An anti-racism campaign group said the research “reinforces the need for progressive voices to come together in the face of divisive forces”
A survey conducted by YouGov and published by the Sunday Times today has revealed nearly a quarter of voters are willing to support “an explicitly far-right anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party” at a future election.
The polling also found that 38% would vote for a new party on the right committed to Brexit and that the public backs Boris Johnson – who resigned as foreign secretary earlier this month – to lead the Conservatives at the next election over Theresa May.
Although UKIP’s vote share collapsed during last year’s general election, the far-right has seen increased visibility in the UK in recent months. The ‘Free Tommy Robinson’ movement has mobilised thousands of activists in the wake of the legal imprisonment of the far-right agitator and Donald Trump’s visit to the UK saw hard-right demonstrations held in favour of the US president’s visit.
Nationalist parties have also seen an increased vote share in elections across Europe in recent years. In France, the Front National won 27 percent of the national vote in last year’s presidential election and, in the Netherlands, the anti-European Union, anti-Islam Party for Freedom finished in second place in the 2017 general election.
Yesterday, former Trump adviser and Breitbart editor, Steve Bannon announced he was setting up a foundation called “the Movement”, to fuel the right-wing across Europe ahead of next year’s European elections. The organisation is expected to employ 10 full-time staff and set up a headquarters in Brussels.
“Everybody agrees that next May is hugely important, that this is the real first continent-wide face-off between populism and the party of Davos,” Bannon told the Daily Beast. “This will be an enormously important moment for Europe.”
Nick Ryan, of the anti-fascist campaign group, Hope not Hate, told JOE.co.uk that the Sunday Times poll “reinforced the need for progressive voices to come together in the face of divisive forces”.
“We are witnessing the emergence of a new internationalised far right: propelled by deep antipathy towards Muslims, with deep-pocketed funders of hate from America, backing far-right figures and movements here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe,” he added.
“We need to wake up to the threat posed by these powerful and monied far-right figures, who – with newfound confidence under Donald Trump’s presidency, and under the leadership of Steve Bannon – are determined to stoke conflict and division across Europe.”
