The State of Populist Parties in Europe in 2019

For many commentators, the European Parliamentary elections in 2019 provided a chance to assess the state of populist parties in the EU. But the nature of these elections means that while they provide a useful comparative snapshot of the state of the parties, they do not necessarily provide a reflection of the real status of the populists in their own political systems. This paper therefore provides an overview of 27 EU member states and 3 non-member states (Norway, Switzerland and the UK) in which we examine the state of populist parties within their own party systems. We identify the parties that are populist, assess their support levels, outline their issue agenda, and assess their overall impact on their national party systems. The paper provides a summary for each country and concludes with comparative reflections that cut across the cases that allows us to both see the diversity within populism as well as allow generalisation on the state of European populism in 2019.