City Research Online

Abstract

Brexit marked a rupture enabling the populist takeover of the Conservative Party by Boris Johnson. This followed the transitional hybrid government of Theresa May after the non-populist government of David Cameron. Vindicating the ‘will of the people’ was encapsulated in slogans to ‘Take Back Control’ and ‘Get Brexit Done’. Checks and balances through Parliament and the judiciary were challenged in pursuit of this objective. Ultimately, however, the informal accountability mechanisms of the UK’s unwritten constitution precipitated Johnson’s downfall: backbench MPs lost confidence in the government following the ‘Partygate’ scandal over adherence to the government’s own COVID rules. An economic establishment backlash would also bring down Johnson’s successor Liz Truss, leading to another hybrid technocratic-populist leader in Rishi Sunak. He promised to restore economic stability whilst also pursuing the sovereigntist goal to ‘Stop the Boats’ in tackling illegal immigration. The electoral system was the ultimate corrective. Labour’s July 2024 victory was markedly unpopulist. A landslide of seats was delivered despite the low share of the popular vote. Although the message of ‘Change’ may be compared to the messaging of left-populists in other countries, the major plank of the Keir Starmer government is the anti-populist goal to re-establish public standards. However, recent rhetoric surrounding the perennial policy challenge of immigration may suggest that the party is engaging in co-optation of populist strategies to try and foreclose the electoral threat of the right-wing populist challenger Reform UK party.

Publication Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Additional Information:	Copyright 2026, the authors.
Publisher Keywords:	Brexit; Conservatives; Labour; United Kingdom; Populism
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) J Political Science > JZ International relations
Departments:	The City Law School The City Law School > Academic Programmes The City Law School > CLS Working Paper Series
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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