Geert Wilders party in the Netherlands has lost according to en exit poll from the main Dutch news broadcaster (NOS).
“The Telegraph” in the UK says it’s because Wilders linked himself to Marine Le Pen and the National Front in France instead of Nigel Farage and UKIP.
““The Telegraph” in the UK says it’s because Wilders linked himself to Marine Le Pen and the National Front in France instead of Nigel Farage and UKIP.”
Seems to be an interesting dynamic going on with the European right. The NF leans towards the more traditional, nationalist, sometimes quasi-fascist “far right” of Europe, but UKIP seems to have eschewed that in favor of something closer to American conservatism. I think this is the first time that we’ve really seen anything like that in European politics, and the fact that they are succeeding is a good sign.
I think if they continue to succeed, they can push out both the far right groups and the “moderate” left, “Christian Democrat” type parties. Hopefully, they won’t make the mistake of falling in with those groups just to form coalition governments, since that could be disastrous. They’ve got to make the old way of thinking obsolete, not be seduced by it.