How Europe’s surging populist right is reshaping the political establishment

Updated on: October 19, 2026 / 12:26 PM EDT / CBS News

London — From the upper floors of Millbank Tower, a skyscraper overlooking the River Thames in London, the U.K. Houses of Parliament are just a few hundred yards away. For decades, the building housed the headquarters of Britain's Conservative Party, one of the world's oldest political parties.

Today, it is home to Reform UK, the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage that is hoping to — and by some measures may already have — replace the Conservatives as the dominant force on the British right.

The change of occupants reflects a wider political upheaval sweeping some of Europe's biggest democracies. In France, Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally has overtaken much of the traditional right ahead of the next year's presidential election.

In Germany, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has made historic electoral gains, challenging the center-right Christian Democrats. There are similar trends in Italy, Spain, Sweden and other corners of the continent.

While the histories and ambitions of the movements in all these countries differ, collectively, their rise is forcing many of Europe's established conservative parties to make a choice: either adopt some of the…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/