The Rise of Far Right Populism (Part 1): What Is Populism?

As Keir Starmer’s premiership nears its end after only two years in office, it is possible to begin assessing how the past two years of UK politics have marked a shift in the country’s party system - from the long-standing dominance of two major parties towards an increasingly fragmented, multi-party landscape.

The last two years have seen the considerable rise of the Green Party and Reform, with the Reform party becoming the most popular party in the UK according to YOUGOV. Despite their opposing positions on the political spectrum and vastly polarising policy positions, they share a common ground. Both parties represent a populist movement.

It can be argued that Britain's political setting in the last 2 years has become a feeding ground for populist groups and parties to build up the support of disenfranchised voters to create a movement against those already in power. But what is this populist movement and how can it be explained?

In this addition of The Informed Generation we look into what populism is and track the global rise of populist parties.

Populism is a thin centred ideology or movement that claims to represent the interests of ordinary people especially against the so-called establishment. Populism frames politics as a struggle between the virtuous, unified “people” and the self interested, corrupt "elite". It tends to claim that legitimate authority stems from the will of the people, often positioning itself against the traditional, pre-existing political institutions. 

Populism is not a new idea with a range of political movements across the 20th century being spearheaded by populist leaders. One of the most pertinent examples of this is Juan Peron. Peron was the president of Argentina across 3 terms in the mid 20th Century serving for 10 years. His political movement, Peronism, was built upon charismatic leadership, a direct appeal to the working class and a blend of nationalism and broad social welfare policies. He is often considered as the quintessential 20th Century populist leader. 

Juan Peron: president of Argentina for 10 years across 3 terms

Since these preliminary modern populists rose to power in the mid 20th century, the movement of populism has changed and grown consistently in popularity. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has found that following the cold war the number of populists leaders in power has increased fivefold. 

The institute's report goes on to find that populism, and in particular right wing populism, has risen to what is now a 30 year high. From a domestic viewpoint the rise of the reform party, its predecessors and others such as Restore encapsulates this increase. 

Populism as a political theory is not inherently left or right wing. Instead, it describes a political approach that can be adopted by parties across the political spectrum. While right wing populism has grown in popularity over the last 30 years, there have been many examples of populist parties with more socialistic values, such as Hugo Chavez who adopted large scale government intervention and socialist economic policies.

Modern political far right populism is characterised still by the conventional division between the “people” and the “elite” but a new sense of nationalistic ideals. While traditional far right movements such as early 20th century facism focus often on explicitly racist or ethnic nationalist values, many modern far right populists justify exclusion using a “civilisational” narrative that aims to protect liberal democratic values and freedom of speech from external threats such as immigration.

This increase of right wing populism seen in the UK is coupled with a surge in other developed European countries. In France Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right National Rally, now leads overwhelmingly in polls ahead of the 2027 presidential elections. The Alternative for Germany (AFD) party has seen similar success now also polling first with over 29% of predicted votes. In Austria the Freedom Party of Austria holds a record breaking lead in the polls despite an unconventional formation. The party had originally consisted of many former members of the Nazi party with their inaugural leader being an ex SS officer. The group won the most votes in the Austrian 2024 election yet were unable to form a majority. 

As of 2026, far-right parties remain in government across five EU member states - Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. The Netherlands saw the right wing PVV party form a governing coalition in 2024 before collapsing just a year later and Hungary only recently voted out Viktor Orban who had operated as a far right populist leader for 16 years. Overall, Sciencespo suggests that across Europe 23% of people now vote for a far right party. 

This electoral shift towards far right parties comes at a cost to traditional centre left and centre right politics, with voters moving away from mainstream parties to right wing populist groups.

Source LSE Blogs: Understanding right - wing populism and what to do about it.

What this list of emerging and established far right populist dominance represents is a shift in political landscape and voter behaviour. Populist parties have previously seen success in developing and third world democracies but now they are becoming increasingly popular within developed countries with established governments. 

One reason for this is economic instability. Since 2008 European economies have stagnated consistently. EU labour productivity now sits at 82% of the US level, with the European Union's share of global GDP falling from 25.3% in 1990 to 16.2% in 2024. In the UK GDP per capita sits £11,000 below pre 2008 predicted trends with the UK ranking 51st on income per person when compared against all 50 US states + UK. 

Not only does stagnating economies increase the pressure on working class people disproportionately compared to richer, more elite classes, but the failure of governments to correct changes in growth provides an opportunity for populist leaders to attack the establishment and present them as incapable and unsuccessful. 

Therefore, as economies across Europe have failed to catch up with pre 2008 figures, working class people have become increasingly dissatisfied with incumbent governments and traditional parties. This has created a political landscape within which populists parties that aim to empower the working class and attack establishment politics can thrive. 

This however is only one potential explanation for the rise of far right populism across the UK and Europe. An in depth breakdown of varying factors will be explored in part 2/3 of The Informed Generations populism breakdown.