaflet proves this. No policy ideas are shared, except, in bold letters, "We must leave the EU". If you contrast this with the Labour Party, we find that in their leaflet, they promise to:
- Develop "a close relationship with the EU that protects workers' rights and environmental standards"
- Back a second referendum if there is neither change to May's deal nor a general election
- Set up "regional banks to invest in a high-skill, high-wage economy in every part of the country"
- Employ 10, 000 more policeman
- Reduce class sizes
- Allocate more funding to the NHS
- Invest in new, affordable homes to rent and buy
and
- Invest in elderly care
The Labour method of campaigning is significantly less effective. We are significantly less intelligent than we believe ourselves to be. The majority of us don't have the capacity to commit entire manifestos to memory. Instead, we remember simple ideas and phrases.
Change UK, the other new party in British politics, has fared less well in the polls. A group that was once filled with ambitious centrists has now come crashing back down. This is largely because centrism is not a political ideology. Centrists do not seek to reach a compromise between two ideologies. They have some "conservative" opinions and other "liberal" ones. Therefore, it is possible for two centrists to disagree on almost all issues. Change UK is currently polling at a meagre 3%, 31 points behind Farage and the Brexiteers.
So why have the Brexit Party so successful? The Brexit Party has been supported by popular media personalities, young and old. Their supporters include Dominique Samuels of Turning Point UK, a young social media personality; as well as this, one of their most prominent candidates is the well-known journalist Annunziata Rees-Mogg. Their candidates include medical students, writers, and captains of industry. They are not afraid to use social media, they are not members of the political class and they don't talk to their audience as if they were in primary school. They are pro-people, anti-elite and they have a strong message.
Even liberals concede that populists win elections. Popular American talk-show host, Cenk Uygur, has been very supportive of populist movements across the globe, even a few that are right-wing in nature.
A Brexit Party campaign leaflet reads, "May 23rd can be the start of a new future for British democracy." Farage, by this, essentially implies that a vote for the Brexit Party and its policies is the initiation of a British political renaissance. The validity of that assertion will be tested in a few days' time. What is certain now is that the political class is seated in a wheelchair; it is pushed to its deathbed by a rising wave of populists. Politics will soon be dead.
So why have the Brexit Party so successful? The Brexit Party has been supported by popular media personalities, young and old. Their supporters include Dominique Samuels of Turning Point UK, a young social media personality; as well as this, one of their most prominent candidates is the well-known journalist Annunziata Rees-Mogg. Their candidates include medical students, writers, and captains of industry. They are not afraid to use social media, they are not members of the political class and they don't talk to their audience as if they were in primary school. They are pro-people, anti-elite and they have a strong message.
Even liberals concede that populists win elections. Popular American talk-show host, Cenk Uygur, has been very supportive of populist movements across the globe, even a few that are right-wing in nature.
A Brexit Party campaign leaflet reads, "May 23rd can be the start of a new future for British democracy." Farage, by this, essentially implies that a vote for the Brexit Party and its policies is the initiation of a British political renaissance. The validity of that assertion will be tested in a few days' time. What is certain now is that the political class is seated in a wheelchair; it is pushed to its deathbed by a rising wave of populists. Politics will soon be dead.
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