Radio FM4

Kate Farmer

Cutting to the chase

Alle Stories

Erstellt am: 21. 1. 2015 - 15:09 Uhr

"The end of politics as we know it"

Reality Check: the pending political earthquake, State of the Union address, the rise of Boko Haram, death of Argentine prosecutor, 1000+ coffees and karaoke in North Korea.

This year, there will be at least 10 general elections in European countries. That is to say, 10 are planned at the moment. Of course, there may be more if and when governments fall and snap elections are held.

EPA/SOTIRIS BARBAROUSIS

Alexis Tsipras and the Syriza party could provide the first upset of the year

Greece kicks off this voting bonanza on Sunday, in an election which is likely to see the populist Syriza party take the largest share of the votes. As they are promising to renegotiate the EU bailout, that will make for some interesting shuffling around on the political stage.

EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Controversial UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, is hoping to turn popular support into seats in May

All eyes are also on the UK - which will vote in early May, or maybe a little sooner - and there the right wing populist party, UKIP, is threatening to upset the balance of power.

All over Europe, populist parties are garnering more and more support, and according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, it heralds the end of politics as we know it.

Plus ça change

Since the end of WW2, the European political landscape has been dominated by large centre left and centre right parties, and/or coalitions involving centrist blocks. The result has been stagnation, and an increasingly wide gulf opening up between the political elites of those established parties and the voters.

Political party membership is plummeting as successive governments in different countries prove over and over again that whichever party you vote for, you end up with much the same in terms of government. Some voters are giving up and staying at home, others are switching to the populist parties who are at least showing an interests in the concerns of the voters, and even coming up with some policies to address them.

Real change in the wind

How all this plays out if and when the populist parties get into power remains to be seen, but Joan Hoey of the Economist Intelligence Unit is convinced that after 2015, the European political landscape will be changed forever.