It is tempting to look back and think that the slogan was wot won it. An adroit four-worder can pierce the national consciousness and define a moment. A good slogan should be as relevant to historians as it was during the campaign. “Make America Great Again” seemed to resolve the paradox that Americans believed that the US was the greatest country on earth and yet were anxious about what they saw as its endemic decline.
“Take Back Control” brought together the ineffable threads of despair that voters felt after being ignored for years over mass migration and declining wages. Or to see the oppositve: think of David Cameron’s call for the nation to stick to the “long term economic plan” in 2015. He salvaged a small Conservative majority and then called the Brexit referendum, bringing about the largest economic rupture since the financial crash.
