Results – all unofficial at the moment – are staring to drift in, and things are looking quite terrible for the left across Europe. So far the left is only up in Malta, Slovakia and Greece (with a decent result also expected in Ireland), and behind elsewhere – poor results in Germany, France and Austria, and a wipe-out for Labour sure to be around the corner as well once UK results are known later on. Worst of all is surely Hungary, where the right has polled almost two thirds of the votes.
Among the maverick groups running Geert Wilders came in second in The Netherlands, Hans Peter Martin polled 18% (3rd place) in Austria, and the Swedish Pirate Party looks like it might get around 8%. The EP has power, but voters don’t understand that power, so odd groups are understandably doing well.
To keep an eye on all of this Wikipedia has an excellent EP election results table here.
@Richard Laming How long till the EU have 26 and a half members? About five months, it turns out.
It’d be nice to have a rough guide to what all these new “far right” parties are like. I’m sure you’re right that Hungary’s Jobbik (which would be illegal in the UK, well, except in Northern Ireland!) are the worst, but is there a league table or set of questions one can use to discriminate between them?
The BNP are obviously beyond the pale, as are Jobbik and that Greater Romania crowd.
But what about Vlaams Belang, Wilders’ lot, the Danish People’s Party, Lega Nord, True FInns and the various socially ultraconservative Polish parties? Is any of these as bad as Front National or the BNP?
The big news, from a British perspective, is that this is the first time in 50 years that a national poll (general election, European election or referendum) has produced a majority against EU membership. Very worrying. How long before we say that the EU has 26 and a half members?