The left is winning

Keir Starmer

Kevin Drum:

Marine Le Pen's right-wing populists appear to have won barely more than 20% of the vote in France's election today. This was a dismal showing for a party that was finally expected to win after years of rebranding and makeovers. 

But voters weren't fooled: a strong turnout unexpectedly powered an alliance of the left to the biggest share of the vote. Going forward, parliament will almost certainly be controlled by some kind of coalition of the left and center.

Meanwhile, Britain's right wing got crushed in Thursday's election; the right-wing candidate for president lost in Iran; and last month the far-right party in Belgium failed to make its predicted gains, with the usual messy coalition of center-left and center-right remaining in control.

Can we please get a few stories now about how the left is ascendant around the world while the forces of right-wing nationalism are in disarray because they're still consistently unable to appeal to more than a small fraction of the electorate?