The Brexit vote has sent shockwaves through Britain, with the pound tumbling, reports of racist abuse and political parties in turmoil. While the latter is no surprise, no one could have predicted the chaos that has ensued: we’ve seen a leader toppled, political alliances broken, and votes of no confidence.
So, what do people now want to see from Britain’s main parties? We asked supporters of different political parties to tell us what they want to see next and how their party can get their act together enough to make it happen.
Conservatives
As soon as the win for leave was announced, David Cameron stepped down as prime minister and colleagues began lining up to be his successor. Boris Johnson, who fronted the leave campaign, announced on Thursday that he wasn’t going to run, but Michael Gove – also in the leave camp – is. There are four other people in contention for leader: Theresa May, Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox.
Michael, Cheltenham: There is no question in my mind that Theresa May should be the next leader
The Conservatives are in total disarray. I thought David Cameron was an excellent leader – a cool-headed and eloquent speaker – but I think it was the decent thing to step down Corbyn has also been a strong figurehead, and it’s good to see the Labour party with a strong stance, but he needs to leave before his party completely falls apart. The Lib Dems ignored the referendum and it seems like a cheap trick to use it now to get people to vote for them. Promising to take us back into the EU also seems to be something that they wouldn’t be able to do if in power.
I think the Conservatives are the only party who can successfully negotiate us through Brexit without completely bankrupting the country or cutting us off from European trade.
There is no question in my mind that Theresa May should be the next leader. She is the most experienced and sensible candidate, and the only one who has the diplomacy and poise to be prime minister, in my opinion.
Amy Goodwill, Milton Keynes: Boris has spent the last nine months lying
I feel betrayed by the Conservatives right now. Rather than running a campaign about what we get from the EU and what it really means to be part of it, they tried to scare people about the consequences of leaving. As true as those warnings may have been, we’re a nation of stubborn people who hate being told what to do. It was always going to be the wrong approach and I can’t believe how lackadaisical they were about it all.
Our current political leaders arrogantly assumed they didn’t have to try that hard, and now we’re reaping what they’ve sown. I have no confidence in any of them to clean up the mess that is left.
I am glad Boris will not be the next leader – he has spent the last nine months lying to people, and now he’s freaking out because he actually won and he didn’t expect that.
The Tories have lost all authority now. This referendum has torn away the illusion that they had any command, and they need to find a way to make people believe that they can be effective and productive instead of backstabbing and fighting each other. It’s clear that the majority of people in this country feel disenfranchised, and there’s a long way to go before the Tories will be able to make people trust them again.
Lucy Howard, Carlisle: It’s time to be proactive and stop firefighting
I am shocked and saddened by the total ineptness that the different parties have displayed. It’s the final proof that they are in it for themselves and now the British people have spoken, they cannot deal with running a nation without Europe telling them what to do.
What we have to do now is elect the correct team to take us out of Europe and reassure the country, including all European nationals that live here, that we will get through this together. We are open for business so why is there no trade team in place ready to start making calls and building contacts for the weeks and months ahead? We need to be proactive and stop firefighting.
Greens
The Green party leaders loudly backed the remain camp, saying staying in Europe was vital for the environment. They have now called upon Labour, the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru to work together to challenge the Tories at the next election.
Mike, Teesside: I am happy with the leadership of the Greens
I’m happy with the Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, and Green MP, Caroline Lucas. Jeremy Corbyn is also a decent, wise individual, capable of being a good leader if the mainstream media would just give him a break and stop their sustained vicious campaign against him. Bennett and Corbyn may or may not have charisma but that doesn’t mean they cannot achieve great things.
Bell, London: Corbyn and Lucas were the only politicians who dealt with the referendum honestly
Politicians are mostly untrustworthy. I appreciate it is hard to lead a large political party but most of the leaders seem like image-conscious self-caricatures, more worried about their vacuous soundbites than about any sort of dialogue with the electorate. The exceptions are Caroline Lucas and Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn was the only leader (apart from Lucas) who dealt with the referendum question with apparent honesty – making it clear that it was a complex question about which it was OK to have some ambivalence. It’s no good pretending to be and think what you aren’t, people see through that. The Labour party were sidelined by the media who seemed only interested in Tory infighting.
Labour
The Labour party has been in disarray since the EU referendum result, with an overwhelming vote of no confidence in its leader Jeremy Corbyn. This comes despite the fact that he still has support from a lot of members. Now other MPs, such as Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary, and the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, are considering whether to contest the leadership.
Mike, 45, Tonbridge: Labour isn’t electable at the moment
We need a credible, electable opposition to win the inevitable snap election that will come. The Conservatives had a slim majority and it’s going to be fun watching them fight.
The only issue is that Labour isn’t electable at present, the leadership needs to appeal to the disenfranchised centre-ground, not just the hardcore left.
Robert Norman, Cambridge: The Labour party needs to unite immediately
The knives have been out for Corbyn since his election (by I should say 60% of the Labour membership) and they would have used any excuse to attack him at this point. I believe Corbyn did the best he could in an impossible situation; he couldn’t campaign out as he would leave the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) in more of a rage than they are now, and he couldn’t more forcefully campaign in because of his personal beliefs and accusations he was disingenuous.
I generally agreed with his stance; I’m no fervent supporter of Europe but leaving during one of the worst Conservative governments, letting them dictate our “new place in the world” is very worrying. The Labour party needs to unite immediately or the Conservatives (who are much better at seeming united) will whisk through all their pet projects (completing the privatisation of the NHS, passing through TTIP and other damaging trade agreements, the snooper’s charter).
It is incredible to me that the PLP cannot recognise that Blairite politics have not worked. Aping the Tories has delivered us two election defeats (one we ought easily to have won) and a decline in party membership since Blair.
Labour needs unity. The Blairites must recognise that nobody wants another Tory lookalike. Labour is in more of an important place than ever, needing to curtail the more rightwing tendencies of the Tories during the negotiations. If Corbyn hadn’t been attacked at every turn by insubordinate MPs (and worse, shadow cabinet ministers – Hilary Benn was rightly kicked out) we would be in a better position.
Paul Dennett, 51, West Yorkshire: I don’t expect my support for Labour to be long term
Jeremy Corbyn has failed. He has next to no support in the PLP and apparently no plan for getting any. The situation is untenable, therefore I support a leadership election. That said, Corbyn only won in the first place because of the revulsion against the other candidates. The only other Labour figure to really impress has been Sadiq Khan, who is unavailable.
The Labour establishment master plan seems to be: one, ditch Corbyn; and, two, take a hard right turn, especially on immigration. On this basis I don’t expect my support for Labour to be long term. I see no realistic cause for optimism.
The best situation to come from this would be independence for Scotland and also Northern Ireland (which is unlikely), while England and Wales try to forge a new identity from scratch. The UK is on its last legs and needs to be put out of its misery.
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems are the only party to say they will campaign for Britain to rejoin the EU at the next general election. Since that announcement by the leader, Tim Farron, 10,000 people have joined the party. However, the Lib Dems were relatively quiet during the EU referendum campaign, leaving some skeptical.
Jean Lavarenne, 25, Cambridgeshire: The party’s greatest challenge is to show it still exists
I am an economic and social liberal supporting the remain camp. I agree with the statement I saw: “Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.” This question should never have been asked, the issues are far too complex to be decided directly by the people. Cameron made a catastrophic decision to put Brexit to a vote.
The Liberal Democrats were completely absent from the debate, which is a shame. I agree they’ve lost a lot of political clout since the elections but it was their job to argue a positive case for Europe. The Labour leader was completely absent from the debate too, which is utterly shameful.
I’m hoping the Lib Dems will experience a resurgence in popularity following this vote, as 48% feel cheated by the results. Pro-EU Tories and Labour supporters might [switch to us if there is] a pro-Brexit prime minister and an incompetent opposition leader respectively. For the Lib Dems, the greatest challenge is to show that they still exist and they are a real alternative to the Conservative and Labour parties.
Matthew King, London: The centre-left needs to to reform and realign
David Cameron gambled and lost badly for us all, and I am heartbroken. But I understand why he did it – he was trying to modernise the party. With a few percentage difference we would now be talking about the success of his project – as it is, the opposite has happened. I am most angry with Corbyn. He said it best in response to a heckle – “I did all I could”. He shows no enthusiasm for his own job, no capacity to engage let alone lead, and was particularly useless during the referendum.
The Lib Dems have had their voice drowned out since 2015 because of the general election result. Think how much Cameron must now regret the electoral strategy against them that delivered his majority. The biggest challenge now is for the centre-left to reform and realign. If the Labour party is no longer a vehicle for centre-left views, maybe it should be abandoned to Corbyn and a new alliance formed.
Christopher Tanner, South Wales: I like Farron but at the moment he lacks gravitas
Getting airtime on TV is the biggest challenge for the Lib Dems, and getting our view out to the public. I like our leader but at the moment he lacks gravitas – that will come with time, but right now we do not have time. We have to run a stay-in-the-EU campaign now. We, and our centrist allies in the Tories, Labour and the Greens, have to unite under a strong and charismatic and honest leader. I wish I could say Tim Farron was the man but sadly I don’t. The best Lib Dems who have that gravitas were voted out at the last general election. We need to change our constitution to allow them to run as leader, or find a way to give them a role in a new pro-EU and reformed UK/reformed EU future.
Ukip
Ukip’s leader Nigel Farage campaigned tirelessly to get Britain out of the EU, and it’s always been a primary aim of the party. He has appeared in Brussels – giving a post-referendum speech – and is now deciding where to take the party next and who he will work alongside.
Roger Peach, Bury: Ukip should become a new third party for the people
Ukip technically has accomplished its aim, which was to get the UK out of the EU. They could still remain a mainstream political party if they wish and change their manifesto to rightly represent the people of this country and force a wedge between the Conservative and Labour parties, both of whom are not recognising, let alone attending to, the needs of the people. Nigel Farage clearly recognises that the work put into the leave campaign and the achievement of the Ukip aim was for the people of this country, for the real people, for the poor people, the disabled and sick people and the homeless and unemployed. I believe that the party should take up that banner and become a new third party for the people.
Tim: It would be better if Farage now stepped down
Cameron was probably the best for a while. If he had led a vote to leave (because he could not get the EU to accept any meaningful reform), then he would still be prime minister. The vote would have gone 70/30 for leave and the current market volatility would have been avoided. I think he succumbed to the lobby from the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and multinational corporations.
Jeremy Corbyn can never be PM. Nigel Farage is tainted (but unfairly so). I now want Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister.
The biggest challenge for Ukip is overcoming the negative attitude that Farage generates as leader of the party. It would be better if he now stepped down, and a more acceptable, less contentious person took over. If, as is likely, the Tory or Labour party row back on the key items of the leave mandate, then the Ukip vote will surge in the next general election.
Scottish National party
The SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, campaigned for the remain camp, and a spokesman for Sturgeon said the party was preparing to hold a referendum on Scottish independence before the UK leaves. It has also demanded to be installed as the official opposition in the House of Commons, saying Labour is a “crisis-ridden shambles”.
Bertie, Glasgow: I now hope for a second referendum on Scottish independence
I have a bleak view of most political leaders except Nicola Sturgeon. The referendum ought to have required a stronger majority than a simple one, given the volume of conflated issues and the permanence of the actual act.
And the amount of misunderstanding, misinformation was really astounding. That was not a debate worthy of casting a vote on. Because of the leave vote being such a disaster I now do hope for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Kirsty, Edinburgh: Nicola Sturgeon is becoming an iconic leader
My view is that political leaders are strong and stable in Scotland, but the opposite is true in Westminster. I worry about how much the parties are in disarray and I am genuinely concerned about the far-right sentiment rising.
I definitely don’t think Corbyn did enough to strengthen the remain campaign in the referendum but I am unsure about a leadership challenge. I like his proactive stance on things such as the environment.
The biggest challenge for my party is building confidence in those who were unsure about independence in 2014. The SNP need to prove to voters that we can be a strong independent country in a united Europe and involve EU leaders in the campaign to reassure previous no voters.
Nicola Sturgeon is becoming an iconic leader, and an inspiration for all, but particularly for women. With a sustainable development goal being about gender equality and the aim for more women to hold positions of power she is doing a fantastic job.
- Some names have been changed
