Boris Johnson to the rescue? How the Conservatives won the radical right vote in the 2019 General Election

Evans, G., De Geus, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3053-2123 and Green, J. (2023) Boris Johnson to the rescue? How the Conservatives won the radical right vote in the 2019 General Election. Political Studies Review, 71 (4). pp. 984-1005. ISSN 1478-9302 doi: 10.1177/00323217211051191

Abstract/Summary

How can centre-right parties in majoritarian systems adapt to threats from the radical right? Using a long-term inter-election panel study we identify a remarkably stable constituency of support for Britain’s recent radical right parties - the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit party. We show also how these same voters defected from the Conservatives across elections. In response, the government used a combination of the election of a new leader, Boris Johnson, and a hard-line position on Brexit to re-incorporate these voters into its support base, helping to lead to a large Conservative majority in 2019. Cross-party evaluations of Johnson were even more important in influencing this success than the issue of Brexit itself. Effective centre-right adaption to radical right challenges is not simply about strategic issue positioning, it can also derive from centre-right leaders with populist appeal.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/100272
Identification Number/DOI	10.1177/00323217211051191
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Politics and International Relations
Publisher	SAGE
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