Europe’s Right-Wing Is Adopting the Left’s Look
From Italy to the UK, the fact that conservative parties are attracting more women and minorities to their top ranks should be a warning to their rivals.
Tory leaders Kwarteng and Truss are the new face of Britain’s right-wing.
Photographer: Stefan Rousseau — WPA Pool/Getty Images
In the US, pundits are predicting that a wave of women voters outraged by the recent Supreme Court decision on abortion will help Democrats retain control of the Senate, and possibly even the House. They may be right. But a closer look at right-wing politics in Europe should give Democratic strategists pause.
Across Europe and the UK, women and minorities are increasingly populating the top ranks of hard- and far-right parties. Italy’s next prime minister will be Giorgia Meloni, leader of the populist Brotherhood of Italy, a party with fascist roots. British Prime Minister Liz Truss fancies herself an even tougher version of Margaret Thatcher, though so far with limited success. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is now the largest opposition group in France’s National Assembly.