Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union (EU), has been met with a multitude of criticism. Brexit, which was deemed to damage the United Kingdom’s economy, was voted on by the citizens of the United Kingdom. This referendum paired with populism fueled the United Kingdom’s transition from a liberal democracy to an illiberal democracy.

            Populism in the United Kingdom started with “Procedural populism’ appears to be an unmediated style of leadership which seeks a direct relation with the people” (Alexandre-Collier, 2022). Procedural populism is when the parties and leaders in power, essentially, relinquish some of their power to the direct representation of the people. In the United Kingdom, this is exemplified by referendums. Referendums are essentially public votes to decide something. In the United Kingdom referendums were not very common until recently. Once David Cameron became Prime Minister, “Within only five years (from 2011 to 2016) three major referendums were organized in a row, while only three of this type had been held before” (Alexandre-Collier, 2022). David Cameron tried using referendums to push his agenda. These referendums are an example of procedural populism where the government was relinquishing some decision-making power directly to the people. From the minimalist view of democracy, the will of the people doesn’t actually matter. However, what does matter is the competition between elites. Frequent referendums are an example of an eroding democracy as the most important part of liberal democracy is the competition between elites in this minimalist view of thinking (Schumpeter 1943). By giving the power to the people to directly make decisions would be an example of democratic erosion in the eyes of Schumpeter as it takes away the core aspect of a simple liberal democracy which is the competition between elites. Also, referendums go against the democratic norms of the United Kingdom because “All this resulted in a governing practice which was radically different from what could be observed when Margaret Thatcher, quoting Clement Attlee, criticized the referendum in 1975 for being a ‘splendid weapon for dictators and demagogues.”  (Alexandre-Collier, 2022), showing how this practice would not have been supported by past prime ministers of the United Kingdom. Major referendums were uncommon in the United Kingdom’s past, yet in a five-year period, there were three major referendums, one of which was Brexit. David Cameron pushed to have this referendum in place hoping a vote in favor of staying would diminish Euroscepticism and desire to leave the EU. Despite trying to use the referendum in his favor, the majority vote to leave the EU in the referendum ended up hurting him as he resigned afterward (Alexandre-Collier, 2022). 

            The United Kingdom voting in favor of leaving the European Union is evidence itself of the U.K starting to embrace populism. Brexit was fueled by anti-immigration and anti-establishment rhetoric (Alexandre-Collier, 2022), with the EU representing the establishment as the people of the United Kingdom didn’t want to be under the control of EU decision-making. Some of this anti-immigration rhetoric can be seen by a supporter of Brexit claiming “his reason: immigration. The Muslims and the Eastern Europeans, he believes, are ruining Great Britain. “We’re letting in rapists. We’re letting in shit,” Bob told us repeatedly. “I have four children. How are they supposed to get jobs?” (Beauchamp, 2016). This rhetoric coming from a Brexit voter shows the rhetoric surrounding the issue of leaving the EU. This is what this man Bob thinks because of the rhetoric used by leaders in relation to the Brexit referendum. It displays Bob’s nativist views out of his fear of his family’s life becoming worse due to immigration. In addition, having procedural populism via referendum combined with an action being voted upon that is filled with populism also has driven the U.K farther and farther away from liberal democracy.

            After the resignation of Cameron, Theresa May became the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, in 2017 there was a hung parliament. For the Conservatives to maintain control in government they had to form a coalition government. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a political party in Northern Ireland, joined the Conservative party. DUP, however, has been described as “very populist” (O’Leary, 2017), and “It was the only major party in Northern Ireland to campaign for Brexit, and staunchly supports leaving the EU” (O’Leary, 2017). DUP’s part in the coalition government would further influence the U.K to have a hard Brexit stance as that was the desire of DUP and would give rise to the populist leader, Boris Johnson in the next election. 

            Boris Johnson would come to power in 2019 and “came to be seen as the living embodiment of the people’s preference for a hard (and quickly delivered) Brexit” (Alexandre-Collier, 2022). Johnson claimed to be the “champion of a genuine hard Brexit which, he argued, was in line with the popular verdict. As such, he branded himself as the representative of the people, targeting Parliament or the judges as the enemies whom he placed on the side of the elite” (Alexandre- Collier, 2022). Boris Johnson displays himself as a populist leader by portraying himself as the “will of the people” by trying to complete a hard Brexit. Johnson portraying himself as a strong leader goes hand in hand with him being the “strong man” of the United Kingdom’s populism. Populism requires a leader to take on this strong persona and act as a “strong man” (Müller 2016). Johnson becoming “the living embodiment” of Brexit is also evidence of populism as Brexit is a populist idea that came to be through procedural populism.

            Populist politics in the United Kingdom is very dangerous to liberal democracy as Brexit and Johnson have brought anti-immigration to the forefront of the Conservative party agenda, which creates the issue of identity politics. Identity politics in populism is demonstrated by “Populists will seek to perpetuate what they regard as the proper image of the morally pure people (the proper constitutional identity, if you will) and then constitutionalize policies that supposedly conform to their image of the people.” (Müller 2016). This quote shows how Brexit and anti-immigration sentiment is meant to transform the United Kingdom’s politics to serve only native citizens of the U.K. The identity politics that is forming in the U.K because of Brexit shows the democratic erosion that is currently occurring as the U.K democracy is becoming increasingly illiberal.

                                                                        Work Cited

1. Alexandre-Collier, Agnès. “David Cameron, Boris Johnson and the ‘Populist Hypothesis’ in the British Conservative Party.” Comparative European Politics, vol. 20, no. 5, 2022, pp. 527–543., https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-022-00294-5. 
2. Müller, Jan-Werner. “What Is Populism?” 2016, https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812293784. 
3. O’Leary, Naomi. “How a Small Northern Ireland Party Became a U.K. Powerbroker.” The Atlantic, 2017. 
4. Schumpeter. “Schumpeter on Democracy: The Classical Doctrine.” Democracy and Exchange, 1943, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781845426828.00006.
5. Beuchamp, Zack. “Brexit Isn’t about Economics. It’s about Xenophobia.” Vox, 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/6/23/12005814/brexit-eu-referendum-immigrants.