Both main parties look like taking a drubbing, as pro- and anti-Brexit outfits surge
FEATHERSTONE Working Men’s Club, near Pontefract, has never seen anything like it. On a sunny May morning, a mass of Brexit Party supporters, armed with placards and warmed up by a tub-thumping speech from Ann Widdecombe, a former Tory minister, chant “Nig-el, Nig-el” as their hero clambers on to the platform. This month’s European election, Nigel Farage shouts, is about democracy and the betrayal of voters.
On the face of it the result should not matter much. If a Brexit deal is passed before the summer recess, as the government still hopes, British MEPs will barely have time to take their seats. Both main parties play down the ballot’s importance. The Tories are invisible on the campaign trail, failing even to produce a manifesto. Labour is little better, as its leadership is divided over whether to support another referendum. Yet the smaller parties are enjoying themselves—and doing well.
The focus is on Mr Farage’s Brexit Party, as it has a good chance of coming first. Yet, given the Tories’ calamitous meltdown over Brexit, this would not be so extraordinary. In 2014, after all, Mr Farage led the UK Independence Party into pole position. The bigger surprise is the fall-off in Labour support. Mr Corbyn’s ambivalence on Brexit seems to be driving many Remain voters to the smaller parties.
The biggest question is what impact next week’s election might have on Brexit and British politics. The Brexit deal still seems stuck. Brussels has switched off; no further negotiations are taking place. But Mrs May has announced that in early June she will bring the withdrawal agreement bill before the House of Commons. Her hope is that the Brexit Party’s success may shock Tory and Labour MPs into voting for the deal after all.
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