France's National Front political party leader Marine Le Pen votes in a meeting of the Committee on International Trade in Brussels, April, 2015. Geert Vanden Wijngaert / Press Association. All rights reserved.David Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum over Britain’s EU membership gave him enough support among Conservative MP’s to secure a second term as Prime Minister. The rise in support for populist politicians since the 2008 sovereign debt crisis reflects a growing disillusionment among British voters that has resulted in Eurosceptic Tories establishing themselves in the hierarchy of Westminster. The refugee overspill and the threat of terrorism has created a perfect storm of paranoia and exceptionalism in Britain that has consolidated far-right support.
David Cameron took a monumental risk in aligning with the far-right faction of his own party to retain power and is now facing resignation if the ‘Leave’ vote carries on June 23rd.
Boris Johnson is primed to become leader of the Conservative Party should Cameron be forced to resign. The former Mayor of London’s rise through the Party since becoming an MP for Henley in 2001 has coincided with perpetuating Euroscepticism through his work as a journalist and politician. His most recent quotes in which he referred to Barack Obama as ‘…part-Kenyan’ and a series of other racially offensive statements infer a xenophobic tendency from the man leading the ‘Leave’ campaign.
