Danish Right-Wingers Recruit Controversial Candidates, as Country Gets Ready for Elections

FILE PHOTO: Stram Kurs leader Rasmus Paludan © Reurters / Ritzau Scanpix

The rise of the right-wing in Europe may be a tired cliche at this point. However, a new Danish party has courted fresh controversy for hiring some distinctly un-PC candidates, as the country goes to the polls next month.

Stram Kurs (Hard Line) will run for election for the first time in June. The party pushes a combined message of small-government libertarianism and “ethnonationalist utilitarianism.” The latter translates as a ban on Islam, an immediate withdrawal from refugee conventions, and the deportation of all asylum seekers and any “non-western persons.”

The party also favors a crackdown on Danes who “help alien enemies undermine Denmark,” presumably charities and NGOs. Hungary’s Viktor Orban spearheaded a similar crackdown with his ‘Stop Soros Act’ last year.

Party leader Rasmus Paludan has drawn attention to himself with a number of high-profile stunts, like leading protest marches through Muslim ghettos, burning copies of the Koran, and encouraging his followers to draw pictures of the prophet Mohammed. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Ramussen has condemned Paludan’s publicity stunts as “meaningless provocations.”

Although anti-immigration and nationalist parties have gained ground in nearly 20 European countries since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2015, no mainstream organizations have dared call themselves “ethnonationalist.” Perhaps the closest mainstream analog to Stram Kurs is Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders’ Partij voor Vrijheid (Party for Freedom or PVV).

Like Stram Kurs, the PVV’s policies focus almost entirely on the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands, coupled with a smattering of small-government and tax-cutting initiatives. Like Wilders, Paludan has faced legal consequences for his speech, having been handed a 14-day jail sentence in April for alleged racism towards a spokeswoman for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Unlike Stram Kurs, the PVV has been a viable opposition party in the Dutch parliament for over a decade, and is currently the second-largest party in the Netherlands. Stram Kurs, meanwhile, is polling at just over two percent, beating only the country’s Christian Democrats and businessman Klaus Riskær Pedersen’s self-titled party.

FILE PHOTO: Danish police check vehicles on the country's German border in 2016 © Reuters / Fabian Bimmer

Controversial candidates

Still, the party has punched above its weight when it comes to grabbing newspaper headlines. On Wednesday, Paludan announced that 81-year-old professor Helmuth Nyborg will stand for election with Stram Kurs. Paludan said that Nyborg is “an internationally highly respected researcher” on IQ and cognitive ability. Opponents say Nyborg’s opinions on racial IQ differences are abhorrent.

“It goes without saying that if many people come to Denmark from countries where the inhabitants have a lower intelligence quotient, then over time we get a lower average intelligence quotient,” he told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2010.

Nyborg’s views and scientific background lend weight to an argument Paludan has made since he entered politics in 2017.

“The average in IQ in Somalians is much lower than in us,” Paludan told Ekstra Bladet last year. “It does not make them subordinates that on average they have poorer brains than Danes. There is just a difference between races – and there is no need to lie about it. There are many from Africa who do not understand very much because their IQ is 80.”

Isn't this the same argument Hitler used in promoting the Aryan race as superior? This is very dangerous ground!

Nyborg’s views are controversial, and the professor is currently facing academic discipline for a 2013 paper setting out those views entitled ‘The Decay of Western Civilization’. However, African and Middle Eastern countries have been ranked at the bottom of IQ tables, and some researchers have pinned the difference on race and genetics, albeit under intense criticism.

I have another suggestion - Islam!

A willing public?

How receptive is Denmark to an open ethnonationalist party that embraces controversial figures like Professor Nyborg? The answer is probably somewhat.

Unlike its uber-liberal neighbor Sweden, Denmark has reacted to the influx of refugees and migrants with increasing hostility. The coalition government – made up of the center-right Venstre and further-right Danish People’s Party – has passed laws requiring refugees to hand over jewelry and valuables to finance their stay, banned the burqa in public, and planned to ship rejected asylum-seekers to an uninhabited island in the Baltic sea.

“If you are unwanted in Danish society, you should not be a nuisance to ordinary Danes,” Immigration Minister Inger Støjberg stated when announcing the island plan. “They are undesirable in Denmark and they must feel it!”

Støjberg has been a key author of her government’s anti-immigration policies. In March 2018, she marked the passing of her 50th anti-immigration measure by celebrating with a cake decorated with fruit, the Danish flag, and the number ‘50’.

The government has also targeted settled immigrants, who it says often live in “parallel societies.” Last July, as part of a series of measures aimed at eradicating immigrant ghettos, the government announced tougher criminal penalties, lower benefits, and mandatory integration classes for those living in these neighborhoods.

Despite the anti-immigrant sentiment coming from the Danish government, voters are not so sure. The center-left Social Democrats are leading in the polls at 25 percent, compared to Venstre’s 20 percent and the Danish People’s Party’s 11.6 percent. The Social Democrats have begun to move further right on immigration, and as a result could have plenty of coalition-forming opportunities open with the center and center-right parties.

As long as Stram Kurs manage to capture more than two percent of the vote, the party looks set to enter parliament for the first time next month. In the runup to the election, the newcomers could push the existing right wing even further right – as nationalist party Vox did in Spain recently – or siphon the hardline vote away from the Danish People’s Party. Such a fragmentation of the right was also seen in Spain last month, and ultimately helped left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’ party consolidate its power in parliament.

Meanwhile, Paludan and Stram Kurs continue to grab column inches. The party also took on board as a candidate a prison guard who Paludan said can offer “professional knowledge of the consequences of immigration.”

As Paludan builds his anti-immigration dream team, next month’s elections will reveal whether the Danish electorate still wants to continue the country’s rightward shift. Asylum applications in Denmark dropped by 84 percent between 2015 and 2018, and without a cohort of immigrants to rail against, a return to centrism is not unlikely.

Politics is a Dirty Game in France Especially for Right-Wing Nationalists

The banks, the courts, parliament, the EU Parliament have for many years attempted to destroy Marine Le Pen. Is there some collusion? Is Deep State at work here? Whoever is behind the constant persecution does not have the best interests of France in mind.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation

Jonathon Gatehouse · CBC News 

Leader of France's far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment as it probes her posting of graphic images of Islamic State executions on social media. (Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)

Le Pen probe

A French court has ordered far-right leader Marine Le Pen to undergo a psychiatric assessment as it probes her decision to publish graphic images of Islamic State executions on social media.

The 50-year-old head of the National Front — recently rebranded as the National Rally — posted three gruesome photos on Twitter in December 2015 after a journalist told a French television program that her party shared a "community of spirit" with the extremist group.

"ISIS is THIS," Le Pen wrote in an outraged response to the accusation, attaching pictures of a man being burned alive, another being run over by a tank, and the headless corpse of American journalist James Foley.

French law prohibits the dissemination of "violent messages that incite terrorism or … seriously harm human dignity."

Le Pen, a former member of the European Parliament, was only put under formal investigation in March after that body voted to strip her of immunity as part of an unrelated fraud investigation. If convicted, she faces up to three years in jail and a fine of €75,000.

Today, Le Pen reacted angrily to the court's assessment order, posting a photo of the legal papers on her Twitter account and calling the decision "crazy."

Later, speaking to reporters, she suggested that the evaluation is part of a wider attempt to silence her and the party, and said that she will skip the tests.

"I'd like to see how the judge would try and force me do it," Le Pen said.

Legal experts were quick to point out that such an assessment is in fact required under the law to establish whether she suffers from any mental illness that might have diminished her capacity to understand what she was doing when she posted the images. The psychiatrist will also determine whether she poses a risk to herself or the public.

It's pretty obvious she was angrily responding to an imbecilic media person and not trying to influence anyone to commit terrorism. A sane person would think just the opposite, that she is trying to reduce terrorism by revealing just how horrific it is. 

Nevertheless, I think she should take the psyche exam as long as it is not with a government or court-appointed psychiatrist, but one of impeccable character. I also think the interview should be recorded and reviewed by a panel of reputable psychiatrists, at Le Pen's discretion.

Other European populists were quick to leap to her defence.

"A court orders a psychiatric assessment for Marine Le Pen. Words fail me! Solidarity with her and with the French who love freedom!" said Matteo Salvini, Italy's interior minister and leader of the far-right League party, in a statement.

The National Front/Rally and its leader have suffered a number of setbacks since Emmanuel Macron resoundingly defeated Le Pen in the run-off election for France's presidency in 2017.

The campaign posters of French presidential election candidates Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron are seen in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, in April 2017. Macron resoundingly defeated Le Pen in the run-off election for France's presidency. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

French banks, which had denied her requests for campaign loans, closed her personal and party accounts last fall. Le Pen denounced the moves as political "persecution."

And she has been ordered to repay almost 300,000 euros ($455,000 Cdn) to the European Parliament after an internal investigation determined that she improperly used her office budget to pay aides to do non-parliamentary work for the National Front.

Le Pen, who maintains that she did nothing wrong, is appealing the findings and has refused to pay up. But the EU has been playing hardball, garnishing her salary and obtaining a temporary order from a French court to stop her party from receiving €2.35 million in state subsidies.

The EU parliament is far-left in ideology with many in the pocket of George Soros, and it will do all that it legally can (not morally can) to destroy Le Pen and her chances of becoming France's next President. Liberal loonies are also watching the EU lean more and more to the right and are desperate to stop the rush of sanity.

Liberals hate populism. They are quite sure that they know far better than ordinary people what those people want and need.

"The investigating judges are applying a death sentence by confiscating our public grant," she complained in July.

A final decision will handed down Sept. 26.

Le Pen has been busy trying to turn all those controversies to her advantage and whip up public sympathy.

"Our political adversaries want us to fail," she told a rally in the the northern town of Hénin-Beaumont earlier this month. "And when I hear the president of the Republic say that the National Rally is not a political opponent but an enemy, I can only conclude that he is doing everything within his power to break us down, to make us disappear from the country's political life."

And Le Pen is already campaigning for next spring's European elections, trying to form alliances with other far-right parties and tap into "The Movement," a new Steve Bannon-organized venture to raise funds and support for European populists.

Le Pen and former U.S. President Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon give a joint press conference during the National Rally's annual congress on March 10 in Lille, north of France. (Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

The strategy may be working.

As Macron's popularity plummets amidst the scandal over his former bodyguard's physical assault of anti-government protesters, Le Pen's fortunes are rising.

A poll last month put the National Rally "coude à coude" with the president's En Marche party, both with 21 per cent support for the coming European vote.

Guide to Europe's Relentless Political Shift to Starboard

Guide to the right: Where and how the right wing is rising in Europe

© Aris Messinis / AFP

Italy has become the latest European country where a general election has brought about the rise of right-wing politicians, a trend that’s growing across the EU.

The European Union is moving to the right side of the political spectrum. While left-wing officials, analysts and media blame anything from Russian bots to uneducated voters, the trend has been becoming more pronounced as elections take place across the bloc. Euroskeptic, anti-immigration and nationalist outlooks seem to be ever more appealing to the public.

To help you find your way in the changing political landscape, here is a brief guide to the right-wing parties gaining clout in Europe: their agendas, leaders and the reasons of their success.

Italy

Italy voted on March 4, 2018 to elect lawmakers into both chambers of its parliament. At stake were the 630 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and 315 in the upper Senate. The result is projected to be a divided parliament, with a grand coalition necessary after immense gains for right-wing and anti-globalist forces.

The rising right

Lega (ex-Lega Nord) and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia pooled efforts in a center-right coalition that won about 31.4 percent of the vote for the lower house and 32 percent in the upper, to become the second-most powerful force in the Italian legislature.

With Italy on the receiving end of the overloaded cross-Mediterranean human smuggling routes, Lega’s anti-immigration message won it some 17.4 (17.6) percent, while the conservative Forza Italia and its controversial leader Silvio Berlusconi captured 14 (14.4) percent.

Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi wipes the sweat off Lega leader Matteo Salvini in Rome, Italy, March 1, 2018 © Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

The Five Star Movement, which ended up the largest single party with over 32 percent in both chambers, sports a wider, “big tent” ideology, sharing the right coalition’s Euroskeptic tendencies.

The losers

This deals a powerful blow to Italy’s Democratic Party and its center-left following, which only mustered some 18.7 percent of support in the lower house and 19.2 percent in the upper. Stunned by the setback, the Democrats’ leader, former prime minister Matteo Renzi, announced his resignation.

Austria

The October 15, 2017 election landed the Austrian government firmly in the hands of the right. Out of the 183 seats in the National Council, 113 ended up with the coalition lead by youngest-ever Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

The rising right

Austrian People’s Party (OVP) was the biggest gainer with 31.5 percent of the vote. Kurz’s own charismatic image, his promises of tougher immigration control and a pushback against “political Islam” were enough to tip the balance, making the People’s Party the single largest in the Council. While previously governing in a grand coalition with the rival Social Democrats, its new-found clout is now united with the more hardline Freedom Party.

The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) is riding on a strong anti-immigration message, promising tighter border security in a country with Europe’s highest number of incoming asylum seekers per capita, and facing a sharp rise in crime by foreigners. It sealed 26 percent of the vote and a comfortable coalition partnership with Kurz’s OVP.

Top candidate of the People's Party (OVP) Sebastian Kurz attends victory celebration in Vienna, Austria, October 15, 2017

© Dominic Ebenbichler / Reuters

The losers

Number-on-number, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) suffered no loss (the Greens bore the brunt of that), gaining 0.1 percent compared to 2013 (which did not translate into additional seats). The enormous blow it suffered came from the loss of coalition partner OVP, who decided to abandon the SPO’s pro-European, leftist agenda, resulting in a sharp turn to the right for the Austrian government.

Gains and losses

Austrian People’s Party (OVP): 62 seats (+15 from 2013)

Freedom Party of Austria (FPO): 51 seats (+11 from 2013)

Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO): 52 seats (no change from 2013)

Germany

Germans went to the polls on September 24, 2017, to decide the composition of the 709-member Bundestag. What resulted was over five months without a government, as former allies drifted away from long-time Chancellor Angela Merkel and her liberal-conservative, pro-European Christian Democratic political alliance (CDU/CSU). The limbo eventually ended when the leftist Social Democratic Party (SPD) grudgingly agreed to re-enter a grand coalition with Merkel, paving the way for her fourth term as chancellor. Both parties were set back in the vote, however, resulting in gains for the right wing.

The rising right

Alternative for Germany (AfD), while by no means securing a majority, made a massive breakthrough, making it into the legislature for the first time. Its 12.6 percent (almost a threefold gain from 2013) came at the expense of CDU/CSU and SPD, as more Germans flocked to AfD’s anti-immigration, anti-Islamization, Euroskeptic agenda, disappointed by Merkel’s “open door” policy and the flood of asylum seekers it brought to the country.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) party congress in Hanover, Germany December 2, 2017 © Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters

The losers

While still emerging on top at the end of the day, both the CDU/CSU were hit hard. Merkel’s alliance ended up with 32.9 percent of the vote and the Social Democrats with 20.5 percent, each losing a fifth of its seats.

Gains and losses

Alternative for Germany (AfD): 94 seats (+94 from 2013)

CDU/CSU: 246 seats (-65 since 2013)

Social Democratic Party (SPD): 153 seats (-40 since 2013)

The Netherlands

The 150-member Dutch House of Representatives ended up a pretty diverse place after the March 15, 2017 election. Right-wingers were among the biggest gainers, including the one-man party of hardline Euroskeptic Geert Wilders.

The rising right

Party for Freedom (PVV), run by Geert Wilders, came in second with 13.1 percent of the vote at the expense of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling party. Like many in this list, Wilders is a staunch opponent of unhindered immigration, the growing influence of Islam in Europe, and the political clout the EU has over individual countries. Wilders’ support had flagged back in the 2012 election, but his message proved relevant enough when the European migrant crisis began in 2015, propelling him back up in the polls again.

FILE PHOTO: Geert Wilders © Yves Herman / Reuters

The losers

The most striking loss hit the center-left Labor Party (PvdA), which, with only 5.7 percent support, suffered the biggest defeat in the history of Dutch elections. From second-largest party in 2012 it fell to near-obscurity with just nine seats.

Mark Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was set back by about a fourth of its seats after two elections with solid gains, ending up with 21.3 percent and the PVV breathing down its neck.

Gains and losses

Party for Freedom (PVV): 20 seats (+5 from 2012)

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD): 33 seats (-8 from 2012)

Labor Party (PvdA): 9 seats (-29 from 2012)

Hungary

The right wing has been in power in Hungary since Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz won a sweeping victory in 2010. The Hungarians are heading for a new poll in April 2018, and things are still looking good for the right.

The rising right

Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance, Orban’s conservative, center-right, Euroskeptic party, actually dipped in popularity in 2014, falling from 2010’s stellar 52.73 percent to 44.87 percent. Opinion polls show that support for Fidesz had been flagging, falling to below 40 percent, until 2015 and the unprecedented influx of Middle Eastern refugees into Europe.

FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban © Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

One of the most crowded land routes lay through Hungary, and Viktor Orban took a decidedly hardline stance against it, pushing back against EU-wide refugee quotas and building border barriers to limit illegal arrivals. This stance appeared to resonate well with the Hungarian public, resulting in a steady rise in Orban’s popularity. As of late February 2018, polls projected 52.9 percent in Fidesz’s favor – an even higher result than the 2010 landmark.

The losers

After the crushing defeat of 2010, the center-left, pro-European Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) scrambled to contest the 2014 vote, forming the Unity political alliance with four other liberal parties. Together, they only mustered 25.57 percent support, which was only a slight gain from what MSZP had achieved alone, and still almost 20 percent short of Fidesz. The alliance was soon disbanded. MSZP’s projections for 2018 look grim as well, with polls indicating under 12 percent support, and seven percent each for two of its closest-running Unity partners.

Gains and losses

Between the Unity’s brief existence and the 2012 constitutional reform, which cut the number of parliament seats in half, tracking changes in representation can be a challenge. Here are the 2014 numbers compared to 2010:

Fidesz: 133 seats out of 199 (a decrease compared to 263/386 in 2010)

Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP): 58 seats out of 199 together with Unity partners (a gain compared to 59/386 in 2010, but that was as MSZP standing alone)

Poland

Poland switched over to the right in October 2015, when conservative Law and Justice (PiS) surged to defeat the Civic Platform, reversing the government-opposition balance. This ultimately resulted in a rift with the EU which could now cost Warsaw its European Parliament voting rights.

The rising right

Law and Justice (PiS) has been steadily gaining votes since its creation in 2001 by the brothers Kaczynski. In 2015 it swept to power with 37.58 percent of the vote, almost doubling its seats in the Polish Sejm from the 2011 numbers. Not only is the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, a PiS member, but the President Andrzej Duda also hails from the party (although he has been officially independent since his election in 2015), giving the right significant clout in deciding Poland’s course. Duda’s approval rating stands at 72 percent, a record only broken by one other Polish leader before. PiS is also enjoying a continued rise in popularity, with February 2018 polls projecting a 43 percent result in the next election.

FILE PHOTO: Leader of Law and Justice party Jaroslaw Kaczynski © Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski / Reuters

PiS-led Poland has been fighting back against EU-enforced quotas on accepting refugees, only reluctantly agreeing to let in about half of the required number. It also earned the EU’s ire with a controversial 2017 judicial reform, which gives the parliament and the justice minister power to appoint Supreme Court judges. This has led to the European Commission initiating proceedings into stripping Poland of voting rights in the European Parliament. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has slammed the movement as overreach and an intervention in Poland’s internal affairs.

The losers

The liberal, pro-EU Civic Platform (PO) won 24.09 percent of the vote in 2015, a whopping 15 percentage-point drop since 2011, neatly reversing positions with PiS and going into opposition. As of February 2018, its standing in opinion polls has slid even lower, dipping below 20 percent.

Gains and losses

Law and Justice (PiS): 235 seats (+101 from 2011)

Civic Platform (PO): 138 seats (-59 from 2011)

Sweden

Sweden has two right-leaning forces, both currently in opposition: The Alliance headed by the center-right Moderates party, and the much more pronounced Swedish Democrats, operating alone.

The rising right

Swedish Democrats bagged 12.9 percent of the 2014 vote, more than doubling its influence in the national legislature. They are pushing for economic and political independence from the European Union, but perhaps the most relevant part of their message is that Sweden must not accept any more immigrants. The country is home to the violent crime hotbed of Malmo and the highest sex crime rates in Europe, which some critics link to mass immigration. The Swedish government has acknowledged that its refugee-accepting capacity has hit its limit.

FILE PHOTO: Sweden Democrats party leader Jimmie Akesson © Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency / Reuters

The losers

Sweden’s center-left ruling coalition, the Lofven Cabinet, is a minority government, with has 37.9 percent of popular backing across two parties. Their support remained virtually unchanged from 2010 to 2014. The Alliance, four parties with a combined 39.43 percent, lost about a fifth of its support. The Moderates, leading the alliance, have since abandoned their previously liberal stance on migration, calling for border controls, reduced welfare and stricter family reunification rules. They are now also floating the idea of uniting with the Swedish Democrats, previously shunned by other parties, to topple the minority government in the September 2018 election.

Gains and losses

Swedish Democrats: 49 seats (+29 from 2010)

Lofven Cabinet: 138 seats (+1 from 2010)

Moderates: 141 seats (-32 from 2010)

Switzerland

Switzerland last elected its 200-seat National Council and 46-seat Council of States in October 2015. The vote resulted in gains for both of the country’s right-leaning forces: the center-right Liberals and the more hardline People’s Party.

The rising right

Swiss People’s Party won 29.4 percent of the votes, breaking a 50-year record for the number of National Council seats held by any one party. Its key message includes a reduction of involvement in international blocs including the EU and NATO, and tougher immigration controls.

FILE PHOTO: A poster of Swiss People's Party (SVP) demanding to deport criminal foreigners in Zurich, Switzerland

© Arnd Wiegmann / Ruptly

The Liberals gained 16.4 percent, landing the third-largest representation. While standing for the integration of immigrants, they are opposed to Switzerland’s EU membership, instead supporting individual, two-sided agreements.

The losers

No single party suffered a dramatic setback – the 2015 vote chipped away a little at everyone except the People’s Party and the FDP. Their main rival, the left-wing Social Democrats, managed not to lose too much ground, remaining in second spot with 18.8 percent and only surrendering two seats.

Gains and losses

Swiss People’s Party: 70 seats (+11 from 2011)

FDP.The Liberals: 46 seats (+4 from 2011)

Social Democrats: 55 seats (-2 from 2011)

Denmark

Denmark’s 2015 general election witnessed the biggest rise for the country’s most right-wing party, and the biggest fall for the minority ruling party.

The rising right

The Danish People’s Party came in second with 21.1 percent of the vote, almost doubling its presence in the legislation. Its policies include preserving the Danish national identity by limiting multiculturalism and assimilating non-Western migrants. It wants Denmark to keep its own national currency and preserve its sovereignty from overreaching EU power.

Danish People's Party (DF) leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl at an election party in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 18, 2015

© KELD NAVNTOFT / SCANPIX DENMARK / AFP

The losers

The biggest loss was suffered by Venstre, the centerpiece of the ruling center-right coalition of Denmark. It came in third with 19.5 percent.

The center-left Social Democrats remained in opposition despite gaining the most votes at 26.3 percent.

Gains and losses

Danish People’s Party: 37 seats (+15 from 2011)

Social Democrats: 47 seats (+3 from 2011)

Venstre: 34 seats (-13 from 2011)

France

France differs from the rest of this list in that the right wing failed to make significant gains in the legislature in the 2017 vote. Instead, the same year’s presidential election brought to prominence a singular right-wing politician.

The rising right

Marine le Pen, the notorious leader of the hardcore right-wing National Front, ran for president in April and May 2017. Her agenda combined all of the staples of the European right, including Euroskepticism, economic nationalism, and anti-immigration. She outraged the liberal media by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when Moscow remains the West’s go-to bogeyman.

FILE PHOTO: National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen © Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters

In spite of all these factors, or perhaps thanks to them, Le Pen secured over 21 percent of the vote in the first round, right behind Emmanuel Macron and his 24 percent. Both proceeded to the run-off, where Macron managed to beat Le Pen with the consolidated backing of 66.1 percent against 33.9 percent. While not a victory in itself, it certainly sent a message: right-wing sentiment is creeping across Europe, upheaving the political landscape.