For those of us who anticipated the end of two-party politics in 2015, the results of May’s general election in England looked rather… two-toned. After all the talk of insurgents on the right (UKIP), the left (Greens), and across the borders (Plaid Cymru, SNP) only the Scottish nationalists had any success against Westminster. The most successful party in European political history won another election, and Labour conceded to conventional wisdom, abandoning all this social justice malarkey and selecting a reliable, electable Blairite, Liz Kendall.

 …oh, wait.

As it turns out, Labour’s base wasn’t too fond of a candidate who looked, walked, and talked like a contestant on The Apprentice, and had about as much success as one. They opted instead for the least “establishment” candidate they could find, and Jeremy Corbyn is certainly anti-establishment. This is a man who protested against apartheid at a time when David Cameron was in the Bullingdon Club, and Young Tories were wearing “Hang Nelson Mandela” t-shirts, who defied his own party on the Iraq War, and who in his first PMQs fielded questions not from his own MPs, but from members of the public.

Oddly, the explanation - and perhaps a little glimpse into the future - might be found across the pond. British and American politics differ on many key issues, but their timelines are strikingly similar. Both have been operating neoliberal “market” economies since grassroots movements - Reaganomics there, Thatcherism here - demolished the old status quo of the 1980s. Both were embroiled in a deeply unpopular war in Iraq, both suffered financial crisis in the late 2000s, and both are in the midst of divisive periods of government: biting austerity in Britain, congressional gridlock in the USA. Faith in both Washington and Westminster is at an all-time low.

In the States, as in Britain, the “anti-establishment” platform is gathering steam. As one commentator on the recent Republican debate put it: ‘it’s an anti-establishment year.’ In fact, that same pundit name-dropped Jeremy Corbyn, comparing him to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

Originally dismissed as a fringe candidate, Sanders strikes a very different tone to the professional politicians. Seventy-four years old, with unruly hair and a thick Brooklyn accent, he even has the guts to call himself a socialist - political suicide according to conventional wisdom. Somehow, however, he’s been steadily cutting down Hilary Clinton’s lead, and is now comfortably the second-placed candidate in the Democratic race, even leading in the key early-voting states of New Hampshire and Iowa. Running on a platform of free college tuition, universal healthcare, and breaking up the too-big-to-fail banks, he’s striking a chord with liberal voters.

On the right, of course, we have Donald Trump, a wet dream for satirists worldwide. He began his campaign by calling all Mexican immigrants rapists, drug addicts, and murderers. Then, he moved on to women, speculating that a debate host who questioned him aggressively, Fox’s Megyn Kelly, was “probably menstruating”, and commenting on fellow candidate Carly Fiorina: "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?" And, of course, there was the interview in which he insisted former presidential candidate (and POW) John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam.

Yet somehow, he’s still leading the Republican field. Like Jeremy Corbyn, attacks from the political establishment seem only to fuel his rise. A veteran Republican pollster, Frank Luntz, stepped into a room with two dozen Trump supporters and left with his knees wobbling: after two and a half hours of showing them some of Trump’s most offensive moments, they departed liking him more than when they entered. They thought he was speaking plainly, saying what everyone was thinking, and that he could make America great again. ‘It’s on his hat’, one woman commented.

Trump’s staying power - particularly in the gruelling year-and-a-half long campaign trail that precedes US elections - is up for debate, and his comments may finally be coming back to bite him. Fiorina was the darling of the latest debate, and seemed to leave Trump speechless for the first time… well, ever. But it’s worth noting that neither she, nor current second-place candidate Ben Carson, are professional politicians either. Fiorina was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and Carson was a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Most observers in the US were expecting a Clinton-Bush showdown in 2016, an extravagant yet somewhat boring clash between two of the most recognisable brands in US politics - the only way it could be more “establishment” is if you somehow snuck a Kennedy in there too. Instead, they’ve had a whole summer of headlines from the Trump insurgency, and a socialist putting up a good fight for the Democratic nomination.

What lessons can we draw on this side of the Atlantic? Well, if an anti-establishment candidate, particularly Sanders with his left wing ideas and youth support, can topple an establishment juggernaut like Hilary Clinton, particularly in the American world of attack ads, PACs, and billionaire donors, the “unelectable” Jeremy Corbyn might have a little more cause for optimism in 2020…