WHAT HAPPENED: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s defeat has been welcomed by Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke (Kemi) Badenoch, leader of Britain’s notionally center-right Conservative Party, as evidence that the influence of populism is waning on the political right. Notably, during the Conservatives’ tenure from 2010 to 2024, Orban was often the only European leader to take Britain’s side in disputes with the European Union (EU).

KEY QUOTE: “Conservatism is being challenged more by the right now, the economic nationalists, the populists, but I don’t think that it’s going to be long-lasting,” Badenoch told Mathias Döpfner, CEO of POLITICO owners Axel Springer.

DETAIL:The Conservatives suffered their worst-ever election result under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunakin 2024, after 14 years in office, allowing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to secure a large parliamentary majority despite a historically low share of the vote. Contrary to Badenoch’s suggestion that the populist right is now waning, under her leadership, the Conservatives remain deeply unpopular, with Nigel Farage’s Reform Party leading them by a substantial margin.

IMPACT: While Orbán’s defeat was cheered by globalists, his successor, Péter Magyar, comes from the same populist tradition. A member of Orbán’s Fidesz party until 2024, he emphasized good relations with the European Union (EU) and support for Ukraine more than the outgoing premier, but on immigration and natalism, he ran to Orbán’s right, pledging to eliminate non-EU guest worker programs and increase support for families having children. Similarly, Badenoch’s Conservatives—while far to the left of Fidesz—are being displaced on the British right by Reform due to the Conservatives’ record of facilitating mass migration and promoting net-zero climate ideology.