Reforms keep populism at bay

Our leaders must stay true to the Constitution and resist moving towards populist rule. 

Thirteen years ago, I was working for a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, and had to summarise the speeches of Francis Maude, the Conservative Party chairman who oversaw a transition of party leadership from Michael Howard to David Cameron – the first Conservative since John Major to become Prime Minister, serving six years until the British electorate narrowly voted to leave the European Union in a referendum promised by his party’s election manifesto (though he had campaigned for Britain to remain in a “reformed” EU).