Simon Wolfson, British businessman and CEO of clothing retailer Next, said Mr Trump’s success should serve as a “wake-up call” to politicians in the UK. He made his comments in an episode of BBC Question Time, broadcast yesterday.
Mr Wolfson said: “It does amaze me that Trump has done so well, and I think the question you’ve got to ask is really about the political class in America, and potentially about our own political class.
“We have to remember that Trump isn’t a career politician. He came from outside of politics. How has he managed to break into this world and become president?
“The answer, I think, comes down to the lack of connection between the political class and what people are thinking.
Simon Wolfson, CEO of Next, made the comments yesterday (Image: Twitter / BBC / @BBCQuestionTime)
“Part of that, I think, is that we have moved into a world where people just aren’t prepared to speak their mind – there’s just this lack of authenticity.”
Mr Wolfson said he would not vote for Mr Trump personally, but added “love him or hate him” the US president “is speaking his mind”.
The businessman was joined on the hour-long topical debate show alongside an audience from the South London region of Lewisham.
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Donald Trump is ‘speaking his mind’, Mr Wolfson said (Image: Mark Wilson / Getty)
Others on the panel included Tory MP and culture secretary Oliver Dowden, as well as Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy, Hannah Fry, and Rose McGowan.
Mr Wolfson added of Mr Trump: “He doesn’t care what he says, he doesn’t care about the consequences.
“I think that overly-cautious approach that political classes around the world are beginning to take, and the sort of half-answers that they are forced to give, means that people like Trump can suddenly break through because they’re prepared to speak their mind.
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Mr Wolfson was joined by host Fiona Bruce and several other panelists (Image: Twitter / BBC / @BBCQuestionTime)
“I think it has to be a wake-up call to our own political class to say ‘come on, speak your mind, stop following the party line, stop just saying what you think you want us to hear. Tell us what you really think.”
His comments come as the US continues to tally votes after the nation went to the polls on Tuesday this week.
However, analysts have said it could be days before the final result is in, with both Mr Trump and his rival Joe Biden of the Democratic Party claiming optimism.
Joe Biden (R) and running mate Kamala Harris are currently ahead with electoral college votes (Image: Drew Angerer / Getty)
US election cost graph (Image: EXPRESS)
The election is thought to have generated the highest voter turnout in 120 years as well as other record-breaking figures.
Mr Biden has accrued more than 73 million votes at the time of writing, more than any other candidate in history, the BBC reports.
Mr Trump is not far behind, trailing with nearly 70 million votes. Both candidates are awaiting results from the remaining US states.
The final US result is still unclear at the time of writing (Image: Samuel Corum / Getty)
This year’s election has seen extensive use of mail-in voting, which analysts say is the cause behind the delay in reaching the final results.
Mr Trump has called for the count to be stopped prematurely, having repeatedly criticised mail-in votes as fraudulent – something which has led to him being ‘fact-checked’ multiple times by social network Twitter.
According to US news outlet Bloomberg, between 87 and 91 percent of total votes have now been counted. Mr Biden maintains a comfortable lead of 264 electoral votes to Mr Trump’s 214 at the time of writing, with 270 needed to win.
