Spain “has started a new political cycle”, announced the leader of the Spanish People’s Party after the victory of the right-wing party in the regional and municipal elections on Sunday, May 28, at the expense of the ruling Socialist Party.
By putting the People’s Party at the head of the regional and municipal elections, the Spaniards are following a political trend that is on the rise in Europe: the righting of the political chessboards. The phenomenon is particularly visible in the north of the continent: Norway, which moved to the left a year and a half ago, is an exception.
In Finland, after the defeat of Social Democrat Prime Minister Sanna Marin, four right-wing formations, are in negotiations to form a government. Among them: the party of the Finns, of the extreme right. In Sweden, the far right also joined the government coalition after its success in the September 2022 legislative elections, where it won 20% of the vote, establishing itself as the second political force in the country and the first on the right.
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In Denmark, Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen chose to form a grand coalition government with two right-wing parties after she had won an absolute majority in the November 2022 legislative elections. The alliance is described as historic with the main formation of the Danish right, the Liberal Party and the Moderates, a new small centrist party founded by the former liberal Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
In Latvia, the far right has won several government portfolios. In the center of Europe, Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party has been in power for almost eight years. Same thing in Hungary, with Viktor Orban and his Fideszs since 2010. In the south, in Greece, the ballot for the first round of legislative elections on May 21 was won by the right. Will the second round on June 25 allow the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who came to power in 2019, to lead the government again?
Italy has been ruled since last fall by the right-extreme right coalition headed by Giorgia Meloni. Portugal remains led by a socialist government, like its Spanish neighbor, suspended until the early legislative elections in less than two months.
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