Populism in the UK

Produces the first history of populism in the UK, linking it to wider social and geopolitical developments

• Carefully delineates what populism is and is not, how and why it appears and disappears
• Draws on other national histories of populism and twenty-first century research on populism
• Indicates why populism has been absent from much of UK political history
• Engages with the protracted populist moment UK politics has been living through in the past decade or two

The electoral dominance of the established parties should not obscure the strong history of popular politics and populist causes in the UK. This book explores a populist tradition in the UK dating back to the mid-nineteenth century and demonstrates how the appeal of politics outside the established parties has peaked and waned but never disappeared. Andrew Knott delves into populism’s past moments to examine the events, personalities and movements considered populist. He explores both populism’s appearance and absence in our polity over the past two centuries and uncovers why and how it emerges in our otherwise stable democratic system.