European elections: Centre left struggles to hold back surge from right

It is not all bad news for the left.

France’s Socialists have a new champion in Raphaël Glucksmann, who has emerged as a moderate, pro-European leader out of the collapse of an alliance of left-wing parties in French elections two years ago.

Moderates have long felt alienated by anti-capitalist Eurosceptic Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who for years has been the most prominent figure of the French left.

An MEP since 2019, Mr Glucksmann has no hope of catching Jordan Bardella’s National Rally, but he is challenging for second place with the centrist Renew list backed by President Emmanuel Macron.

Sweden’s Social Democratic Party is set to obtain 30% of the vote in June, and remains the largest party in Sweden, even though a centre-right coalition is in government.

But these are slim pickings for a movement that once dominated the European scene.

In the past 10 years the EU has gone through events that had the potential to strengthen the traditionally pro-European left – from Covid-19 to the war in Ukraine and the fight against climate change – once the importance of a joint European response became clear.

So too, the current cost of living crisis could have been an opportunity for left-wing politicians to argue for stronger welfare measures.

Part of the problem could be down to today’s leaders, commentators believe.

Olaf Scholz has faced accusations of dithering on Ukraine, while the head of Italy’s centre left, Elly Schlein, has been criticised for being too divisive.

“For a long time now, we haven’t seen great left-wing leaders like Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder or François Mitterrand,” argues Prof Lazar. “Now, when we think of leadership in Europe, we think of [Hungary’s Viktor] Orban, [Italy’s Giorgia] Meloni, [France’s Marine] Le Pen.”

That is why Raphaël Glucksmann in France has attracted so much interest from voters in a relatively short time, and why he’s promising supporters to be the “great, big surprise” of this election.