Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Far-right parties are surging across Europe — and young voters are buying in.

Many parties with anti-immigrant agendas are even seeing support from first-time young voters in the upcoming June 6-9 European Parliament election.

In Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and Finland, younger voters are backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, analyses of recent elections and research of young people’s political preferences suggest.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters. In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

The analysis also points to a split: While young women often reported support for the Greens and other left-leaning parties, anti-migration parties did particularly well among young men. (Though there are some exceptions. See France, below, for example.)

    • Flying Squid
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      811 months ago

      Which god?

      Because I’ve been cutting people’s hearts out on top of a pyramid to appease Huitzilopochtli and make sure the corn keeps growing every day for years now.

      Corn’s still growing.

      You’re welcome.

    • RedSeries
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      2211 months ago

      This level of delusion is usually reserved for people who huff aerosols.

    • @rusticus@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      If only we had a few more human sacrifices to appease God we might be more worthy.

      1000 BC called, they want their delusion back.

      Edit: Oh god, your post history lmao. The narcissist who fucks prostitutes, cheats on his spouses, steals money from taxpayers, lies every day. THAT is your sAviOr? You think Jesus would have a good opinion of Trump, the false prophet?

  • Echo Dot
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    3111 months ago

    Trust me you don’t want a conservative government. They won’t fix the problem they’ll just seek to line their own pockets and then by doing so make everything worse.

    • @tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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      1811 months ago

      This is not about conservatives, many of the countries listed here currently have or recently had conservative governments. The far right is a whole other level.

      • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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        1511 months ago

        Imagine letting conservatives ruin your economy and thinking “I need a more extreme version of this.”

        Propaganda is a hell of a drug…

        • @gerbler@lemmy.world
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          411 months ago

          Conservatives make the world worse, they get booted out and liberals fail to fix it, they get booted out and then people look for a “strong man” who can cut through red tape and fix things once and for all.

          The far right embodies that third person. An extra bonus of a far right rule is the Overton window lurches so far to the right that the conservatives can pretend to be centrist and the liberals pretend to be left-wing.

          • @John_McMurray@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yeah to anyone honest about what’s happening, it looks more like liberals fuck everything up, conservatives half ass repair stuff to some degree, liberals get back in and fuck it up even worse, conservatives make more half assed repairs but are unwilling to do what needs to be done because of liberal feel good fake altruism bullshit self serving sentiment. That’s when the nasty fuckers of the far right start getting support of the young.

            • @yeah@feddit.uk
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              211 months ago

              Whereas my perspective is that conservatives fuck things up then it swings left(ish) who can’t deliver recover enough before the conservatives get to fuck stuff up again while the media is heavily favouring the conservatives (fueling your narrative) and on the cycle goes. So the back and forth and left creeping to the middle (where they see success) leaves the far right as an alternative - and current rhetoric makes it less of an acceptable outlier.

  • Verdant Banana
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    -1511 months ago

    some younger people like me are not allowed to vote because of bipartisan policies and laws

    quit blaming us for everybody refusing to vote better people in

    not our fault y’all refuse to vote better

      • @Tinidril@midwest.social
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        11 months ago

        100% the fault of a political class that puts the needs of donors ahead of all else. Fascism has always been the result of neoliberalism. It’s absolutely predictable. The best and the worst ballot choices that most people have all lead to the rise of fascism.

        • TigrisMorte
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          511 months ago

          those whom you call “political class”, are in fact the representatives of the very wealthy, are only there as lots of Eligible Voters sat out prior elections, and the “political class”'s owners paid for the propaganda that convinced them to do so. Exact same bullshit they’ve sold to you in fact.

          • @Tinidril@midwest.social
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            211 months ago

            I’m not sure why you assume I don’t know who’s pulling the strings. However, the impact of those who don’t vote is dwarfed by the impact of those who vote for the wrong candidates. I know it’s liberal orthodoxy to write off a ton of voters completely, but I think that’s a mistake.

            If I have to blame voters for the predicament we’re in now, I would have to land on Biden voters in the 2020 primary. It’s hard to blame them though without blaming corporate mainstream media that lied constantly about electability in the general.

            As for why Trump became president in 2016, I think the failures of the Obama presidency are pretty relevant. Obama ran as a reformer in 2008, and voters turned out for him in massive numbers. Then Obama betrayed them by being the most milquetoast establishment President possible.

            There is plenty of blame to go around, but none of that interests me. What I care about is, what strategies might dig us out of this mess. Voters shaming is not a viable strategy, and it’s more likely to drive voters away than help.

            The other big thing that voter shamers don’t get is that we don’t just need people to show up at the polls. Democrats tend to write off the youth vote because they vote in lower numbers than other demographics. However, when it comes to phone banking, knocking on doors, or marching in the streets, youth far outstrip other demographics. Enthusiasm is critical, and voter shaming destroys it. Whatever grassroots movement was behind Biden is utterly dead, and Zionist Biden is responsible.

            • TigrisMorte
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              311 months ago

              I tore your entire bullshit position to shreds, so you whined a lot about unrelated crap in an effort to distract from your having no leg to stand on.

              • @Tinidril@midwest.social
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                111 months ago

                That’s an interesting take. Let me know if anyone lets you know that they decided to vote Biden because of voter shaming. I won’t hold my breath

        • mozz
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          511 months ago

          Only showing up to vote every four years, and assuming we won’t slide into fascism because you pushed the right button, is silly. On that we agree.

          Not using the power of the ballot box in addition to all the other much more difficult / impactful things which are required for real change is much, much worse. It’s like, “Oh no the wrong people are in charge! This is very unfair. Better just give up and let them do whatever then.”

          • @Tinidril@midwest.social
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            311 months ago

            The rise of fascism is always the result of a long strong of causes. In a democracy the final cause in that chain will always be voters, but I think it’s intellectually lazy to assume that makes the failure of voters “worse”.

            Most of the voters who don’t show up are just disinterested in politics for a variety of reasons. I don’t think there area many that say “Oh, no, a problem! Better ignore it”!

            Blaming voters might be somehow cathartic, but the voters you’re blaming aren’t going to care. That’s the way to go if you care more about assigning blame than actually addressing the problems.

          • TigrisMorte
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            311 months ago

            Lots more elections than every four! Every Election, no excuses!

            Bellow I’ve filtered out the primaries, which often have issues not related to party as well, and excludes local elections.

            link at end:
            “2023 – November (Constitutional)
            Registered Voters
            17,759,273
            Voting Age Population (VAP)
            21,925,627
            Percentage of VAP Registered
            81.00%
            Turnout
            2,563,469
            Percent of Turnout to Registered
            14.43%
            Percent of Turnout to VAP
            11.69%
            2022 – November (Gubernatorial)
            Registered Voters
            17,672,143
            Voting Age Population (VAP)
            21,866,700
            Percentage of VAP Registered
            80.82%
            Turnout
            8,102,908
            Percent of Turnout to Registered
            45.85%
            Percent of Turnout to VAP
            37.06%
            2021 - November (Constitutional)
            Registered Voters
            16,968,756
            Voting Age Population (VAP)
            21,866,700
            Percentage of VAP Registered
            77.60%
            Turnout
            1,485,066
            Percent of Turnout to Registered
            8.75%
            Percent of Turnout to VAP
            6.79%
            2020 – November (Presidential)
            Registered Voters
            16,955,519
            Voting Age Population (VAP)
            21,596,071
            Percentage of VAP Registered
            78.51%
            Turnout
            11,315,056
            Percent of Turnout to Registered
            66.73%
            Percent of Turnout to VAP
            52.39” - https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml

    • @Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
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      1411 months ago

      That sounds pretty shit. I’m pretty ignorant of EU voting laws, what kind of laws prevent young folks from voting? Is it a high voting age or are there even more restrictions?

    • @mindlight@lemm.ee
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      1911 months ago

      It sounds like you’re an American citizen. As such you’re really not very relevant in the European election…

    • DUMBASS
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      2011 months ago

      who else can win the White House if not Biden.

    • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yup, everyone who doesn’t like your president or your team is a horrible no good far right troll. It’s amazing how well one can do when you get paid by Soros and Koch!

            • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              -711 months ago

              Oh I’m fine. I’m just giving this as much effort as you guys right now. And no this isn’t an alt nor do I have a hexbear account. I just don’t think we should vote for someone whose an accessory to Genocide. It’s not a complex position.

              • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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                211 months ago

                Then who should we vote for? Someone is going to be president and literally the only choices are Dictator Trump and Status Quo Biden…

                • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  -111 months ago

                  I don’t know or care. RFK is polling surprisingly well but he’s also RFK. So maybe we don’t vote for president this year. Maybe this year we protest the system instead and challenge the idea that this is a legitimate way to represent us.

              • @kevindqc@lemmy.world
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                211 months ago

                So what, you will instead vote for the party that check notes promises to crush pro-Palestine protests and deport any foreign student participating, and writes down “finish them” on missiles used to kill Palestinians? OK.

            • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              -111 months ago

              No. You just used sweeping generalizations with the barest of a fig cover. Even now. They’re “exceptions” meaning you think your post is the rule. So you’re just trying to split technical hairs so you don’t have to face criticism.

                • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  111 months ago

                  That is the very definition of a sweeping generalization. For example, how do you quantify “a lot”? And yeah that would be convenient for you wouldn’t it? Getting called on your attempt to demonize independents by someone who fit your profile. Alas, no.

      • @kevindqc@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Soros and Koch

        Ohh, good for my bingo card

        You know what the Kochs do right? And who promised to help that industry if they give them 1 billion?

        • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I’m aware. Please sit and think about the comment you responded to though. Are there really Soros bucks? Does it follow that Koch bucks are likely either? Or maybe I’m just poking fun at the fact that the right accuses me of being a Soros funded Communist and you guys accuse me of voting for Trump

  • @CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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    11 months ago

    In the EU.

    In America, it’s starkly divided by generational lines, with the remainder being down to race, education, wealth and urbanness, which actually makes me think what’s going on in Europe is a somewhat unrelated phenomenon.

    • @kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      311 months ago

      In America, it’s starkly divided by generational lines,

      Not as much as the “lol boomers” crowd would have you believe.

      There’s a lot more <50 at Trump’s rallies than >60.

      Same with the Jan6 traitors. Lots of them were <40

        • @kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          211 months ago

          From your first link:

          Across the country, small business owners who attended the pro-Trump event are facing backlash

          That gives me some small measure of hope for the future.

      • @CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        311 months ago

        Jan 6 guys are nothing like a representative sample. Trailer park grandpa couldn’t show up to that for multiple reasons. Even then, I’d guess a median age of 45 just based on the videos. The shaman guy was like 32 and he was kind of a baby.

        I know less about normal Trump rallies, but I don’t really need to because there’s actual polling to rely on. MAGA youth exist, but they’re underrepresented and even more heavily poor, white, uneducated and rural. Meanwhile, in Europe, there’s basically no correlation. Young and old alike support AfD about the same.

        What we have on this continent is definitely fascism, fueled by pure, barely-directed hate and hostile to democracy. In Europe, I wonder if it’s more of a reversion to Japan-like policy, which might have been more natural for these ancient kingdoms all along. That’s just a wild guess, but I hope so, because I like democracy.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    411 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters.

    In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

    In 2022, while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy received votes from every age bracket, data suggested the young favored left-wing parties more.

    Bardella’s strong presence on TikTok might have something to do with it: Pollsters found that about one-third of young people said they rely on the app to follow the election campaign.

    The survey results also don’t automatically translate into electoral success, as the researchers estimated just 30 percent of young people would end up casting a ballot.

    “Flemish Interest is very well aware of this, and explicitly targets young women in its campaign to adjust its image,” said Peter Van Aelst, a professor at the University of Antwerp.


    The original article contains 960 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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    -411 months ago

    No shit the youth are voting authoritarian, we’ve already seen how powerful and impactful TikTok Algorithms have been.

  • @systemglitch@lemmy.world
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    -1311 months ago

    This is the result of the left focusing so hard on identity politics and immigration. The right didn’t have to do shit… it was inevitable.

    • @Urist@lemmy.ml
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      1211 months ago

      Identity politics surely is to blame for the rise of fascism. Just like the last time in the years 1915-1945.

      You are almost quoting the fascist playbook line of “look what you made me do”.

      • @Womble@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        They’re kinda right, but not in the way they think they are. It’s not that the left has being advocating for minority rights that is the problem, it’s that they have been focusing on that while dropping policies to support the working class that is the issue. The fact that getting more women and black people on to corporate boards has been more of a focus than affordable housing has been slowly driving alienation from mainstream left wing parties.

        • @Urist@lemmy.ml
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          211 months ago

          In much of Europe the left have been victims of former success. Many of the (former) leftist political parties and their constituents have foregone leftist policies because said policies gave them the social mobility to move into a higher strata of society.

          In effect it is successful class war waged by the capitalist class, who have dismantled their greatest political opposition and employed a tactic of divide and conquer for the lump sum of petty cash.

          Note, I do not say that having a fair and egalitarian society isn’t a part of socialist ideology, but focusing on cultural symbolics instead of improving material conditions is just bourgeoisie propaganda.

  • @Peddlephile@lemm.ee
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    1511 months ago

    When people find themselves in stress, they will always vote conservative to ensure their own survival. Right now, many young people can’t afford housing, they have to spend more time working than living. This is not surprising.

      • Cowbee [he/they]
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        1111 months ago

        Reactionary viewpoints are a result of crumbling and decaying societies. They cling to what once was, rather than trying to progress onward to Socialism.

        Reactionaries are wrong, of course, but the origin of these viewpoints currently is from Capitalism’s failures.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        611 months ago

        It makes all the sense in the world. Horrible people want to be in power. So they market themselves as the just the strong man you need to deal with these problems. No problems? well then they just create them. There isn’t anything stopping them from just lying about where the problems came from, so it turns into a self licking ice cream cone.

        • @kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          311 months ago

          So they market themselves as the just the strong man you need to deal with these problems

          Without ever specifying how they’re planning on fixing those problems.

          And more often than not, the problems they claim to be able to deal with were not anything people were thinking about until that same candidate told them they should be concerned about it.

    • @corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      1911 months ago

      in stress, they will always vote conservative to ensure their own survival

      That isn’t a safe bet, though.

      The cornerstone of the conservative M-O is withdrawal of services and opportunities for the 99%. Sure, this sticks it to immigrants, but only because it shafts everyone but the rich.

      And when those services go away - healthcare, unemployment protection, programmes sponsoring training so people can get back to paying tax sooner - they never come back under this administration. It’s left as the sole focus of the fools who follow them and have to stoch a country back together out of the unmaintained underpowered mess of a system the elitist scum left them with.

      • @njm1314@lemmy.world
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        411 months ago

        Of course it’s not a safe bet, that’s why it’s based in fear. That’s how it’s always been.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        011 months ago

        What the elites didn’t sell to themselves for a song at any rate. That’s the other part of it, they raid the government for parts and then turn it into a profit service no matter how many people they end up killing.

  • @hark@lemmy.world
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    1611 months ago

    Probably because things are getting worse but liberal parties are more concerned with keeping up the status quo than actually improving things, so you get a lot of apathy and people taking a gamble which will not pan out well.

  • cum
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    11 months ago

    Gen Z/Millennials/Boomers are all terms to describe generations specifically in just America. Why are they being used when this article is talking about the EU?

    • Drusas
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      111 months ago

      I’m curious what’s you’re from that leads you to think that’s the case.

      • cum
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        111 months ago

        The name baby boomer is literally from the baby boom after the US won WW2

  • @vividspecter@lemm.ee
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    1711 months ago

    Prominent gender gaps in the results, which is entirely unsurprising (men much more likely to vote far right than women). I think the left-right breakdown could be more explicit too, as in many cases the left wing votes are being split between a bunch of parties, with the right wing settling on only one or two. That’s still in an issue in countries that use FPTP voting systems, of course.