examples of the populist move-
ments that have defied expec-
tations in recent years. The
Brexit campaign, whilst it was
funded by some as yet un-
known wealthy beneficiaries
and numerous businessmen
within Britain, embodied the
spirit of populism, it was paint-
ed as a noble crusade to seize
Britain back from the European
elites. Similarly, whilst Marine
Le Pen’s campaign was funded
largely by Russian banks, it
employed a strong right wing,
populist message, that France
was for the French and not the
immigrants who had arrived in
more recent years. These cam-
paign were written off as racist
and bigoted, yet these insults
did little to discourage ardent
supporters to turn their back
on politicians they believed
would fight for them. These
campaigns all weaponised the
idea of media bias and forged
their own narrative through al-
ternative and independent me-
dia sources, building a social
media bubble that kept grow-
ing feverishly as their base was
dismissed time and again by
pundits and opposition politi-
cians.
It is easy to forget that at a time
Barack Obama was seen as an
insurgent populist candidate
challenging the elite of Ameri-
ca, promising hope and change
to his masses of supporters.
Even Tony Blair took ad-
vantage of an anti-Tory popu-
list sentiment to fuel his 1997
and 2001 landslide victories,
although the longer he stayed
in power the more that feeling
began to fade.
The lesson to take here is that
we need to stop under-
estimating candidates who
generate the kind of exuberant
fanbase that we have seen fol-
lowing Corbyn, Sanders,
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