By Nicholas Rogers
Since the beginning of the decade, it has been undeniable observed that political parties with more radical policies than the traditional conservative Right have emerged across Europe. The European Elections of 2014 entrenched this newfound popularity, with anti-European parties winning or making significant gains in Britain, France and Hungary amongst many others. Since the elections, these parties have generally maintained their levels of support if not increased them, and consequently it would appear inevitable that a populist Right wing party would win a European national election to challenge the establishment. On 25th January in Greece, the complete opposite happened.
SYRIZA, a Coalition of the Radical Left had been pressuring the pro-austerity government in Greece for several years to end dealing with the ‘troika’ (EU, IMF and ECB), deliver a reduction of Greek debt (which stands at roughly 175% of GDP) and protect the Greek working class man. Naturally given none of the European member states’ governments are interested in breaking down the austerity status quo on the continent, the New Democracy right of centre administration ignored the demands, and now it has proven to their peril. In the January election SYRIZA won 149 seats of the 300 member parliament, only two short of a majority. Now in coalition with ANEL, a Right wing anti-European party, SYRIZA has commenced negotiations with European Union member states over the Greek debt.
Is SYRIZA’s electoral success then representative of Left surge in European politics in the same way that the European Elections were of the Right? Probably not. Currently the only other country in Europe with a coherent radical Left party with significant electoral backing is Spain’s Podemos. Founded only last year, the far Left party has soared through the polls to rival the traditional centre Left and Right parties on similar policies to SYRIZA. However, with the next Spanish general election over ten months away, it remains to be seen whether the party can maintain its electoral polling as an outsider breaking Spanish politics.
Beyond Spain and Greece however, the rise of the Left simply is not visible. At most in the UK, talk has arisen over the ‘Green Surge’ from the extremely far Left Green Party. However, this counteracted by a deficit of constituencies to be elected in (Britain using a majoritarian First Past the Post System), a lack of appeal beyond students, the ability to still be polled consistently polled at 3-5% of the vote 5 months out from a General election and the collapse of their flagship ‘living wage’ policy only last week. Liberal democrat parties have also been suffering politically across Europe, especially in Britain and Germany where in the former they won one seat despite being in national the government and in the latter has ceased to be represented in the Bundestag.
It is therefore quite clear that far Left wing politics in Europe is going to be limited to Greece, and at most, Spain as well. But with UKIP polling up to 25% of the vote in Britain, Marine le Pen polling to win the French presidential elections against Hollande, it is now in the realm of possibility that the rise of the Right will dictate the future of Europe.
Nicholas Rogers, class of 2016, is a Political Anthropology major from London in the UK.
