In one of the biggest political realignments since the end of World War II, far-right populists are threatening to eclipse Europe’s once-powerful conservative parties. In Britain, Nigel Farage’s party Reform UK is peeling away large numbers of Tory voters with a tough line on immigration and climate policies, while courting traditionally left-wing supporters with an interventionist economic pitch.
In the US, Donald Trump has succeeded in his hostile takeover of the Republican party of Ronald Reagan. At the same time, Canada’s Pierre Poilevre and Australia’s centre -right opposition leaders Peter Dutton trumpeted populist policies and not only lost elections but also their own seats.
What explains the rise of populist insurgencies on the right spectrum of opinion? Are we witnessing the end of centre-right parties across the western world? Is western politics, far from being characterised by the old left-right ideological divide between capital and labour, now defined around identity issues, many of which are shaped by values? How enduring are these trends likely to be?
