A Brexiteer has claimed that more British politicians should be like Donald Trump after the US election result showed the president performing better than expected in the polls.
Simon Wolfson, the pro-Brexit boss of Next, said Trump’s success should be a “wake-up call” to politicians here.
He told Question Time: “It does amaze me that Trump has done so well, and I think the question you’ve got to ask is really about the political class in America, and potentially about our own political class.
“The answer, I think, comes down to the lack of connection between the political class and what people are thinking.
“Part of that, I think, is that we have moved into a world where people just aren’t prepared to speak their mind – there’s just this lack of authenticity.”
Wolfson said he would not vote for Trump personally, given the choice, but he said “love him or hate him” the president is “speaking his mind”.
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He continued: “He doesn’t care what he says, he doesn’t care about the consequences.
“I think that overly-cautious approach that political classes around the world are beginning to take, and the sort of half-answers that they are forced to give, means that people like Trump can suddenly breakthrough because they’re prepared to speak their mind.
“I think it has to be a wake-up call to our own political class to say ‘come on, speak your mind, stop following the party line, stop just saying what you think you want us to hear. Tell us what you really think.”
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