Why my new book is titled, In Defence Of Populism

We Have To Expose And Defeat The Ceaseless Anti-Populist Propaganda War Waged Against Supporters Of Populist Ideals

Why I Wrote In Defence Of Populism

Have you noticed the flood of commentaries and articles appearing in the mainstream media dwelling on the topic of how to crush populism once and for all? The recent electoral defeat of Viktór Orbán’s Fidesz Party in Hungary has emboldened the European centrist technocratic elite to hope that this result spells the end of populist surge on both sides of the Atlantic.

The ‘is this the end of populism?’ literature has been around for some time. To this day, mainstream commentators frequently express the hope that populism is a passing phenomenon. ‘Has Europe reached peak populism?’, asked a commentator in Politico in 2019, before expressing the hope that ‘the tide could be turning against the anti-establishment nationalist movements that have upended politics across the Continent, leaving the barbarians howling in frustration at the gates’.^[i] We seem to have passed peak populism’, predicted Andrew Adonis, a leading British anti-Brexit voice.^[ii].

The outcome the Hungarian elections has led to an explosion of commentaries that are driven by the anti-populist dream of a world where populism is forced back into the margins of society. Polly Toynbee of The Guardian noted that ‘Viktor Orbán inspired rightwingers across the EU and in Britain. His defeat could represent a turning of the tide’[iii]

A Bloomberg commentator opined ‘Orban’s Defeat Reveals Populism’s Achilles Heel’[iv]. The Washington Post echoed this phrase when its writer, Max Boot declared that ‘Orban’s defeat shows the Achilles’ heel of populist power’[v]. ‘Hungary proves populism can be defeated’ was the verdict of Phil Tinline of the Newstatesman[vi]. CNN took the view that ‘In Hungary, Orbán’s loss show how populism can run out of road’[vii]. And the website of The New World was in no doubt that ‘Orbán’s defeat’ represents ‘the beginning of the end of populism’[viii].

Like the numerous premature obituaries about the imminent disappearance of populist protest movements written in the past, those penned during the aftermath of the Hungarian election fail to understand that the success of these parties is due to the widespread demand by a growing section of society for a voice. The anti-populist intelligentsia and their political allies simply cannot acknowledge the fact that the populist surge is demand drive.

Populism represents a response to a widespread demand by people for a movement that is committed to holding the line against the perceived onslaught on their way of life. The aspiration to maintain intergenerational continuity with the past and the security afforded by the taken-for-granted ways of being have deep roots in European societies. The strength of these feelings was often overlooked by supporters of the cultural elites, which is why they tended to see populist parties as mendacious external actors devoted to stirring up problems.

Despite the assertions of the mainstream centrist media the defeat of Viktor Orbán represents only a setback for the national populist movement in Europe. None of the important values that Fidesz stands for – national sovereignty, strong borders, opposition to mass migration, the celebration of tradition – were outwardly challenged by the victorious Tisza party. These important values were not directly or explicitly defeated in the Hungarian elections. That is why I am confident that the populist surge will continue to change the political landscape in western societies.

If anyone is in doubt that the spirit of populism will continue to inspire millions of citizens throughout the western world the outcome of last Sunday’s election in Bulgaria should put their mind at ease. Rumen Radev – who is sometimes referred to as Bulgaria’s Orbán – won an absolute majority in the election. As one centrist Bulgarian commentator Dimitar Keranov bemoaned; ‘A Kremlin-friendly leader governing a Nato and EU member state on the Black Sea, days after Hungary voted Orbán out, is bad news for the EU and for Ukraine’[ix].

The main reason why I wrote In Defence of Populism is because it is necessary to counter the anti-populist hysteria about populism. Populism is surrounded by ceaseless hostility and mystification. Just about everything you are likely to read about populism in the specialist academic literature is motivated by their authors’ animosity and contempt towards their subject matter. Their sentiments are reproduced in an intensely polemical form by the mainstream media which habitually dismisses populists as far right and even fascists. According to the dominant media narrative, populists are racist xenophobes, homophobes and a variety of other phobes. At times the media hysteria regarding the so-called populist threat echoes the Red Scare of the 1920s and 1950s in the United States.

The populist voice has been systematically distorted by its opponents. I argue that this movement has been subjected to ideological warfare and recast through a teleology of evil. It is important to grasp the systematic attempt to demonise populism because, in the media and public life, a distorted and fundamentally flawed characterisation of populism prevails. What’s remarkable about this subject is that virtually everything that is communicated in the media and in the literature about populism is framed by individuals who are external to it. The definitions authored by these individuals communicate their bias and suspicion towards populism. Consequently, the way that populism is represented in public life is an invention of its opponents. Those who are ascribed the label populist do not get to decide who they are nor what populism means.

So although the populist movement is in the ascendancy, its actual definition is still unresolved and remains interpreted though the medium of a modern mythology. Almost everything you are likely to read about contemporary populism bears little relationship to the real impulses that drive this movement forward. In Defence of Populism offers an antidote to the confusions and distortions peddled by the anti-populist idealogues. I look forward to getting your feedback regarding what you think about the case for populism advanced in my book.

You can order a copy of In Defence of Populism by clicking on this line.

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[i] Paul Taylor, ‘Has Europe reached peak populism?’, Politico, 5 September 2019 https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-reached-peak-populism-far-right-anti-european-government-election/

[ii] Andrew Adonis, ‘We seem to have passed peak populism’, Prospect, 11 January 2023 https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/peak-populism-donald-trump-boris-johnson-jair-bolsonaro

[iii] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/14/viktor-orban-europe-britain-hard-right-populism

[iv] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-04-17/orban-s-defeat-in-hungary-s-election-reveals-populism-s-achilles-heel

[v] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/13/viktor-orban-hungary-election-populism-trump/

[vi]

Bloomberg.com

https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2026/04/hungary-proves-populism-can-be-defeated

[vii] https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/europe/hungary-election-orban-loss-latam-intl

[viii] https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/marie-le-conte-orbans-defeat-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-populism/

[ix] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/19/bulgaria-election-rumen-radev-boyko-borissov