Far-right wins big in European elections

MONDAY 26 MAY 2014

Far-right and anti-Europe parties claim maor !ictories across the continent -
is this the turning o" the tide#
France, the Netherlands and Hungary have joined the UK in giving formidable
backing to anti-establishment parties, as eurosceptic and far-right movements
made huge gains in yesterday'suropean elections!
"entre-left and centre-right parties #ill remain the dominant force in uropean
politics by keeping control of about $% per cent of the $&' seats in the uropean
(arliament, but the number of eurosceptics #ill more than double!
)n France, *arine +e (en's anti-immigration and anti-euro National Front #on a
,uarter of the vote, in #hat French (rime *inister *anuel -alls called a political
.earth,uake.!
$he people ha!e spo%en loud and clearMarine Le Pen, leader of
France's National Front party
The extreme-right Jobbik party came second in !ngary "hile the anti-
immigration far right People's Party topped came top in #enmark$
%loser to home, the &' (ndependence Party clinched )*$+ per cent of the
,ote and )- M.Ps, p!shing Labo!r and the %onser,ati,es into a tight fight
for second place "hile the Liberal #emocrats sa" the biggest decline
among the ma/or parties, "inning /!st one seat$
Fe"er than half of the -00 million .!ropeans eligible to ,ote did so, leading
to a t!rno!t of /!st 1-$2 per cent - only /!st abo,e the lo" of 1- per cent
posted in )334$
Disenchantment gro&s
Le Pen's party beat President Francois ollande's r!ling 5ocialists into third
place in France, after recording a big rise in the ballot to )1$4+ per cent
from 6$- per cent in )334$
7The people ha,e spoken lo!d and clear,7 Le Pen said$ 7They no longer "ant
to be led by those o!tside o!r borders, by .& commissioners and
technocrats "ho are !nelected$7
&kip's leader Nigel Farage hailed the res!lt as a 7historic7 "in for his party,
claiming it is no" the 7third force7 in 8ritish politics$
The party took a s!rprise seat in 5cotland as Labo!r "as p!shed back to
)+$1 per cent and the %onser,ati,es )1 per cent, "hile the Liberal
#emocrats sa" their pre,io!s nine-seat tally slashed by eight$
(n 9ermany and (taly, t"o of .!rope's biggest co!ntries by pop!lation, the
pro-.!ropean centrist parties took the b!lk of the ,otes, altho!gh 9ermany
ret!rned its first neo-Na:i M.P from the far-right National #emocratic party
of 9ermany$
(talian Prime Minister Matteo ;en:i's s!pporters "on o,er -+ per cent of the
ballot, claiming the biggest ,ictory for any centre-left party in the co!ntry
and "inning a strong mandate for economic reforms$
(n the Netherlands, the e!rosceptic and anti-(slam party r!n by 9eert
<ilders - the .!rosceptic #!tch Freedom Party - performed belo"
expectations b!t still finished /oint second behind the pro-.!ropean
opposition party$
(n 8elgi!m, a party that "ants to dissol,e the co!ntry "as the main "inner$
The Ne" Flemish =lliance "on abo!t 03 per cent of ,otes$
The pro-.!ropean %i,ic Platform "on a third of ,otes cast in Poland, b!t the
e!rosceptic Ne" ;ight did better than predicted by "inning *$2 per cent$
8!t going against the grain, ,oters in 5pain largely backed pro-.!ropean
parties, "hile gi,ing strong s!pport to anit-a!sterity left-"ing parties$
5pain's r!ling Pop!lar Party and the opposition 5ocialist Party ran each
other close b!t ha,e lost o!t to parties making the most of discontent at
a!sterity policies p!shed by other .!ropean co!ntries$