Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy

Abstract

This chapter examines the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group which in 2014 contained two radical right populist parties, UKIP and the Sweden Democrats, alongside the populist (but not radical right) Italian Five-Star Movement. Like the previous chapter, it uses Chapel Hill data and interviews to explain the group’s formation. The chapter shows that the Sweden Democrats also conform to the “respectable radicals” model, seeing themselves on a journey from local pariah status to respectability via their European alliances. UKIP, however, was less concerned with these domestic respectability benefits. Its main aim, once satisfied that an alliance with a specific foreign party would not damage its reputation at home, was to construct what UKIP interviewees themselves called “a marriage of convenience” in order to secure parliamentary group spoils (financial and administrative resources, along with the visibility offered by extra parliamentary speaking time).