Trump and changing politics

Jason Moore10/11/2016 00:00

The political establishment received another kick in the teeth today with the election of Donald Trump as US president. I say another because obviously the Brexit referendum result was another big blow to the status quo. Trump fought a very good campaign; he connected with the US public in the same way as Boris Johnson had pressed his message across during the referendum campaign.

The US result was a backlash; voters were not happy over immigration, jobs and the way their country was going. Sound familiar? Yes, the same Brexit policies. But what amazes me is how the political elite got it so wrong, again. David Cameron never thought that he would lose the referendum, and I suspect that Hillary Clinton thought that she was easily on course for the presidency. Wrong!

What you can't do is misjudge the electorate. Both Cameron and Clinton are guilty of not listening to voters and acting on their concerns. Immigration is a big issue on both sides of the Atlantic and the political establishment could be accused of not doing enough. So we shouldn't be surprised. Brexit and the Trump victory should be a wake-up call for the political establishment. Trump was dismissed and ridiculed from day one and soon he will be sitting in the White House. Brexit would never happen, we were told, and it will happen soon. Times are changing and politicians need to change.