Graphic shows populist parties in the EU and seats held in national governments and European Parliament.
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POLITICS

EU right-wing populist parties

By Duncan Mil

January 15, 2019 - Europe’s right-wing populists, which now represent almost one in five EU citizens, hope that European Parliament elections in May will send the bloc in a new political direction.

Populist parties have more than tripled their support in Europe in the past two decades, securing enough votes to win seats in national governments and the European Parliament, challenging the established political order across the continent.

“Not so long ago populism was a phenomenon of the political fringes,” said Matthijs Rooduijn, a political sociologist at the University of Amsterdam, who led an analysis of populism in national elections across Europe.

Anti-establishment populism has surged since the 2008 financial crash and the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe. The anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland became the first far-right party since the second world war to enter every German state parliament and holds 91 seats in the Bundestag; in France Marine Le Pen reached the 2017 presidential run-off, winning 33% of the vote.

Populists are in government in 19 European Union countries, and more than 170 million of the EU’s 512.6 million people live in a country with at least one populist cabinet member.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Although so-called populist parties span a broad political spectrum, they exhibit some common themes, such as hostility to immigration, anti-Islamic rhetoric, opposition to European integration and Euroscepticism. They also endorse a similar set of ideas concerning the relationship between the people and the ruling elite. When they experience involvement in government, radical right-wing populist parties tend not to shift toward the mainstream. Not all populist parties are shown in the graphic due to space limitations.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 16/01/2019; STORY: Graphic News
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