'Populist'

Further to my first paragraph, an elected representative can never literally represent all their constituents but they must take their constituents views into account when making decisions. If this is not the case, why would we ever lobby our MPs about things we feel stronly about?

I'm sure that sometimes MPs views change when they listen to their constituents too.

Also, the whole point of elected representatives is that if they don't do what enough of the people want them to do, i.e. represent the people, then the people vote them out and put someone else in to represent them.

It just said on tv that populists 'create fear and then come up with simple solutions'.

Well they are popular amongst labour voters.
I'm not so sure about that, mycat
I think Labour would be riding very high were it not for Momentum and their puppets.

I think that rather than the baying mob as you say Monica I would say populist is imagining what the man on the Clapham Omnibus agrees with is the more apt
I agree lemongrove - populist is not the same as the right-wing extremists whose views disgust most ordinary voters.

I’ve listened to your link Baggs and I’m afraid I think he is overly optimistic.

I think it will be a very long time before a phoenix rises from the ashes to save the centre ground of British politics and in the meantime a divided country is a danger to us all.
As for parliament reflecting society, I think there should be an element of leadership alongside the element of management.

Here’s an example of democracy at work in this country.
www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/britishasian-labour-mep-told-to-go-home-by-brexit-party-supporters-during-acceptance-speech-a4152196.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1558964929

Shameful, isn’t it?

Populist so often is right wing extremism, or extremism of some kind. Hitler and Mussolini were populist politicians.

Look at the zenophobia and extreme right wing policies of people like Victor Orban, or the extremists in Poland, France or Italy. These parties are not preaching the policies of the man on the Clapham Omnibus they are preaching extreme rightwing politics.

callistermon

True very true

jane; that's awful. My son [an engineer] tells me that some Polish people he works with are going back to Poland because where they live there are lots of Brexit supporters who are making them feel very unwelcome. My son has never shown an interest in politics before but he's starting to get very worried.

Populism is usually used as a term to criticise those political groups who aim to appeal to the common people by appealing to the lowest common denominator - we will make your lives better/ get rid of people you don’t like/ be tough on crime/ give back your pride etc. Focusing on simple messages and shifting the blame for their misfortune onto others - the elites/ foreigners/ Germans whatever. Good to see that many of the so called populist movements in Europe have not seen any great upsurge and have remained more or less the same as they were in 2014.

I agree about the speaker's (possibly over-) optimism, janea, but I also think he's making a valid point.

As for parliament reflecting society, I think there should be an element of leadership alongside the element of management.
I don't entirely understand what you mean by this. I think I understand about leadership being needed, though it might come from philosophers as much as (or more than) from politicians. MPs do have advisers better versed in whatever subject is at hand than themselves, don't they?
I don't understand what is meant by "the element of management". Management of what?

The Evening Standard report does indeed appear to be shameful. I read the article rather than watching the video.

But in what way is the horrible behaviour reported/shown democracy in action? The election of the new MEP shows democracy in action, not the abuse directed at her. That's extreme rudeness.

I should say what the ES reports is shameful, not the ES report.

I wouldn't call the rudeness populist either. Most people don't behave like that.

Populism is right wing extremism. The Brexit Party will eat itself up - it’s already started. There will be scandals, corruption and all sorts coming out of the woodwork. One of their new MEPs is resident in the South of France - go figure. As the sainted Nigel scrapes the bottom of the the barrel to find his candidates for the GE, the whole edifice will start to crumble. A political party with no members and a leader accountable to no one - except his wealthy backers. What could possibly go wrong?

Brexit party has no policies and are happy to add to the EU costs that they complain about...Farage had the highest expenses for a long time AND bragged about them.Add hypocrite to his list as he made sure HIS family can live in the EU after Brexit .....good enough for them but not for us!

Why do a few posters keep on saying that populism is (only)
Right wing extremism, because it plainly isn’t.
Populism can come in many guises.You can’t twist words to suit your own political leanings.

Baggs
Leadership is having vision and the ability to inspire others with that vision.
Management is the implementation of policies which support that vision.

If politicians merely reflect society, then we can’t expect them to be any different from the rest of us.
But we do.
We become exercised and even incensed, if they have affairs with other people’s partners, or if they fiddle their expenses, or give people money in brown envelopes, or if they lie.
But these are things their constituents do all the time.
So we do expect them to be better than non-politicians, and perhaps setting a good example and living up to certain standards is another part of leadership, old-fashioned though it may seem.

I agree, lemon. Left-wing populism is a thing too.

Maybe one or two of you might be interested in ploughing through this Wired article about the populist Five Star party in Italy. Initially envisaged as a vehicle for participatory democracy, and enthusing people as such, it turned out very differently.

www.wired.com/story/italy-five-star-movement-techno-utopians/

I think that a problem with populism, be it of the right or left, is that it rarely has a plan. Just aspirations which can be interpreted in any way once a manipulative leader gets hold of it.

Thank you for the link Maizie.
A bit of an eye-opener as you might say.
And I’m beginning to think that ‘it couldn’t happen here’ might be wishful thinking.

Left wing pers are concerned about a more equal society. Populism is attractive to those who put their own interests ahead of others. It also plays on and panders to their fears.

Trump defines the ideal in populism.

In the unlikely event that the population of the U.K. united in an attempt to right the wrongs of society and extend a helping hand to the poor, the unstable, the outcast and the homeless then that might be called a populist movement.