A Year of Political Surprises
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/2041-9066.12104 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DECEMBER 2015 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 3
A Year of
Political
Surprises
2015 has been a year of political
upsets. In May, the Conservatives
defied pollsters to win a majority
in the House of Commons.
Plutocrat Donald Trump is in the running
for the Republican nomination for next
year’s US presidential election. And, in
September, veteran leftwing backbencher
Jeremy Corbyn shocked the political
establishment by winning the Labour
Party leadership.
In this issue’s cover feature Andrew
Crines takes a look at Labour’s unexpected
new leader and his prospects for
fashioning a new socialist vision for
the 21st first century. While many
commentators have highlighted fissures in
the party in the wake of Corbyn’s victory,
division has been a regular feature of
Labour for most of its history.
Fresh from his surprise general election
win, Libby McEnhill asks whether David
Cameron has fundamentally changed the
Conservative Party – or merely re-framed
Thatcherism for the modern age?
Amid this year’s political upsets, the
failure of Ukip to make gains in May stood
out as the predicted earthquake that
never struck. But while 2015 did not herald
a breakthrough at Westminster, Nigel
Farage’s party won almost four million
votes and, as Matthew Goodwin writes,
Ukip’s Eurosceptic message is now firmly
on the political agenda.
2015 was supposed to be the year
in which ‘social media’ changed the
British political landscape with Twitter,
Facebook and other digital platforms
crucial weapons in the hunt for votes.
Looking back over the general election,
Andy Williamson finds that while the best
online campaigns focused on quality over
quantity and reiterated messages being
made in the offline world, the internet
was not the political game changer many
had predicted.
Internationally, one of the year’s biggest
stories has been the sharp increase in
the number of migrants trying to reach
Europe. James Hampshire looks at the
development of a humanitarian and a
political crisis within the European Union
and assesses the chances of a long-term
solution.
Germany’s ‘welcome culture’ towards
refugees has been widely celebrated
internationally, but the internal politics
of Europe’s most powerful nation is more
complex, and contradictory, than the
positive headlines, writes Hartwig Pautz.
Another recurring political theme this
year was terrorism. Reflecting on political
approaches to dealing with terrorism,
Richard English argues that it is time
politicians recognised that minimising
the threat from groups such as Islamic
State is far more realistic than pretending
terrorism can be completely defeated.
In December, world leaders meet in
Paris in an attempt to hammer out a deal
on arguably the greatest threat facing the
planet – climate change. In the Last
Word slot, Paul Tobin argues that this
mega-conference approach is still unable
to facilitate radical change.
Greece was another political story
that was rarely out of the headlines in
2015. Despite two election victories for
Syriza and seemingly endless rounds of
negotiations with international creditors,
Roman Gerodimos finds the country no
closer to a lasting solution to its economic
crisis. Meanwhile, in the latest In Focus,
Benjamin D. Hennig, Dimitris Ballas
and Danny Dorling show how the 2008
financial crisis continues to shape the
economic geography of all of Europe, with
a widening gulf between the continent’s
affluent core and its struggling periphery.
Elsewhere, Paul Cairney and Emily St
Denny showcase new research into one
of the most frequently used words in UK
policy debates: prevention.
All that is left is for me to say a big thank
to you, our readers, for all your support in
2015.
Political Insight
has never been more
popular, and we look forward to providing
even more incisive features, comment and
analysis in 2016.
As ever, we welcome submissions both
to the magazine and to our popular blog.
If you would like to join the debates online
or in print get in touch with me directly or
visit www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus.
Peter Geogehgan
Editor
(editor@politicalinsightmagazine.com)
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