EU elections: populists gained votes - but lost initiative

Populists and anti-European parties have gained a substantial number of seats in the European Parliament elections of 2019.

This result had been predicted for some months, and had been expected to confirm a major power shift in Europe.

However, this was not the ground-breaking populist revolution that some had predicted.

The reality is that result was more fizz than bang; more of a reflection of their popularity at national level over the past few months than the realisat...