Amid Brexit Failures, Over Half of Britons Want Strong Leadership, Say Main Parties Don’t Care About Them
by Victoria Friedman
Britons are increasingly making a move towards populism, as opinions in favour of the legacy British political system are at their lowest in 15 years.
The Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement 16 published Monday found that citizens are becoming more inclined to want to overhaul the current system of government, with 72 per cent saying they believe it needs “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of improvement.
From the data collected between 30 November and 12 December 2018 by Ipsos MORI, the annual report on political engagement also found that 54 per cent think that the UK “needs a strong leader who is willing to break the rules,” compared with only 23 per cent who disagree. Two thirds of Britons (66 per cent) also believe that politicians “should be able to say what’s on their mind regardless of what anyone else thinks about their view.”
Britons’ growing support for strong-minded, “strong leaders” willing to “break the rules” comes as across the Western world, support for centrist, progressive, and globalist governing is on the wane. This is typified by the UK 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the election of ‘America First’ President Donald J. Trump, and the increased support for nationalist-patriotic and right-populist leaders in Europe such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and leader of the governing coalition party in Italy, the League, Matteo Salvini.
Soros-backed Think Tank Predicts Eurosceptics Will Win ‘One Third’ of Seats in EU Elections https://t.co/S9YHSnH7fn
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 12, 2019
The think tank also observed that while citizens’ political engagement is stable, “the strongest feelings of powerlessness and disengagement are intensifying.”
Half, 50 per cent, believe that the main parties and their politicians do not care about people like them, with nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) believing that the British government is rigged in favour of the powerful and the rich.
Nearly half, 47 per cent, “feel they have no influence at all over national decision-making — a new high for the Audit series,” the survey authors wrote, with nearly one-third (32 per cent) saying that they did not want to be involved “at all” in decision making at a local level — up ten points in just one year.
full story at https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/08/uk-half-want-strong-leader-half-say-main-parties-dont-care-about-them/