Aurelien Mondon: The far right isn’t populist – they’re not even popular

When Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – also known as Tommy Robinson – took to the streets last year for a Unite the Kingdom march, the media painted him as an activist defending free speech, surrounded by crowds of “hard-working”, “normal” people with “legitimate concerns”.

It’s a familiar story: the people are reactionary and politicians have no choice but to give them what they want, even if that means exclusion, racism and authoritarianism.

This isn’t only divisive and dangerous, it’s just flat wrong.

Reactionaries like Yaxley-Lennon claim they speak for the people. But their politics feeds on division and is founded on exclusion and elitism. And they’re not even popular.

Last week, Nigel Farage came second in Wales and tied for second in Scotland, while in England he took councils from Sussex to Sunderland and won more than 1,400 seats. But these sweeping gains weren’t powered by a rising tide of votes. Despite the travails of both Labour and the Tories, Reform UK only notched up around 25% of the vote. And that’s not to mention the vast numbers of people who didn’t show up. With turnout generally at around or below 40% for local elections, those brand new Reform councillors have the backing of as few as 10% of registered voters – hardly the voice of the people.

As for their policies, even their leading figures admit they’re toxic. Last year, Reform’s policy chief James Orr told the BBC the party should learn from Donald Trump, moving quickly after an election win “to force the nasty cough medicine down the country’s throat”.

The illusion of popularity starts with the word “populist” – a term used by opponents as an insult, but embraced by far-right leaders since Jean-Marie Le Pen in the 1990s for its veneer of democracy and its vague suggestion of a link to the people.

And it continues with the myth that far-right parties are speaking about the issues that people really care about.

Take immigration. Ask people about the major issues confronting the UK and immigration will be near the top of the list – it’s currently riding third in the Eurobarometer with 16% of people putting it in their top two. But when you ask them about the issues that they’re facing themselves “personally”, immigration tumbles down the list. At 5%, it ranks lower than the cost of living, health, the economic situation in the UK, the environment and climate change, housing, crime, taxation, the financial situation of your household, the education system, pensions and living conditions.

This doesn’t mean that one set of answers is right and the other wrong. But it shows a clear disconnect between what people know about their own lives and what they’re told about their country. And when the media is controlled by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, Paul Marshall and Lord Rothermere, it’s no accident that the story so often favours the privileged few.

In what is becoming an increasingly skewed media landscape, our attention is wilfully diverted away from the issues actually affecting people’s lives and towards those that benefit the status quo, offering as scapegoats communities with little power – refugees, migrants, Muslims, trans people – who have no real opportunity to make their voices heard.

It’s no surprise that Yaxley-Lennon – backed by Elon Musk and celebrated by MAGA – or Farage – bankrolled by fossil fuels and crypto billionaires – are putting the interests of their paymasters first. But as Yaxley-Lennon returns to the streets of London with hate as his only programme, we need to nail the lie that his politics of division has anything to do with what people really want.