Populism is still alive and kicking throughout Europe

Five years later Italy elected what many have described as its most far-right government since the days of Benito Mussolini as Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) dominated a coalition which also featured Matteo Salvini’s Lega and Forza Italia, led by proto-Trump Silvio Berlusconi.

Forming and maintaining a government in Italy isn’t easy – on average they’ve changed administrations every 13 months since the Second World War. Talks between the coalition of the right were tempestuous at times, but a compromise was eventually found to elect Ignazio La Russa of FdI as President of the Republic.

The role is largely ceremonial, with the head of state’s role to ensure that the constitution is being adhered to. An interim must take on the role following an election in order to appoint the new president, and that honour traditionally goes to the oldest sitting senator. Thus it was that Liliana Segre, a 92-year-old Auschwitz survivor, handed over the title to a man whom TV cameras once revealed had a home decorated with Mussolini memorabilia.

FdI’s roots can be traced back to the Movimento Sociale Italiana, the heir to Italy’s fascist party. The party’s logo features the MSI flame, while La Russa himself was a member of its youth front. FdI advocates a zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration, and wants to blockade Italian ports to prevent refugees from landing. Mussolini’s great-grandaughter Rachele is a councillor in Rome under the party’s banner. Meloni has sought to distance her party from fascism, but has taken a hard right stance on issues like LGBT rights and abortion.

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This month Meloni’s government signalled its intention not to ratify changes to the European Stability Mechanism, which were signed off in January 2021 and had been approved by all other EU members other than Germany, where it faces a legal challenge. Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti called for “an adequate and broad debate in parliament” on the matter. The move was described as “the worst in populist quackery” by Luigi Marattin of the centre-left Partita Democratica, who noted that it had already been passed by both houses two years ago, after 12 months of debate.

A controversial budget has also sparked a huge backlash. The proposed introduction of a flat tax on self-employed income, as well as cuts to transport, schools and health prompted a wave of strikes across the country. The Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Italian Labour Union (UIL) called for a week of action to “put work back at the centre”, culminating in a general strike across multiple regions on Friday.

It’s not just in Italy that populism is alive and well.

Hungary’s populist prime minister Viktor Orbán comfortably won re-election in April, with his Fidesz party winning its first outright majority in 12 years and the highest vote share of any party since the fall of Communism. The far-right party Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement), which proposes segregating Roma children from Hungarians in schools, restoring capital punishment and banning LGBT pride marches, won six seats as it entered parliament for the first time. A coalition of opposition parties managed just 37 per cent of the vote.

Sweden held a general election in September which eventually returned the moderate Ulf Kristersson as prime minister, but his party had only come third. While the Social Democrats remained the largest party, the right-wing populist party Sweden Democrats took 20.5% of the vote to gain 11 seats and hold the balance of power – the coalition government cannot pass anything without their assent.

Emmanuel Macron eventually won re-election as president of France but Marine Le Pen’s Front National took 41.5% of the vote in a run-off election, up from 33.9% five years previously. In the subsequent legislative election her party gained 82 seats.

Populism, of course, does not have to be right-wing in nature and socialist Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise (France Unbound) gained 94 seats to finish ahead of FN and become the second largest party, but that was somewhat of an anomaly in Europe.

South American elections saw big wins for Lula da Silva in Brazil, with the left-winger defeating Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off election, the left-wing coalition emerged victorious in Colombia’s presidential election and Gabriel Boric, elected in late 2021, was sworn in as the president of Chile.

The Hungarian socialist party was part of the opposition alliance for that country’s election but even combined with the social democrat Párbeszéd Magyarországért (Dialogue for Hungary) could only take 11.31% of the popular vote.

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Of some consolation, perhaps, will be that the centrist element of the coalition, Momentum, failed to return a single MP and polled only marginally better than the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, whose policies include multiple sunsets a day (in varying colours) and the construction of a Hungarian restaurant on Mars.

The Italian Communist Party regularly received around 30% of the vote share until its dissolution in 1989, managing 34.4% in 1974 to fall just shy of being the largest party. The Italian Socialist Party didn’t secure a single seat as part of the left coalition, with eco-socialist party èViva obtaining one.

For those seeking some Keir Starmer-style centrism there were one or two results which offered something to cling to. Portugal’s Socialist Party is, despite the name, a largely centre-left outfit and won a surprise majority in legislative elections. In Denmark the Socialdemokraterne (Social Democrats) achieved their best result in 20 years and a new moderate party gained 16 seats – though right-wing populist group Liberal Alliance picked up 10.

The next 12 months will see the Czech Republic, Finland and Greece hold elections – and it doesn’t look like populism is going anywhere.