This is a moment of truth for rightwing populists – but don't celebrate yet | Andy Beckett

Populism can survive a Trump defeat and a disastrous Brexit. Even so, its best days may already be over

Over the four feverish years since the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election, we have got used to thinking of populism as a movement whose time has come. Its loudmouth leaders, constant rule-breaking and seductive promises of national renewal have dominated democratic life in much of the world.

Many people who find populism appalling have also been fascinated, sometimes mesmerised. After the relatively predictable and cautious politics of the 90s and 00s, populism has provided electoral shocks, colourful ideologues, risk-taking governments – and also a potent sense of novelty.

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