The Rise of Far-Right Leaders in Western Democracies: British Politics is Driving me Crazy Edition

Hi, my name is Marti Abernathey and I’m an American that’s settled in the UK. I’m happy here, but lately British politics and the thinking around it from the general public is gas-lighting me. From Davie Moo’s TikTok:

Did anyone else notice political shifts to the right around the world? Am I the only one seeing this? Donald Trump, a far-right populist, took the White House. The AfD, a far-right populist party, is strengthening in Germany. Le Pen’s National Front, a far-right populist party, is growing in France. In Canada, Justin Trudeau just barely escaped a no-confidence vote. Yet, he is way behind in the polls to Conservative, far-right populist Pierre Poilievre. There’s already far-right populist Giorgia Meloni in power in Italy.

And yet, the UK Labour Party can’t seem to see the writing on the wall. I wrote about this after the US election in November. A month out from that post:

and Starmer’s approval rating is plummeting:

If you dig into the polling from More in Common, it’s even worse than it looks.

More Britons prefer the last government than the current one

• 30% of the public think it would be better now if the Conservatives had won the election, compared to 24% who
• think it would have been worse and 25% who think it would be the same.
• Britons are also now more likely to say they prefer the previous government (34%) than the current one (31%)

and:

Labour have not convinced the public they represent something different
● The public are more likely to say sleaze and corruption has stayed the same (36%) or got worse (33%) than got better (17%) since the change of government.
● And the government is still not seen to have a clear direction – the public are more likely to think Labour does not have a plan for what they intend
to achieve in government (44%), than that they do (32%).

If this downward slide continues, Labour’s unpopularity will increase significantly. The swing will be strong. It will influence the electorate’s choice. They will choose leaders like Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage for the prime ministership. Like the Democrats in the United States, Labour will rely solely on the ‘don’t vote for the fascists’ rhetoric. Much like in the States, that rhetoric will fail. Not because it’s untrue, but because they stood by and did nothing except point.

Neo-liberalism has been dying for a long while now, and this is a sign of that death. Labour could revitalize the UK economy. This can be achieved with a dose of adrenaline through bold progressive policies in the coming years. Alternatively, it can do nothing and watch the UK descend into fascism.