So much for Europe’s swing to the right. In Britain, the Conservatives were not just thrown out, but subjected to the worst beating in the 190 years of their existence, winning 121 seats to Labour’s 411. In France, contrary to expectations, the snap parliamentary elections were won by the extreme Left, who took 188 seats, followed by Emmanuel Macron’s Centrists with 161, pushing Marine Le Pen’s hard-right Rassemblement National into third place with 142.

Were commentators wrong to hail a rightward shift in the aftermath of last month’s European elections? Not necessarily. The factors that generally push voters in a conservative direction are still there: mass migration, inflation, and, not least, a major war in Europe.