THE BREXIT EARTHQUAKE HIT
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman looks back at the first political shock of the year
BREXIT WAS A SEISMIC event that shook the political establishment to its very foundations. It brought down David Cameron’s government, only a year after he’d unexpectedly led the Conservatives to victory at the last general election.
It caused temporary mayhem on the markets and a seemingly more permanent devaluation of the pound. It triggered political convulsions that saw Britain’s second female Prime Minister installed in Downing Street, and an exodus of Cabinet ministers who’d previously fancied their leadership chances. Oh and, let’s not forget, it prompted a Labour leadership contest too.
And the aftershocks of all this are still being felt. Prime Minister May is having to map out a plan for Britain’s future outside the European Union, taking her – and us – into uncharted and potentially hazardous waters.
A year ago, few had any inkling of what lay ahead. Least of all Mr Cameron, who was confifidently assured of victory by pollsters and his advisers. After all, this was the ‘essay crisis’ PM who, his critics argue, should have spent a little less time ‘chillaxing’ and rather more effort putting in the hours on how to win.
But in truth, Mr Cameron was facing an opponent neither he nor the rest of the establishment knew how to handle: public fury with the political elite. Just like the Americans who voted in Donald Trump, those backing Brexit used the referendum to vent their fury at a Westminster establishment they blamed for ignoring their concerns about immigration. And after years of struggle, so many felt they had nothing to lose by voting to leave. The unknown held no fear for them.
After Brexit, and then Trump, now nationalists in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain are emboldened. None of us knows where it will end, so politicians around the world are in for a bumpy ride.