Vox has attracted voters with a slew of diverse grievances. 'The rise of populism is itself overblown, exaggerated by selective focus on places where right-wing populist parties have made big gains,' Bartels said. 'The populists offer simple answers to the complex reality of inflation, loss of living standards, and the increasing impact of climate change,' said Heather Grabbe, non-resident fellow at the European think tank Bruegel.īut across Europe, the average vote share of right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, from about 12% to 13% at the turn of the century to about 15% now, said Larry Bartels, professor at Vanderbilt University. So far they have been shut out at national and regional level. In Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region, hard-right Vlaams Belang are ahead in polling, winning over 24.6 per cent of voters surveyed by the public broadcaster VRT in May, six more percentage points than in the 2019 elections. Its rise has drawn concern from the domestic intelligence service about extremism. The AfD last month won a vote for a district leader for the first time and is course on to win three upcoming state elections in east Germany. Still, support for the far-right in several European countries is still robust. 'Those who shout the loudest aren't always right: Europe remains dear to citizens.' The French government, on the other hand, welcomed the results: 'Good news for Europe,' said European affairs minister Laurence Boone. Le Pen had yet to comment the Spanish results by Monday afternoon though she had been quick to congratulate Vox after local election results last May. Supporters of the Socialist Party celebrated Vox's defeat by chanting 'No pasaran', an anti-fascist slogan meaning 'They shall not pass' used by the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

'The narrative about Europe lurching to the far right is overdone,' Rahman said. Meloni, who last year took power as head of Italy's most right-wing government since World War Two, has softened her hardline rhetoric on immigration even as she builds an international alliance to tackle migrant arrivals.įrench far-right leader Marine Le Pen has also softened her stance on some social issues, for example reversing a promise to ban same-sex marriage. Merz, who leads the Christian Democrats (CDU), swiftly ruled out cooperation of any kind with the AfD after a backlash from within his own ranks. If Sánchez cannot form a government this month, Spain will go to the polls again in December, the sixth general election in seven years.The pitfalls of joining hands with the far-right were underscored for Germany's main opposition leader Friedrich Merz on Monday when he rowed back from comments suggesting he could work with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a local level. However, his demands – for an amnesty for all those charged in relation to the illegal 2017 declaration of independence and for a binding referendum on Catalan independence – are politically impossible for Sánchez to accept. However, he will still need the votes of Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), the conservative nationalist party led by the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.Īfter nearly six years of self-imposed exile in Belgium, Puigdemont had been fading into irrelevance before the election, which has given him an opportunity to return to the limelight. Next week, Pedro Sánchez, the acting prime minister and Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) leader, will attempt to stay in his job by winning a vote in the parliament that requires an absolute majority of 176 of the 350 seats.Īs he has no overall majority, this is likely to go to a second vote 48 hours later, when only a simple majority is required.

Vox spain political party