Sir Martin Sorrell admits surprise at 'the second Brexit' of Trump's US Election win
WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed his surprise at Donald Trump's shock emergence as the president-elect of the United States, describing it as "effectively a second brexit" that caught both he and the markets off guard.
Sir Martin Sorrell
"It's going to take a significant time to assess the implications beyond the short-term," the advertising executive told The Drum. He pointed to an increase in economic uncertainty in Europe and China off the back of the result, which will mean short-term "hesitation" to make important decisions by companies and governments.
Such volatility "may accelerate implementation of helpful reforms to reduce uncertainty and stimulate investment as a result," he explained.
"Clearly immigration, trade and terrorism were key issues that swayed electoral opinion in a very significant way, just as it did in the UK. And probably will in the European referenda and elections to come."
The WPP chief concluded his reaction by saying that he felt there was "a lot of reassessment" still to come over polling techniques which once again failed to predict the result
"Electorates at times like these clearly don't like to be told how they're going to vote especially by the media and other elites," he added.