Criticisms of the highly centralised, elitist, top-down Westminster model are by no means new. Patrick Diamond from Queen Mary co-authored a LSE blog which questions whether the centre can hold while another wave of anti-politics is looming. The article reads: “Now a new, third wave – defined by anti-politics’ infiltration into the mainstream of the party system – is looming. Since Brexit has placed neither main party in a firm position on either side of the divide, one response could be a politics of rhetorical accommodation with anti-politics. Boris Johnson’s campaign launch promised to address the fact that ‘too many people feel left behind, that they’re not able to take part fully in the opportunities and success of our country’. Johnson’s promise to ‘drain the swamp in Whitehall’ suggests that he will be willing to adopt straightforwardly populist tropes, as a means of reestablishing the Conservative Party in the minds of those that have moved to the Brexit Party.”Find out more