This site requires JavaScript for certain functions and interactions to work. Please turn on JavaScript for the best possible experience.<br>Subscribe to The Parliament<br>Follow us:<br> By <a href="/news/author/matt-lynes">Matt Lynes</a> <br>Matt Lynes is commissioning editor, special projects & opinion at The Parliament Magazine<br>13 Jan 2025<br> <a target="_blank" class="icon icon--x" href="https://x.com/@mattjlynes"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" shape-rendering="geometricPrecision" text-rendering="geometricPrecision" image-rendering="optimizeQuality" fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" viewbox="0 0 512 462.799"><path fill-rule="nonzero" d="M403.229 0h78.506L310.219 196.04 512 462.799H354.002L230.261 301.007 88.669 462.799h-78.56l183.455-209.683L0 0h161.999l111.856 147.88L403.229 0zm-27.556 415.805h43.505L138.363 44.527h-46.68l283.99 371.278z"/></svg> @mattjlynes</a> <br>Supporters of the European far right are looking more youthful lately. In a noticeable shift, Generation Greta has made way for the Bande de Bardella — as in Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN). <br>Whether it's in the European Union’s second-biggest member or smaller ones, young voters appear more receptive to right-wing messaging. <br>France is a particularly noteworthy case. RN, which has worked to distance itself from its fascist roots, has made inroads into ideological territory traditionally held by the left — staking a claim to defending worker rights, pensions and quality of life for average citizens. Those young enough to have long and uncertain careers ahead of them have responded in kind. <br>Ahead of last year’s European elections, more than 30% of Gen Z voters expressed their <a href="https://www.ifop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/120636-Presentation-ANACEJ-16.05.2024v2.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">intention</a> to vote for RN. The party was able to capitalise on the generation’s backing during snap national elections later that summer, winning 32% of the18-to-25-year-old vote in the first round. <br>That marked a doubling of support from this age group compared to the 2022 presidential election. <br>The shift may have something to do with disillusionment. A study in France suggested that 31% of under-35s believe there are better systems of governance than democracy. That is a higher percentage than respondents in other age groups. Barely half of under-35s <a href="https://www.lecese.fr/sites/default/files/pdf/Avis/2024/2024_17_RAEF_2024.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">agreed</a> that voting is an effective way to express dissatisfaction. <br>“If you feel that your life is not getting better and your family and friends’ lives are not getting better, then it’s normal you might start questioning the system that is producing those results,” Omran Shroufi, a far-right researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, told <em>The Parliament</em>. <br>Far-right parties are surging across Europe. In many cases, it’s older generations keeping them from becoming even more powerful. <br>In Austria, the far-right and Russian-friendlier Freedom Party (FPÖ) is on the<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/challenges-austrias-far-right-faces-coalition-talks-2025-01-09/"> cusp of taking power</a>, after coalition talks led by the centre-right party collapsed. The negotiations stem from September’s election, when the FPÖ took home <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/30/austria-election-talks-forming-government-far-right-freedom-party-win" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">27</a>% of the under-34 vote, up seven percentage points from 2019. <br>It’s a similar scene in neighbouring Germany. In three state-level elections last year, one-in-three Germans under the age of 34 <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-afd-is-winning-over-germanys-youth/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">voted</a> for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which German authorities classify partly as an extremist group. In Belgian local elections in October, 22% of Gen-Z Flemish voters <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1260118/one-fifth-of-young-flemish-people-vote-vlaams-belang" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">supported</a> the Flemish Nationalist Party (VB). <br>Gender among the young also plays a role, with more men than women shifting to the right in many of these elections. <br>This has all happened in span of a single European election cycle — in 2019, younger voters turned out in large numbers for Green parties — but a lot has happened in a short amount of time. <br>The Covid pandemic took its toll in more ways than one. The far right jumped on concerns regarding socioeconomic security. RN, for example, proposed <a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/presidentielle-2022/legislatives-2022/rassemblement-national/exonerer-les-jeunes-de-moins-de-30-ans-dimpot-sur-le-revenu/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">scrap</a><a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/presidentielle-2022/legislatives-2022/rassemblement-national/exonerer-les-jeunes-de-moins-de-30-ans-dimpot-sur-le-revenu/">ping</a> income tax for under-30s.<br>“[Young people] want to see young people as candidates on lists as well as MEPs in the parliament, so young people feel represented, and they recognise themselves in politics,” Laure Verstraete, a board member of the European Youth Forum, an advocacy group, told <em>The Parliament</em>. <br>In that light, it helps that RN gave Bardella — a member of the European Parliament and chair of the Patriots for Europe group — a leading role. His youthful presence, online and off, has helped give the party an in with younger generations. Two-million people follow Bardella on TikTok, which skews young. <br>"It's mostly young people who no longer believe in what the left said because they are still very much affected by social problems,” Jean-Paul Garraud, a European lawmaker from RN, told <em>The Parliament</em>. “Beyond Jordan Bardella, we have entrusted big responsibilities to many young people.” <br>At the same time, many left-wing movements have been splintering. Germany’s Die Linke may not surpass the 5% hurdle required to hold seats in the Bundestag, the German parliament, in early elections taking place in February. Sahra Wagenknecht, a former Left MP, has <a href="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/how-the-far-left-could-limit-farright-gains-in-the-european-elections">founded her own party</a>, taking a lot of support with her. <br>Climate change is a <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/06/10/what-went-wrong-for-the-eu-election-losing-greens-and-liberals" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">less compelling</a> political issue than it was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/20/france-to-shut-down-climate-protest-group-citing-public-safety-risks" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">a few years ago</a>, and this is reflected by support for parties championing environmental concerns. Les Écologistes in France, for instance, lost eight seats in the European Parliament. <br>This shift, though notable, is not an avalanche. Most young people, like all groups, have stuck with a range of more centrist parties. There are also a few counterpoints. Italy’s Greens <a href="https://www.eunews.it/en/2024/05/13/european-elections-two-out-of-three-young-people-in-italy-ready-to-vote/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">got a boost</a> in European elections. Denmark’s Socialistisk Folkeparti, a green-left party founded in 1959, picked up an <a href="https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/denmark/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">extra</a> seat. <br>Left-of-centre parties elsewhere hope to have the same good fortune, as 2025 promises yet more election upheaval. Germany, where the AfD is polling second, will be an early test. <br>Despite its poor prospects, Die Linke isn’t counting itself dead yet. <br>“We have trained many teams across Germany in recent years who are now ready to talk to voters at their doorsteps and in their neighbourhoods,” Martin Schirdewan, Die Linke’s co-leader in the EP, told <em>The Parliament.</em> <br>Read the most recent articles written by <b>Matt Lynes</b> - <a href="/news/article/from-security-to-schengen-polands-presidency-priorities">From security to Schengen: Poland’s presidency priorities</a> <br>Tags<br>Categories<br><strong>Subscribe to The Parliament</strong><br><span class="btn btn--yellow btn--xsmall">Subscribe now</span><br>Registered in England & Wales under No. 07291783<br>© Political Holdings Limited <script>document.write(new Date().getFullYear());</script><br><br><a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi4AFBVV95cUxPTnZkMC1XekE4ZVNCX2dzdDJ2YkthZmxKZWlIcE5tUk5oLUhUdVc3UXRBZlZrdXhWZGdvZF9TQnluNjJwZW04NGx4Wnp0R1V0S3BxZF9haDRFcVlhZTRpT2hFMHdpTzljYVhnWXlSUDBuSkM2ZTE1Tk5pdHA4QWZhRlVzZ2ZSMndsREM0OFItc3ZOX2tBbjd4S3JvbUhQUjVRS01LRGtYcnhuVURMSm5JVWJFMWNDNGF1R3llUHo3TU93MFRjZzBkU2k4MGtlTFRTQkJqTE9uZ0o1Qm9aVzNBOA?oc=5">source</a>
