Why has there been a rise in the European far right?
By: Gursimran Hans
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini
In 2019, far-right parties secured 14.5%* of the voter share at parliamentary elections in EU member states. They now make up the Polish government and form coalitions in Estonia, Slovakia and Latvia. Lega Nord until last year, formed a coalition in Italy with leader Matteo Salvini serving as interior minister.
The data analysed looks at far-right and far-left parties that have won seats since 2000. It is the far-right that have risen rapidly since the turn of the millennium. Spanish populists Vox, formed in 2013, got 15 per cent of the vote last year. Their Polish Law and Justice counterparts were formed only in 2001 and yet by 2015, were in government. The German equivalent, AfD, got 12% of the vote within four years of their formation in 2013.
Far-left parties performed weaker in 2019, averaging 7.9%*. The 2008 financial crash seems a turning point, with far-right parties across the EU enjoying their best years after 2008.
Those on the far-right tend to use rhetoric demonising immigrants and are exclusionary in their politics. Those on the far-left, can be categorised by harsher critiques of a capitalist system which they wish to overthrow. Some extremist parties have shown a tendency to tolerate political violence, meaning their victories could jeopardise public safety.
Throughout parts of history both sides have been exclusionary, either to minority groups or those who oppose them, sometimes both, undermining their ability to work for the safety and prosperity of these groups.
To understand public perception of this type of politics, YOOTS conducted a survey on social media. Only 1% of respondents described themselves as further right than centre-right, whilst 39% described themselves as further left than centre-left. Just four per cent said they would consider voting for an extremist party, and they all said they would describe themselves as being on the left. “Historically, the far-right for almost everyone has got negative associations,” explained Barry Richards, political psychology professor at Bournemouth University.
“People on the left, I think there is a space for them to idealise far-left, socialist, communist ideology because for some people
at least, that is still seen as pure.”
Former President of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias
One thing that is often cited as a reason for backing extremist
parties is an unhappiness with the political situation or a response to turmoil. During 2012, as Greece was amid a debt crisis that required a second bailout, the far-right Golden Dawn and far-left Communist Party both enjoyed their strongest years of the millennium so far.
Kingston University’s Simon Choat, a political theorist with a special interest in Marxism, explained: “The far-right offer a sort of bargain, which is they’re not really going to address any of the problems of capitalism. I would say a lot of insecurity is caused by capitalism, a very volatile and turbulent social system. Regular financial crises, recessions, even depressions, lots of insecurities about living in capitalism for most.”
Though 64% of respondents described themselves as mainstream, the term ‘mainstream politics’ had a net disapproval rating of -3 points. Though other types of politics scored lower – ‘radical’ scored minus 13, ‘fringe’ –32 and extremist had a net disapproval of -83.
Richards explains: “They don’t want to feel that they are associated with the extremes, because that doesn’t feel right, they want to feel they are mainstream but at the same time they feel the mainstream is not a good place to be.”
Liam Duffy, a counter-terrorism expert, offers an analysis on tactics used to appeal to these individuals: “All extremists rely on grievance narratives, often the first step in that is identity, you represent an identity that is or has been under threat.”
President of French National Front, Marine Le Pen.
Richards concurs: “People do need to feel safe, we are hardwired to need that, but I think we are also hard-wired to feel a need for some self-respect and dignity, and I think the far-right parties are more attuned to both of these things than the far-left or the centre-left as well.”
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We have had a far-left majority government in the EU this century, with Cypriot Progressive Party for Working People, a communist party. Dimitris Christofias became President in 2008 and the party held the position until 2013. In 2011, the party achieved its’ largest vote share post 2000 with 32.7%, but this dropped by seven points in 2016. The Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia is currently being relied upon for votes by the Czech coalition of the centre-right ANO 2011 and centre-left Czech Social Democratic Party.
Choat argues it is more difficult for the left to play into ideas of patriotic identity: “Traditionally, the hard left has been internationalist and inclusive. It’s harder to develop a form of patriotism that’s not exclusionary, if you take the UK, the Conservatives, they present themselves as patriots and often there’s a racial element to that sometimes, a counter to that from the left could be that they’re not really patriots.
“They tend to support big business or capital and in practice that often means selling off of national industry, a lot of the infrastructure, like trains, are owned by non-British companies, so it’s not inconceivable if the left wanted to develop a kind of patriotism that is something they could tap into, a patriotism that’s not related to what your ethnicity or race is but around ownership. Even that though is a slightly slippery slope, a lot of the left are averse to that, they see themselves as an internationalist vision.”
Examining the centre-left, Choat notes the “golden age” for democratic socialism is generally considered to be the 30 year period after the Second World War, which he describes as “a monumental and unprecedented catastrophe basically.”
He explains people came together to fight fascism in the war and a sense of community in the war effort, but due to the devastation caused, “you can’t and you wouldn’t want to re-create those conditions.”
Leader of Spanish Vox, Santiago Acascal
Richards and Duffy both agreed that individuals don’t all join extremist parties for the same reason. It cannot all be judged to be due to psychological issues or brainwashing, Richards admits there is sometimes “political rationale” involved.
Duffy agrees that psychological tools are used but points out “everyone uses psychological tools”, and that psychology alone cannot explain why people join extremist groups. Some join because of a genuinely held world view that gets through to them, Duffy explaining: “In times of economic uncertainty or identity uncertainty, it looks like they are winning the argument,” he says, before later adding: “We need to stop these people winning the argument”.
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He rejects the idea that everyone is an extremist because of nature, and that nurture plays a role too explaining, “there are people with a predisposition to violence and if they’re given a political framework to commit violence, they would do so without hesitation”. Two British far-right groups, National Action and Sonnenkreig Division, have been proscribed as terror groups by the government, reflecting the growing threat these groups have.
Richards summarises: “Extremist groups in the UK and some other European countries are marginal, but the problem is in too many countries, they are not marginal.”
*Data only considers parties that have won seats since 2000.
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