Far-right parties and the 2024 European elections

Abstract

The inspiration for this topic stems from the interest in the rise of far-right political parties in Europe, especially in the context of the 2024 European Parliamentary Elections. The literature review establishes a conceptual framework, defining far-right parties and outlining their core beliefs. It situates the study in a broader context by discussing predictions proposed by the European Council on Foreign Relations, the contrasting outcomes, and the political coalitions in which the European Parliament operates. It also highlights recent political developments, and identifies key themes and narratives of such parties, and justifies the need for the study. Moreover, the increased use of social media and AI was shown in the run-up to the election, how certain politicians such as Jordan Bardella can use for their advantage. The methodology outlines how the study employs a qualitative, document-based approach, using a thematic analysis to explore relevant literature. Relevant literature includes political manifestos, academic journals, news articles and reports. The analysis focuses on Fratelli D’Italia in Italy and the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. The main aim is to provide a more detailed and comprehensive examination of their political strategies, ideologies, rather than employing a broader, but less extensive analysis. From this section, results showed how far-right parties are able to strategically rebrand themselves to appeal to a broader audience. The increased use of social media has shown, how both parties leveraged social media for their campaigns to increase voters. Personal branding was a critical tool towards ‘normalising’ their agendas, making them look more appealing and accessible. The core themes identified from the manifestos were national sovereignty, opposition to regulation overreach, anti-immigration rhetoric, and conservative social values. Despite different national contexts, the far-right parties are unified by a populist, anti-establishment, conservative agenda, framed in more acceptable language. Moreover, the analysis explored how the so called mainstream political parties are adapting to this challenge, in particular to how they performed in the 2024 EU election. The findings underscore the growing influence of far-right movements in European politics and suggest that their normalisation poses a complex challenge for the future of the EU’s political cohesion and democratic framework.