British people are most likely to choose Katie Hopkins as the British outsider resembling Donald Trump – but very few say she'd have a successful political career
With only 10 days to go until the first Republican caucus in Iowa, followed by New Hampshire's Republican primary on February 9, Donald Trump is still forecast to win both – despite months of warnings from pundits that confidence in his lead was premature. Passing these early tests is no guarantee Trump will win the nomination for the presidential race later this year, but he is surely doing well, and a recent endorsement by Sarah Palin (viewed favorably by two-thirds of Republicans last year) has thrown weight behind his campaign.
Part of Donald Trump's unexpected success is his outsider status – also one of the most in-demand traits in Britain. With trust in politicians so low here, who would Britain's answer to Donald Trump be?
Notorious TV personality and Mail Online columnist Katie Hopkins, who was praised by the American maverick for backing his claims that parts of London are so radicalised people are afraid of visiting them, is seen by British people as the closest thing to the British Donald Trump.
But very few (2%) say she would be the most successful outsider on the list of eight. Jeremy Clarkson, on the other hand, is seen as having the second highest resemblance to Trump (12% say he's the British equivalent) and 8% also say he'd do well in British politics, the third highest scorer for that question.
However being the British Donald Trump is certainly not a compliment – 39% of British people approved of banning him from the UK in a recent YouGov poll – so the standout winner here is Richard Branson. Only 2% say he resembles Trump while 39% say he would be the most succesful if he entered British politics.
Alan Sugar, already a Lord but no longer connected to any party after resigning from Labour four days after the 2015 general election, is predicted by 12% to have the most successful career in British politics.
Richard Branson has stayed away from endorsing any political party, and has been critical of party funding coming from business, unions and wealthy individuals. That said, he has praised Margaret Thatcher – writing in 2013 that "she achieved tremendous things whilst she was in power. She made some mistakes, particularly with the poll tax in the end", but "by and large, she changed the country for the better."
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