European elections 2014 Follow

The recent Euro and local elections showed the left making major advances and gave proof of a substantial process of radicalisation in the Irish working class. For more than 80 years politics in the Republic of Ireland was dominated by two Tory parties, Fianna Fail (FF) and Fine Gael (FG). The lead was played by...

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” So wrote the Irish poet W B Yeats as he surveyed the turmoil across Europe in 1919. It would be an exaggeration to say that Yeats words fit Europe’s political situation in the wake of the European elections. The centre is holding but the fraying at numerous edges...

The shock results for Ukip are dragging mainstream politics further to the right, including the Labour Party. Mark L Thomas argues that this can only give a further boost to the racists.

The European elections saw a huge victory for the fascist Front National (FN) in France. The FN came out on top with 25 percent of the votes. This is the first time in its history it has secured first place in a nationwide poll. This is a terrible setback and an urgent call to action....

The big winner of the EU elections in Denmark was the right populist Danish People’s Party. With 26.6 percent of the votes it became the biggest party and doubled its MEPs from two to four. Surprisingly, the two centre-left government parties lost only a few votes and won 25.6 percent. Even more surprisingly, the left...

The Euro and local elections have confirmed that the surge in support of the left wing Syriza was not a flash in the pan. But the party is now shifting to the right.

The election of five MPs from the anti-capitalist Podemos (“We Can”) in Spain has rocked the political establishment. Formed only four months ago, Podemos won a staggering 1.2 million votes – mostly from young people who do not usually vote, but also from many working class voters disillusioned with the social democratic PSOE. With the...