European Parliament Elections thread jamboree

[OnDoutside]

14. EU elections: centrist groups expected to lose grip on power

The 40-year grip of the two main centrist political groups on the levers of power in Brussels looked set to be broken as voters in the European elections turned out in record numbers to bolster radical alternatives including the Greens and the far right.

A populist Eurosceptic surge failed to emerge on Sunday but they were on track to be returned to the European parliament in larger numbers than ever before, with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally celebrating a narrow symbolic victory over Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche in France.


EU election results 2019: across Europe
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There were also signs of major success for the Greens, with the party jumping from 50 MEPs in 2014 to as many as 71 across Europe, almost doubling their result in Germany from the previous election to leapfrog the Social Democratic party (SPD) into second place with 22%, the exit polls suggested.

As votes for the centre parties fall away, the results trigger a starting gun on what will be tortuous negotiations over the key jobs in the EU institutions, including Jean-Claude Juncker’s replacement as European commission president.

The makeup of the parliament will be used by the 28 heads of state and government to guide their choice of replacement for Juncker and his counterpart in the European council, Donald Tusk.

SNIP

The estimated results based on exit polls leave the centre-right European People’s party as the largest in the parliament, but down from 221 seats to 173.

The Socialists and Democrats group also appeared set to drop from 191 seats to 147, leaving the two main groups looking likely to need help from Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) with about 102 seats, bolstered by Macron’s En Marche, and the Greens to form a stable majority.

The European of Nations and Freedom group, which combines populist and far-right parties in countries including France and Italy, looked set to secure 57 seats, up 20 from five years ago.

Italy’s far-right League, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, is vying with Nigel Farage’s Brexit party as to which will be the biggest single party in the parliament, after polls suggested it would secure 27-31%, increasing its seats from 5 to 25.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/26/european-elections-centrist-parties-projected-lose-grip-power