Populist Politics and the ‘Radical Right’ in 2014 Elections

Abstract

The European Parliament elections in 2014 ended in momentous gains throughout the continent for several groupings that have explicitly questioned the form, and even the very existence, of the European Union (EU) itself. This growth in discontentment presents a potentially formidable challenge to the integrationist agenda that has hitherto largely prevailed in Brussels. The orthodoxy that states could achieve so much more by working closely together is now under threat. So it is perhaps somewhat paradoxical that what are often labelled ‘Eurosceptics’, or self-identify as ‘Eurorealists’, have exploited the European Parliament as a major campaigning platform from which to express themselves. Moreover, these parties have achieved representation and thereby gained practical resources that have in turn helped them further mobilize support within their respective member states. Perhaps one of the few comforts for adherents to what was once the seemingly hegemonic Europhile consensus that still dominates the Council of Ministers and European Commission is that the various sceptical forces ranged against them are ideologically divided and agree on little save their desire to hasten the end of the euro, the EU or both. This chapter considers messages produced and disseminated by the various sceptical parties during the 2014 elections, specifically through examination of their own political advertisements. The primary focus is on parties that have been labelled as ‘radical right’. The rise to prominence and 2014 campaigns by leading members of these tendencies will be discussed, with a focus on the Freedom Party of Austria, the UK Independence Party and the Hungarian nationalist Jobbik.