We need to talk about Europe

Last week Counterpoint released the short film We need to talk about Europe on the risks of populism in Europe. The film is part of our project Recapturing Europe’s Reluctant Radicals, a combination of quantitative and qualitative research aimed at identifying the different layers of support for populist parties across Europe. The project has challenged the common assumption that support for populist parties comes exclusively from those considered the ‘usual suspects’ – male voters who tend to be young and unemployed and who have openly racist views. Instead, we argue that the vote for populist parties has increased over the last decade as a result of the support of other groups within the electorate who find populist parties attractive. These groups of voters can and should be brought back to the fold.