Liam Byrne

Labour MP and former cabinet minister Liam Byrne says populists such as Trump and Le Pen are rewriting the rules of politics and stoking division and argues that it is a road that leads to ruin.

Byrne says the populist message is electrifying millions who feel they have been left behind and are fearful of the future. He draws on new studies of populism to explain why shouting louder won’t counter the populists. Byrne says mainstream politics must evolve and channel the rage fuelling populism into a revitalised radical centre. He draws a connection between growing inequality and the populist voice and sets out a strategy to counter it.

Byrne is chair of the House of Commons business and trade select committee. He is MP for Birmingham Lodge Hill, a former chief secretary to the Treasury in the Brown government and an honorary professor of social science at the University of Birmingham.