Donald Trump accused of interference in British elections

US President Donald Trump’s intervention in UK politics in the run-up to a general election has been roundly criticised as foreign interference in the internal politics of the country. 

During an on-air discussion on a local British radio station with his erstwhile ally Nigel Farage, a Member of the European Parliament and architect of the Brexit campaign, Trump said the Conservative Prime Minister was “the exact right guy for the times”. 

The upcoming elections on December 12 will feature Brexit as one of the central themes of the polls. 

Speaking on LBC Radio Trump declared: "If you [Farage] and he [Johnson] get together, it's, you know, an unstoppable force."

Farage campaigned for the 2016 referendum and is widely seen as one of the leading figures behind the UK leaving the EU, he is also running for parliament in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn was critical of the interference of the US president. 

“Donald Trump is trying to interfere in Britain’s election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected,”  Corbyn said on Twitter after the US president said he would “be so bad for your country”.

Yet Johnson may wish he didn’t receive a ringing endorsement from the US president, who is roundly disliked in the UK. More than 67 percent of people have a negative view of Donald Trump - and it cuts across party political lines. 

While the election campaign has not officially begun, Johnson’s Conservative Party is comfortably ahead in the polls. However, the UK electorate has become increasingly unpredictable, and it is far from certain that Johnson will be able to form the next UK government. 

Past US interference in the UK

Former US president Barack Obama, during his time in office, waded into the Brexit referendum campaign provoking anger amongst the likes of Farage when he suggested that the UK would be at the "back of the queue" in future trade negotiations between the two countries.

Back then Farage, a self-styled British patriot, called the intervention “a monstrous interference”. Now he is seemingly ready to accept any help he can get from a foreign leader. 

Some analysts have claimed that Farage was being hypocritical about the type of interference he was willing to accept in British politics. 

The Labour Party has long suggested that Johnson has been too close to the controversial US president, which could be used to significant effect in the election campaign. 

“It was Trump who said in June the NHS is ‘on the table’. And he knows if Labour wins US corporations won’t get their hands on it. Our NHS is not for sale,” Corbyn said on Twitter. The National Health Service (NHS) is often one of the most politically essential institutions in the UK. 

Any attempt by any party to privatise the health service is widely considered political suicide.