The Czech elections have just confirmed a further swing to the right in Europe amid fragmentation with the rise of new right-wing parties. Since the start of the financial crisis in 2007, only two Conservative governments have been defeated by the left in elections: that of Slovenia in 2008 and that of Greece in 2009. Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, and the UK have all swung from left to right since 2007, while Germany and Romania have moved from grand coalition to the centre-right.

Centre-left governments led by social democrats remain in office only in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Slovenia and Slovakia (pending elections later this month). Cyprus has a Communist-Socialist government, while Austria is governed by a Social and Christian Democratic grand coalition. Social Democrats are rather junior partners in government in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Estonia.

Is this a blip from which the centre-left will bounce back – or – is this part of a more permanent realignment on the right amid Europe’s deepest recession since the 1930s?