Far-right parties now attract nearly a quarter of European voters, research shows

Almost one in four voters in Europe now cast their ballot for far-right parties, research shows, a proportion that has grown nearly fivefold since the mid-1990s and climbed particularly steeply over the past three years. [...] Far-right populist parties are now in government as part of ruling coalitions in Croatia, Czechia, Italy and Finland, propping up a right-wing minority government in Sweden, and, the analysis finds, leading in the polls in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the UK. [...] "It’s important to emphasise this isn’t a sudden thing," Rooduijn said. "It’s been under way for decades, and accelerating recently." [...] The experience of countries such as Hungary, Poland and the US shows that when far-right populists gain power, democracy itself can come under pressure. [...]