Populism is surging -- elites are lost

Why millions of people in Europe are turning to national populists

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Populists are sweeping the board in Europe. That’s the headline as results from the latest elections to the European Parliament are still rolling in. While EU officials have long pointed the finger at ‘populist Britain’ for ushering in Brexit and political chaos, the EU is now playing catch-up with an assortment of anti-establishment, anti-immigration, and anti-EU parties —as we predicted— scoring record gains.

National populists, remember, are unlike other types of parties in that they seek to prioritise the culture and interests of the majority against an elite they argue is corrupt, self-serving, and neglectful of ordinary people.

And now, as we predicted in the book National Populism, they’ve been propelled by voters, including many young voters, to entirely new heights —perhaps a harbinger of what’s to come at the 2024 UK and US elections, with Nigel Farage and Donald Trump now also polling stronger than their critics would like.

Many of Europe’s populists have just had a very good weekend while many Greens and liberal centrists have just had a terrible one. So much so, in fact, that in France the continued rise of Marine Le Pen has forced Emmanuel Macron to call a snap national election, which will climax between the UK election in early July and America’s presidential contest in November. It truly is a vintage year for election nerds.

Elsewhere, contrary to all those pundits who ever since 2016 have told us over and over again that the populist wave has peaked, this movement remains very much on the rise. Which raises big questions. What actually happened at the elections? And what is really driving these parties forward?

Let’s take a look. And let’s challenge some popular myths along the way.