Accepting vote results

There is an element creeping into our democracy which is rather, well, undemocratic. We talk democracy but we question the result when it doesn’t go our way. When the Brexit referendum result was announced I was speechless.  I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t understand why the great British public had voted for something which was so wrong, in my opinion, and how it would have a direct impact on hundreds of thousands of British citizens living in Spain.

After the initial shock I came to the conclusion that it was people power: just because you don’t like the result you can’t automatically change it. The same can be said for Donald Trump, and for once I agree with Boris Johnson. He said: "I may respectfully say to my European friends and colleagues that it’s time we snapped out of general doom and gloom about this election. He is after all a deal maker. He wants to do a free trade deal with the UK."

I suspect that there may be other results on the horizon which we do not agree with but it is tough luck. This is all about democracy. But I do think that the western democracies are rather flawed at the moment. Mainstream politicians are not listening to the people any longer. It was the same in the Brexit campaign and was one of the reasons Trump triumphed. Politicians need to be in touch with the electorate. They can no longer disregard their views and opinions because otherwise we risk getting results which some may not like. The Brexit and Trump results were real wake-up calls. People are not happy and they will register their vote in the way they feel fit and not the way some want them to.