Politics

Europe’s Left-Wing Parties Face Dim Electoral Prospects

Europe’s traditional left-wing parties are battling a headwind of disapproval from their traditional supporters, and with populist nationalists poised to exploit working-class discontent, they’re facing gloomy electoral prospects.

With rage mounting over inequality, stagnating wages and rising immigration, left-wing politicians fear they are facing wipeouts in a series of elections scheduled this year.

Buoyed by Donald Trump’s insurgent election victory in the United States, Europe’s populist nationalists, such as France’s far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen, boast that 2017 will be the “year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe.”