Europe is seeing a dramatic shift rightward with a series of parliamentary elections posting major gains for conservative and populist parties at the expense of the left-leaning elites. In this episode, we talk with a foreign policy expert about what's driving Europe right and what it means here in the US. I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Vickley. It's Sunday, June 16th, and this is an extra edition of Morning Wire. Joining us now to discuss the move right in Europe is Niall Gardner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. Niall, thank you so much for joining us.

It's a real pleasure. Thank you.

We've seen conservative and populist parties in several European countries gain support among voters, in many instances by surprisingly large numbers, and it's prompted calls for Snap elections. First, what has unfolded since Sunday?

Well, I think the results released on Sunday night are nothing less than a political earthquake in Europe. We have seen an emphatic rejection of socialist ruling elites across much of Europe. We have seen a resounding set of victories for partners on the right in many European countries. We've seen the utter humiliation of big European figures such as Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, and huge gains for conservative political parties. And so in every respect, I think these elections have been a real game changer and have sent a very clear message to Europe's ruling elites that their time is coming to an end.

Now, we saw a snap election called by Macron. We've also had an early election called a few weeks ago in the UK. What's going on there?

In France, Macron's political party received only around 15% of the vote in the European parliamentary elections. A massive humiliation, really, for Macron's ruling party. Macron, therefore, decided to call a snap parliamentary election. It'll be held in two rounds, late June, early July. These elections actually could go very badly, potentially for Macron, a huge gamble, a huge risk by the French President, and he could end up as a lame duck President for the remainder of his term, which stretches until 2027. If he doesn't do well or his party doesn't do well, actually in these parliamentary elections. So a high-risk gambit, of course, by Macron. In the UK, the British Prime Minister, Richie Sunak, calls an early general election to be held on July the fourth. The Conservatives are trailing the opposition Labor Party very heavily in the polls. Also, of course, a high-risk move by Richie Sunak. He's come under a lot of criticism for calling this early election. The UK is actually one of the only parts in Europe where Conservatives are actually in in real trouble. That's probably, well, largely the result of having been in power for 14 years and failing to deliver on a lot of the problems made by successive conservative governments.

A rather different situation in the UK compared to most of the rest of Europe, where we are seeing conservative parties really gaining a great deal of ground, actually. So the UK is a bit of an outlier in this era compared to the rest of Europe.

But would you argue that this dissatisfaction, a lot of it's from the right in the UK?

Yeah, I think that a large part of the dissatisfaction with Rishi Sunak is that he's not being conservative enough as Prime Minister. We've seen the rise of reform, a party headed by Nigel Farage. And reform is now polling at around 15 to even 20% of the vote. These are largely conservative voters who have switched to reform. So the ruling conserters actually face a major challenge from reform on the right, but also, of course, the biggest challenge from the Labor Party on the left. But the right in the UK is split right down the middle, and that will be a big factor in allowing most likely the Socialists to take power on July the fourth.

Who are some of the big names and parties that are really rising up in this rise of the right in Europe?

The biggest winner actually from these European elections has been, I think, Giorgia Maloney in Italy, who's a Brothers of Italy did extremely well in the European elections, I think, quadrupling their level of support. Maloney has emerged, I think, as a very, very powerful leader in Europe. In France, of course, with Le Pen, her political party took over 30% of the vote, double the size of the vote for Emmanuel Macron's party. National rally in France could be potentially in the Snap parliamentary elections, the biggest political party in France as a result. Certainly, Marine Le Pen has emerged as a very big winner. She will likely face off against Macron in the French presidential race in 2027. If that election were to be held today, she would probably emerge as the winner.

What about in Germany? What are some of the trends we're seeing there and some of the figures that are starting to define those trends?

Yeah. Germany is significant as well that the ruling Socialists headed by Olaf Scholz have done very badly. They pulled in only, I think, around 14% of the vote. Also, the Green Party did very, very badly. They're the main allies of the Socialists. They pulled in around 12% of the vote. On the right, the Christian Democrats did very well, winning nearly a third of the vote. But also the AFD, a political party, which in Germany are designated as hard right, they actually pulled in, I think, close to around 20% of the European vote, which was a big result for them. Now, I would say that, AFD, of course, are quite different to many the other right wing partisan Europe, and they're somewhat isolated, I would say, from the main political groupings in the European Parliament. Significantly, Marine Le Pen actually removed the AFD from her political grouping, the Identity and democracy group within the European Parliament. There are big differences among partners on the right within Europe, but undoubtedly, the reality is in Germany, that Germany is moving rightwards. The left is actually losing very heavily in Germany. I would expect to see next year with the national elections in Germany, a conservative, CDU-led government, Christian Democratic Union-led government to take power.

It's hard to see how the Socialists are going to survive with the national elections in Germany next year.

Well, as you noted, they're not a uniform bunch on the right necessarily, but there are a lot of unifying characteristics of most of these parties. Le Pen says it's a feeling of alienation driving a lot of these voters to support these parties. What would you say are some of the unifying ideas and policies?

That's a very good question. I would say that the number one issue in the European Parliamentary elections was really the issue of mass migration, cultural identity, a fear among many in Europe that Europe is taking in far too many migrants and has taken in too many migrants over the course of the last two decades. This election was a fundamental rejection of mass migration in open borders. All of the parties on the right who gained heavily campaigned on a platform on secure borders, limiting the flow of migrants into their countries, cracking down on migrant crime, and also fighting against Islamification in Europe. Also, are high on the agenda, environmental issues as well, and a rejection of net zero ideology. And nearly all of the political parties on the right that won big in the European parliamentary elections fought against net zero, fought against what they believed as far left ideological dogma dictating hugely expensive green policies. I think a third factor was rising Euro-scepticism and a belief among many in Europe that the European Union has become too centralized. Most of the political parties on the right that were successful in this election campaigned against the idea of Eurofederalism and against giving the EU and the European Commission, in particular, more power.

Speaking of Brexit, as you mentioned, Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit and a pro-Trump ally. He's decided to run for Parliament under the Reform Party. How will his entrance into the political arena affect the race?

Yes, as you point out, Nigel Farage jumped into the race as the leader of the Reform Party just last week. I think it's a significant game changer in the sense that Farage is joining the race heading the Reform Political Party, encouraging It encourages many more conservative voters to switch to reform. I think no doubt about it, the Conservatives are going to lose a lot more seats as a result of Farage's decision here. I think also, secondly, Nigel Farage has a good chance of winning a parliamentary seat. He's running in the constituency of Clecton, which is a strongly Euro-sceptic pro-Brexit area. If Faraj ends up in Parliament, I think he'll be a very important influential figure. What this doesn't change, though, in terms of the big picture is the fact that reform, even with 15 to 20% of the vote, will likely end up only with a few seats in Parliament because of the first past, supposed political system. The Conservatives will remain the biggest party on the right in the UK in terms of parliamentary seats, regardless of how well reform actually performs in terms of percentage of the vote, because reform simply doesn't have enough firepower to win a large number of MPs under the parliamentary system.

I expect that reform, if they do get a few MPs in Parliament, will be closely aligned with the Conservatives in terms of how they vote in the next Parliament.

Final question, what aspect of these trends in Europe do you feel are important for American audience to understand?

From a US perspective, I think the European election results are going to make the Biden Whitehouse very nervous, because some of the big issues that successful partners on the right in Europe campaigned on are the same issues that American voters are going to be voting on in November. The European electorate, in fact, he rejected the woke left-wing elitism that has dominated Europe in recent decades. This has important implications, I think, for the United States as well. Many American voters share European voters' concerns over mass migration, open borders, rising crime, higher cost of living. What happens in Europe, I think, is important. What happens in the US as well.

Niall, thank you so much for joining us and giving us your analysis and perspective.

My pleasure. Many thanks for having me on the show.

That was Niall Gardner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for the Heritage Foundation. This has been an extra edition of MorningWire.