Will UKIP benefit from this EU Referendum?
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced to resign after the Remain campaign defeat in the referendum. He announced to hand over leadership of the party to the new leader in October Conference of Conservative Party. David Cameron becomes the first casualty of this EU referendum. He has also announced not to trigger the Clause 50 to immediately start the process of British exit from EU. The new prime Minister will do that. Now the struggle for the new leader will start in the Tories. Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, chancellor and architect of Tory cuts George Osborne and Home Secretary Theresa May are the front runners at the moment.
It was clear during the campaign that if Leave won the referendum, then David Cameron will be in trouble. He misread the mood among the working class people and in his own party. The Conservative Party bitterly divided between Leave and Remain camp. David Cameron led the Conservative party victory in the last general elections in May 2015. The decision to hold referendum to determine the EU membership of UK. This decision backfired and his popularity fell to around 20 percent. The division in the party and his falling popularity forced him to resign.
The challenge to Corbyn leadership
The struggle to oust jeremy Corbyn from the leadership of the labour party is going to intensify. The right wing Blairite MPs and other leaders of the Labour Party will accuse Corbyn for this defeat in EU referendum. They will increase pressure on Corbyn to resign and will launch vicious propaganda campaign against him. The anti Corbyn camp will try to use this opportunity to organise a quo against him. They might also push for a new challenge to the Corbyn leadership.
The right wing leaders of the labour Party are accusing Corbyn to run a lackluster campaign and failed to convince labour voters to vote remain. The working class voters of Labour party voted to Leave in big numbers and rejected the leadership argument for Remain. But it will be a mistake on the part of right wing leaders to take it as anti corbyn vote. The working class voters are sick tired of austerity , poverty, cuts and neo-liberal economic policies of both Tories and Blairites of Labour. The right wing challenge to Corbyn leadership might further radicalised the layers of young people and working class. The right wing leadership want to get rid of him before the next elections.
The British media will continue to attack Jeremy Corbyn for opposing cuts, austerity and neoliberalism. The capitalist media wants to see the back of Corbyn. The media will side with right wing leaders to malign Corbyn.
UKIP will make gains
One thing is certain that UKIP will make gains as the result of this referendum. UKIP will benefit from right wing shift in the British politics. Whatever some Socialists say about the outcome of this referendum, one can not deny the fact that immigration played key role in this outcome. The hard stance took by UKIP on immigration will certainly give them echo in the sections of working class and lower middle class in parts of England.
If Germy Corbyn failed to realise what working class and poor people are thinking and failed to adopt clear class position. Then the real danger is that they might opt to test UKIP as alternate to the pro establishment parties. UKIP trying hard to attract the working class voters which are traditional voters of the labour Party. But now they are looking for alternate. The UKIP is also playing the immigration card and using it to whip up nationalism and racism in the more right wing sections of the population. If labour party under Corbyn leadership failed to come up as anti austerity and cuts party then UKIP will take advantage of the mood in the society.
UKIP might emerge as real winner from this referendum and attract new layers of people in the absence of a real left alternate. Corbyn has not have much time to decide the sort of politics he needs to win over discontented layers of working class. He can not stand in the middle of the motorway and hoping to avoid a collision.