The Populist Dimension of Brexit

Abstract

In June 2016 the victory of the Leave campaign in the European referendum of June 2016 was completely unexpected. The referendum had been organized to please the Eurosceptic members of the Conservative Party, fearful of the rise of UKIP, fears which were confirmed one year after the referendum was announced, because this party obtained the best results at the European Parliament election. The referendum put an end to David Cameron’s political career. This paper contends that Brexit was made possible because of a number of factors: the populist wave in the world which allowed charismatic politicians with effective communication skills to reach power, the emphasis put on immigration as well as the effective spin and use made of the media by both Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. But above all, Brexit was the means chosen by British voters to express anger and frustration caused by decades of social and economic crises. The context was favourable to the Leave campaign as it was easy to blame Europe and the migrant crisis for everything that went wrong in the country. Five years after the referendum, the situation is more complex than ever because the Union is at risk and the future is very uncertain.