Who leads and who follows? The symbiotic relationship between UKIP and the Conservatives – and populism and Euroscepticism

Abstract

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is not so much a populist party that became Eurosceptic as a Eurosceptic party that became populist. However, careful tracing of a sequence that began in the late 1990s reveals that it was not UKIP but the Conservative Party that first fused populism and Euroscepticism. David Cameron’s decision in 2006 to temporarily abandon both approaches, just as Nigel Farage became UKIP’s leader, turned out, in historical institutionalist terms, to be a critical juncture. It provided UKIP with an opportunity to fill the gap, after which the Conservatives were unable, as Europe was hit by successive economic and migration crises, to regain the initiative. As a result, and as Cameron’s coalition government failed to meet its promises to control immigration, UKIP enjoyed increasing electoral success. This allowed it to exert significant, if indirect, pressure on the Tories, eventually helping to force Cameron into promising an in/out referendum – a promise that did neither him nor his party any good. The UK case, therefore, reminds us that anyone wanting to understand populist Euroscepticism needs to appreciate that the relationship between the radical right and its mainstream, centre-right counterpart is more reciprocal, and even symbiotic, than is commonly imagined.

Climate change and the far right

“…In her aforementioned book chapter, Turner‐Graham (in press) also discussed the United Kingdom Independence Party and its climate‐change skepticism while Bale (, p. 267) mentioned in passing the party's casting of doubt on climate change. Lynch et al (, p. 742) reported that 80 out of 101 general election candidates of the party agree (strongly) that the United Kingdom Independence Party should campaign on climate‐change skepticism.…”

The Truth behind the Brexit Vote: Clearing away Illusion after Two Years of Confusion

“…It was from a continuing trend of Euroscepticism throughout the 2014 European elections that UKIP claimed a dramatic victory in the UK, a record in their party's history. The Conservatives wanted to regain their initiative in British politics by fusing populism and Euroscepticism [4]. The Tories were concerned about being overtaken in national polls, thus they needed stronger and more concrete measures for maximising their impact on the UK [4].…”

“…The Conservatives wanted to regain their initiative in British politics by fusing populism and Euroscepticism [4]. The Tories were concerned about being overtaken in national polls, thus they needed stronger and more concrete measures for maximising their impact on the UK [4]. After the 2015 election, the Conservative Party became the majority party in the House of Commons [5].…”

European Mainstream Parties' Strategies in Response to The Right-Wing Populism: The UK Case

“…Party. UKIP was created in 1993 on the base of a cross-party Anti-Federalist League in response to the ratification of Maastricht Treaty.In reaction to the Eurozone crisis and the Conservatives' shift to the center under first years of David Cameron's leadership(2005)(2006)(2007), the party has undergone an ideological evolution from a single-issue party of "hard Euroscepticism" to populist, anti-migrant and anti-Westminster"(Bale, 2018;Ford and Goodwin, 2014). As the party's manifesto of 2010 says, "while withdrawal from the European Union political superstate is central to UKIP's message, the party has a full range of policies that have helped it grow to become Britain's fourth largest political party" (UKIP, 2010: 2).…”

“…Nigel Farage's party was third in this socio-demographic category, receiving 19% of the votes, the Labour and Conservatives received 32% each (BBC, 2015).The strategies of the Conservative and Labour parties.In the 1990-early 2000s the electoral performance of UKIP allowed the main parties to apply ignore or "do nothing" strategy. The Conservative's "hard line" on the EU and migration issues to a significant degree caused the electoral weakness of the UKIP (seeBale, 2018). The mainstream parties moved in different directions: "New Labour" moved to the center in an attempt to combine a market economy and improved social services, meanwhile the Conservatives, unable to overcome the Thatcher legacy and hard positions on the EU and migration, was far from the center ground of British politics.…”