Europe's 'election supercycle' is set to drag the continent to the right as nationalist parties surge across four major nations

From the Newshound archive · first published 13 October 2026 · last updated 14 October 2026.

France, Spain, Italy and Poland all face elections in the coming year, and polling suggests far-right or nationalist parties could take power in all four simultaneously. Pedro Sánchez called a snap Spanish election after a parliamentary bloc of conservatives, Vox and Catalan separatists defeated his housing reforms, with a conservative-far-right coalition currently ahead in the polls. Marine Le Pen has already announced her 2027 French presidential candidacy. Analysts warn the combined shift would represent a fundamental realignment of the EU.

If nationalists win all four of Europe's biggest upcoming elections simultaneously, it would mark the most dramatic rightward tilt the EU has ever experienced.

Spain's snap election was triggered after an alliance of the People's Party, far-right Vox and Catalan independence party Junts blocked Sánchez's housing reform in parliament.