Right-Wing Populism
"We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams."
Right-Wing Populism shortened to RightPop, also known as National Populism or
Neo-Nationalism is a culturally right-wing to far-right, nationalist, in theory civically apathetic but mostly slightly authoritarian, and economically variable (ranges from center-left to right-wing) ideology. It is a rebranded version of
National Conservatism combined with
Populist rheotric.
Variants
Capitalist Populism
Capitalist Populism is a variant of right-wing populism which focuses on radical support of laissez-faire capitalism and the free market. Capitalist populists tend to be
right-libertarian in countries such as the
US. Despite being culturally center, capitalist populists are strongly right wing and believe that taxes are way too high wanting to move, often, to a more per capita than a progressive system seen in the United Kingdom with Margaret Thatcher's poll tax which made occupants pay for each person in a household rather than the previous system of a property tax paid for by the owner.
Centre-Right Populism
Centre-Right Populism is a right wing ideology that is mostly hard to find a difference as it looks similar to regular right-populists or moderate
national conservatives because of its rhetoric but moderate right wing policies. It is for things like reform immigration check and moderate
anti-identity politics, oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform (Eurorealism) etc however many also take centrist positions on social issues might just not talk about social issues that much, in order to push for more right wing economic/cultural policies.
It is generally just national conservatism.
Populist Chauvinism
Populist Chauvinism is a far right,
ultranationalist subvariant of right-wing populism that puts a heavy emphasis on
Nationalism and
Patriotism. The idea of
national palingenesis is popular opon populist chauvinist circles, as palingenetic nationalism advocates for a
popular revolution in order to bring about a rebirth of the nation. Populist chauvinists focus on a
heavy opposition to immigration, claiming that immigration threatens the sovereignty of the nation and the identity of the people. Populist chauvinists believe in a
strong and almost militant nationalism, and are fiercely opposed to any kind of
separatism, claiming that separatist movements are part of a elitist plot to divide the nations people. This tenant of Populist Chauvinism has influenced ideologies such as
Jingoism.
Populist Hawkism
"We've finally given liberals a war against fundamentalism, and they don't want to fight it. They would, except that it would put them on the same side as the United States."
Populist Hawkism, also known as Neoconservative populism, is a ideology that combines
neoconservatism with right-wing populism. Most populist hawks believe that military interventions are the only way to stop
"radical Islam" and
"communism". Many populist hawks are strongly
anti-communist, believing that a communist elite is strangling the nation's economy and national interests. Populist hawks tend to be strongly
anti-Islam, claiming that Islam is a threat to national security. These Hawks declare that only they can make "us" respected again on the international stage, to take the fight to communists and fascists abroad such as ISIS and Saddam Hussein, and promote free-market economics although many may call for more compassion meaning a larger welfare state and progressive taxation.
Reactionary Populism
Reactionary Populism is a variant of
right-wing populism that puts a heavy emphasis on
preserving cultural hierarchy and traditional social order against a supposed
progressive elite. Most reactionary populists believe that family and traditional values are ingrained within the ideals of the
nation and are to be defended at any cost.
History
United States

One of the earliest examples of right-wing populism in America was the political campaigns of Pat Buchanan, former advisor to
Ronald Reagan and one of the founding voices of
Paleoconservatism. Buchanan was a controversial figure for his far-right views on certain issues, specifically his defence of
Hitler and denial of the holocaust. Buchanan was critical of the more "liberal" direction the
Republican Party was taking under
George HW. Bush and decided to challenge him in the 1992 Republican Primaries, only to be unsuccessful. In 1999, he left the GOP to join
Ross Perot's
Reform Party. He ran in 2000 against
George W. Bush and
Al Gore, his campaign focused on
Isolationism,
Protectionism and opposition to immigration. None of his campaigns were very successful, but his large influence on the American far-right is often cited as a important footnote.
The Tea Party
The Tea Party was a political movement that was opposed to the policies of
The Obama Administration. It had close ties to the
The GOP and was based off radical
fiscally conservative principals. The movement was divided between the more
libertarian faction, represented by
Ron Paul and the one tied closer to the
Christian Right within the Republican Party represented by
Sarah Palin. The biggest dividing issue was foreign policy, with the former favoring a
non-interventionist approach while the latter was much more
hawkish. The Tea Party's greatest success came in the 2010 midterm elections with many Tea Party candidates beating more establishment GOP candidates in the primary before going on to win the general election. Some notable Tea Party candidates from this election include
Marco Rubio,
Rand Paul, and
Mike Lee. Many in the Tea Party movement were early supporters of
Donald Trump, with Trump saying in August 2015 "The tea party people are incredible people. These are people who work hard and love the country and they get beat up all the time by the media." A CNN poll in January 2016 showed that 37% of self identified Tea Party voters supported
Donald Trump while the next highest was
Ted Cruz at 34%.
Trumpism 
Trumpism is an ideology that represents the 45th, 46th, and 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump and his supporters. He believes in many conservative policies, such as American Nationalism and strict opposition to illegal immigration.
Donald Trump ran for president as a candidate for the
Republican Party. He mainly focused on issues such as illegal immigration,
Islamic terrorism,
political correctness and
reforming the federal government. Despite being very controversial with
The Media and
Liberals, he also became popular with the party's voters. Trump won the primary and was nominated as the GOP's candidate for president, against
Hillary Clinton. In the general election, both candidates turned out to be generally unpopular with the public though Hillary was mostly favored to win, both by the media and polls. Trump won the election in a huge upset and officially became president on January 20th, 2017.
His most recognized accomplishment was consistent economic growth, despite greatly increasing the national debt. This came to an end with the COVID-19 Recession of 2020. He denies climate change and has rolled back on policies meant to limit its effects, although he has been a conservationist in many regards (Great American Outdoors Act, 1 Trillion Trees Initiative). His party repealed the least popular part of Obamacare, the individual mandate, although he failed to implement "TrumpCare". He has greatly increased border security and enforcement, garnering much controversy for the treatment of illegal immigration compared to past presidents. In terms of foreign policy, he has taken a hawkish approach on
Venezuela and
Iran, supported
Saudi Arabia's invasion of
Yemen and doubled the drone strikes from Obama's administration. However, he has also withdrawn troops from
Syria and expanded outreach to
North Korea. He has been staunchly supportive of
Israel and held close ties with the country's PM
Benjamin Netanyahu, under his presidency the US declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. During his presidency he was friendly to many international right-wing leaders including
Nigel Farage and
Boris Johnson in
United Kingdom,
Jair Bolsonaro in
Brazil,
Viktor Orbán in
Hungary,
Narendra Modi in
India,
Marine Le Pen in
France,
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in
Turkey,
Jarosław Kaczyński in
Poland,
Horacio Cartes in
Paraguay,
Hong Joon-pyo in
South Korea,
Najib Razak in
Malaysia,
Shinzo Abe in
Japan,
Matteo Salvini in
Italy and
Geert Wilders in the
Netherlands. While having a mixed relationship with
Vladimir Putin of
Russia, who he was initially friendly with which caused many to claim the two were in cahoots, despite this he also continued many sanctions towards Russia and aided the troops in Ukraine against him.
In 2020, Trump ran for a second term as President against Democratic Party nominee
Joe Biden to run against Trump in the 2020 United States Presidential Election. The campaign was not without difficulty for Trump- he had faced criticism concerning his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and
Black Lives Matter protests across the country during the year. In the election,
Biden won with 306 electoral votes while Trump garnered 232. Biden gained 51.3% of the popular vote compared to Trump earning 46.9%. Trump, after hearing this news, denied the results and refused to concede, claiming voter fraud. Following these claims, Trump supporters attacked and stormed the
United States Capitol Building on January 6th 2021, in an attempt to overturn the election results and allow Trump to continue in office for a second term. This insurrection failed and
Joe Biden still became the 46th President of the United States.
Donald Trump and his supporters still believe the election was rigged and continued to claim that Trump would be reinstated as president throughout Biden’s presidency. Many have also denied responsibility for the storming of the Capitol, instead claiming that the events were a false flag organised by other actors (such as
Antifa and/or the
FBI etc) with the intention of discrediting or even criminalising the MAGA movement.
In 2020, over 80% of white evangelicals voted for
Donald Trump hence why there is an ideology explicitly combining
conservative Christianity with Trumpism
. In contrast, 64% of
Protestants of ethnic minorities, including over 90% of black Protestants, voted for
Joe Biden.[96]
On November 15, 2022, Trump announced he would run for president again in 2024. Prior to his announcement he preemptively attacked Governors Ron DeSantis and
Glenn Youngkin, seeing them as potential rivals in the GOP primary. Trump managed to defeat both his main Republican rivals (
Ron DeSantis and
Nikki Haley) during the presidential primaries and once again received the
GOP nomination. Due to a falling out with his former Vice-President
Mike Pence over the Jan 6th attack, Trump instead chose Ohio Senator
JD Vance as his running mate.
During the 2024 Presidential Election, Trump faced off against Democratic Party nominee
Kamala Harris- after President Biden abandoned his run for a second term following a poor debate performance against Trump that was widely blamed upon Biden’s
advanced age. In the election,
Trump managed to win a majority in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, making him first Republican to do so since
George W. Bush in 2004.
McInnesism/Proud Boys Ideology 
McInnesism is a culturally and economically right-wing, nationalist, civically varied (though he has claimed to be a libertarian) ideology based on the views of British-born Canadian political commentator and satirist Gavin McInnes. McInnes co-founded
Vice Media in 1994 and also created the
Proud Boys in 2016 in New York City, where he has resided since 1999. Much like
Bannonism, he is more radical than
Alt-Lite, but more moderate than
Alt-Right, having openly disavowed
white nationalist identity politics[97] and preferring to call himself a
"Western Chauvinist," claiming that it allows you to have conservative friends of different races who care about preserving
traditional Western values as well.
Europe
Right-wing Populism has gained popularity across Europe in the 21st century. In Europe, right-populist parties commonly oppose Islam,
immigration,
LGBT rights, (although some only oppose transgender rights and are less focused on this than American right-wing populists) and
the EU.
Estonia 

Helmeism is the ideology of Estonian politician
Martin Helme, and his party, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond. Helme is a advocate of
national conservatism,
opposing Estonian membership in the European Union and favoring
the perservation of Estonian national values. The EKRE has also proposed
ethnic profiling, restricting the rights of non-Estonians. Helme and his party are
strictly opposed to LGBTQ rights, calling for "homosexual propaganda" to be removed from schools.
France 

France's far-right party National Front was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen and Several others. The party was well known for its racism, xenophobia, and Holocaust denial. Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the party and multiple time candidate referred to the Holocaust as "a detail of history". In 2011, Jean's youngest daughter
Marine took control of the party, ditching some of the party's extreme policies. Marine was pro-choice,
LGBT friendly, and Liberal on several other social issues. Also under Marine, the party became more supportive of
Protectionism and
welfare benefits, but only for disingenuous French citizens. She also started banning Anti-semitic and Holocaust denial members, including her father.
In the 2017 election, she made it to the 2nd round but lost in a landslide to Macron.
In 2018 the party was renamed to "National Rally" as Marine Le Pen tried to clean up the party's image.
Recently, due to Macron becoming increasingly unpopular with the French public. Le Pen lead in the polls for the first round of the 2022 election and was catching up to him in the second. However, Macron ultimately won the election, albeit by a reduced majority.
In the 2024 European Union elections, the National Rally saw strong results, becoming the face of the right-wing populist wave that had occurred throughout the EU. The NR won 30 out of 81 seats, and this promoted Macron to dissolve the legislative and call a snap election. He later stated that his decision to do so was "the heaviest, the most serious, but the most responsible" solution.
Germany


The Alternative for Germany party is a
right-wing populist and
national-conservative political party in Germany, founded in 2013 by Bernd Lucke. In its early years, the party campaigned for
soft eurosceptic and
national liberal policies such as leaving the Eurozone and returning to the D-Mark, ending bailouts to
economically weak EU member states along with mildly conservative stances on social issues. Under the new leader Frauke Petry, the party experienced a sharp turn rightwards (causing Lucke to leave the party), and would much later be catapulted into the national parliament in 2017 after gaining momentum from the 2015 refugee crisis. It became known for its hardcore populist rhetoric, islamophobic (and often xenophobic) sentiment and in recent times, connections to anti-mask and anti-vaccine initiatives. Furthermore, the party campaigns for the introduction of
Swiss-style referendums and public consultations.
The AfD remains a constant fixture in modern German politics, although other parties are almost universally opposed to forming any sorts of coalitions with the party.
The Liberal Conservative Reformers (originally named Alliance for Progress and Renewal) are a minor,
conservative-liberal party founded by original AfD founder Bernd Lucke in 2015 after Frauke Petry's victory in the
AfD's internal power struggle. It supports
economic liberalism,
soft euroscepticism and other policies reminiscent of the AfD's original years. The party remains rather small and unsuccessful.
The Blue Party was another minor offshot from the AfD which existed from 2017 to 2019. It was founded by Frauke Petry and her lawyer, the former of whom, after being responsible for the rightward shift of the AfD, was herself eventually pressured to leave her party due to the ever continuing rightward shift of the AfD and its lack of distancing from extremist factions such as
Der Flügel, thus motivating her to found a new party. Its policies were mostly
national liberal and could be best defined as slightly to the right of the
LKR's policies. The party failed to gain any form of popularity and was formally dissolved on 31 December 2019.
Greece

A more extreme example of right-wing populism in
Greece is the
Popular Greek Patriotic Union, more famously known as LEPEN. The PGPU's ideology is a combination of
Ultranationalism,
Irredentism, and
Orthodox Theocracy. The PGPU was founded in 2015 by
Christos Rigas. Rigas was a former member of the
Golden Dawn party, but he left the party after internal conflict, and founded the PGPU as a more moderate alternative to the GD.
The PGPU joined the Alliance For Peace and Freedom coalition in 2018. The coalition contains neo-fascist parties such as the
Peoples Party Our Slovakia,
NATION, and
Noua Drepta. In December 2020, the PGPU created a electoral coalition with the
Spartans party. The PGPU also collaborated with the
National Popular Consciousness.
A more recent example of a right-wing populist party in Greece is the Voice Of Reason party. Greek lawyer
Afroditi Latinopoulou founded the VR as a split off from the
Patriotic Force for Change party in March 2023, with a intention to participate in May's elections, but was barred from participating due to a name dispute.
The party participated in the next months snap election, but didn't gain any seats. 1 year later, Latinopoulou herself would just barely win a seat in the EU elections in June 2024. The party would later join the Patriots For Europe coalition.
The most famous right-wing populist party in Greece is the
Greek Solution political party. Greek politican
Kyriakos Velopoulos founded the party in 2016 after he left the
Popular Orthodox Rally party.
The party won one seat in the 2019 European elections, and won 10 seats in the Greek legislative election that followed with 3.7% of the vote. The party would gain another seat in the June 2023 snap election.
In the 2024 European elections, the party won 2 more European MEPs. This was a result of most supporters of the Spartans party voting for the GS following the formers banning.
Hungary 

Orbanism is an economically center to center-right, culturally right-wing, and strongly authoritarian ideology used to represent the current Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, and his party,
Fidesz, who have ruled since 2010. During his presidency, Orban's government has carried out
economically liberal policies, such as
reducing corporate tax, and
privatizing state owned land. Orban opposed the bombing of Yugoslavia during his first term, even turning down
an request to invade the Serbian region of Vojvodina during the campaign. He also opposed the invasion of Iraq, and criticized it's legitimacy. Hungary, under Orban, has made an effort to block aid to Ukraine, and has grown ties with Russia. Orban is also a strong supporter of Israel. Orban's government has been praised by other right-wing leaders, due to its
opposition to immigration and
opposition to LGBTQ rights.
Italy

Lega Nord was originally a big tent secessionist party who wants the independence of the North Italy (named by them:Padania). Under Salvini the party moved further to the right and became a national populist party with a campaign using the line "Italy First" reminiscent of Trump's "America first" campaign.
Melonism is the ideology of Italian Prime Minister Giorga Meloni, who has served since 2022. Melonism is a mix of
national conservatism and
neoliberalism. Meloni is
opposed to LGBTQ rights, saying that she supports nuclear families, which she believes can only exist with a female/male pair. Meloni is also
opposed to immigration, saying that it leads to human trafficking and high crime rates, and that it should be stopped through a naval blockade. Unlike some other right wing European leaders, Meloni supports Ukraine, and vows to keep giving aid, and despite her hardline anti-migrant stance, she supports giving refugee status to Ukrainian refugees.
Netherlands

Fourtynism was the ideology of the Dutch political party Pim Fortyun List, which existed from 2002 to 2008. It was led by it's namesake, Pim Fortyun, for the start of its existence. Fortyun's ideology was basically a mix of
economically liberal policies and nationalist views. Fortyun advocated for the
prevention of immigration, and called for
the assimilation of asylum seekers into Dutch culture, through compulsory polices. Unlike other European populist parties at the time and today, Fortyun
was a supporter of gay rights, being gay himself, and saw Muslim immigration has a threat to LGBTQ people. Fortyun was a Eurospectic, claiming that the EU would take away Dutch identity by creating a federal state. In 2002, Fortyun was assassinated by activist Volkert van der Graaf, who opposed Fourtyn for his Islamophobia. Despite this, Fourtyns party became the second largest in the Netherlands after the election. Despite that, the party fell into eternal conflicts and and eventually disbanded in 2008.
Wildersism is the ideology of Dutch politician Geert Wilders and his party,
Party For Freedom. Wilders has gained popularity for his
opposition to immigration. Wildersism is
a combination of nationalistic polices and fiscally capitalist ones. Wilders is
highly opposed to Islam, and has called for banning the Quran and shutting down all mosques in the Netherlands. The PVV has called for
ending dual citizenship, cracking down on both immigration from African countries and European countries, and for
Dutch withdrawal from the EU. Wilders and his party criticize military interventions, such as the intervention in Libya, saying that the Netherlands should adopt a policy of non-interventionism. The PVV is supportive of Russia and Israel in the conflicts involving the countries.
Poland

In December 2018, Janusz Korwin-Mikke,
Grzegorz Braun, and 3 other politicians collaborated to found the
Confederation Liberty and Independence coalition with a intent to participate in the 2019 EU parliament elections.
However, the coalition failed to gain any seats, partly due to controversy around anti-Semitic and
homophobic remarks made by the leader of one of the parties in the coalition,
Sławomir Mentzen. Despite this, the coalition registered in July 2019, with an intent to participate in the 2019 elections later that year. Despite infighting, in the election, the party gained 11 seats in the Sejm.
In 2022, more infighting started over Korwin's
pro-Russian comments. Korwin would later be removed from candidacy for the 2023 election due to his sexist comments about women. The party gained 7 seats in the Sejm during it.
Romania

In September 2019, George Simon founded the
Alliance for the Union of Romanians, a right-wing populist party in
Romania. Simion founded the party with an intent to participate in the 2020 elections. The party is known for its support of
unification with Moldova, and has often campaigned for it.
In the 2020 elections, the AUR would gain 40 MPs, and would surge in popularity among the Romanian population. The AUR would do best in regions with large Orthodox Christian populations. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, AUR became the second largest party in the Parliament of Romania.
In 2021, an offshoot of the party was launched in Moldova. The parties infamous
protests against COVID-19 restrictions would begin around the same time. The AUR gained 5 seats in the EU parliament election in 2024.
In 2021, the SOS Romania party was founded. The party would gain popularity after
ultranationalist politician
Diana Șoșoacă joined the party in mid-2022, and would later arise as its leader.
The SOS Romania party would gain 2 seats in the 2024 EU elections, and would attempt to join the Europe of Sovereign Nations party. However, at the request of the SR's
Hungarian equivalent, the
Our Homeland Movement, the SR was excluded.
Sweden

Åkessonism, Sweden Democrats or SD is a right-wing party in
Sweden. The party supports cutting taxation while also reducing government debt necessitating cuts in expenditure. However, the main appeal of the Sweden Democrats is them being against immigrants, especially those that follow Islam. Åkessonism also supports the protection of Swedish
culture and
social norms, believing that the national identity of Sweden is under threat from immigrants and wokeness.
Law and order is another important part of the ideology as the Sweden Democrats believe that counter-terrorism and breaking gangs is more important than individual liberty and can be achieved via the police rather than investments in local communities. The Sweden Democrats have become more popular since the
2015 migrant crisis and expelling their
extreme right wing becoming the second largest party with both
entrepreneurs and
blue collar workers as well as the overall
male vote. This has alarmed the
Social Democrats but more so the
centrist liberals and agrarians
who detest extremism and are generally associated with the right-wing coalition. Despite their associations the liberal and centre parties chose to support the
Social Democratic government in 2018 to stop the
Sweden Democrats from getting into government. However when the left-centre bloc collapsed in 2022 the
Liberal party caved and joined in the government with
SD acting in supply and confidence.
Sweden Democrats were historically white supremacist, as their founders Gustaf Ekström and Anders Klarström, were involved with the Waffen-SS during WW2 despite Sweden's neutrality. However, SD formally rejects
Nazism to modernize its party while expelling its youth wing in the mid-2000s after they associated with
Nordic neo-nazi organisations. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they've been supporting Sweden's membership in
NATO.
Following the 2022 elections, SD is the second-largest party in Riksdag.
Kasselstrandism is the ideology of
Swedish politican Gustav Kasselstrand, and his party,
Alternative for Sweden. Kasselstrand formed the party in 2018 after he and the youth group he was a part of were expelled from the
Sweden Democrats for their positive relations with
Nordic neo-fascist organizations. The party took inspiration from other
European right-wing parties such as
Alice Weidel's
Alternative for Germany, then-
Anneliese Kitzmüller's
Freedom Party of Austria, and
Marine Le Pen's
National Front. In the same month the AFS was founded, two members of the SD defected to it, but were counted as independents, since the AFS wasn't represented in the
Riksdag. The party failed to enter the Riksdag during the 2018 elections, despite gaining social media popularity. Kasselstrand and the AfS then participated in the
2019 European parliament elections, where they received an endorsement by far-right European party
Alliance for Peace and Freedom, but again failed to gain a seat.
In policy, the AfS advocates for three things:
The AfS commonly criticizes Sweden's current political establishment, accusing it of being
politically correct. Kasselstrand advocates for
hard Euroscepticism, calling the EU a threat to Swedish independence. The AfS advocates for forming a Nordic defense alliance, and
rearming the Swedish army. The AFS calls for
reducing the use of fossil fuels,
restricting welfare benefits to Swedish citizens, and
banning same-sex marriage.
Switzerland 
Dettingism is the ideology of
Swiss politician Marcel Detting, and his party, the Swiss Peoples Party. The SPP is a
national conservative party, calling for the
perservation of Switzerland's national sovereignty and culture. Detting and his party call for the strengthening of Switzerland's
current foreign policy, opposing Swiss membership in the EU and NATO. Like other
European right-populist parties, the SVP is opposed to
Islam, and the SVP has supported Switzerland's banning of the Burqa.
Spain 
The Political Party Vox is the most successful right-wing populist party in Spain. It supports
Spanish nationalism,
centralism,
nativism,
economic liberalism,
atlanticism,
Soft Euroscepticism and
traditionalism.
This political party was founded at the end of 2013 like a split of People's Party mainly formed from
Centralists against the autonomy statutes,
Neoconservatives and
Social Conservatives.
The first election in which the party stood it was the 2014 European Parliament elections with Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca as a candidate in which the party got 246,833 votes, finishing 11th in those elections, but despite the large number of votes received, could not get any seats, after participating in several elections without much success,o nly having some success in Melilla and Madrid, but during the summer of that year the party suffered an internal crisis in which people like
Ignacio Camuñas,
Cristina Seguí and even
Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca.
But in 2014 Santiago Abascal and he became the chairman of the party, which he remains to this day. In February 2015 the political party called
Right Navarre and Spanish that now is called "Vox Navarre". Later the party focused on the regional elections of that year and only getting 22 councilors and 2 mayors.
The party became more radicalized since the formation decided to participate in the Eurosceptic convention that took place in Koblenz where
Santiago Abascal had contact with people like
Marine Le Pen,
Frauke Petry and
Geert Wilders, for after have a very close contact with
Steve Bannon, also in the same year was one of the political parties that made the most activism against the
Catalan independence Movement.
In the Andalusian regional elections of 2018 the party got 396,607 votes obtaining the 5th place obtaining representation for the first time of those elections and got 12 seats due to his