Africa Burkina Faso Egypt Ghana Libya Nigeria Peter Obi, a businessman and outsider politician running with the
Labour Party in the
2023 Nigerian presidential election, was seen as a
populist politician, gaining the support of much of Nigeria's youth. Before running for
President, Obi took part in the
End SARS movement, which sought to disband Nigeria's
Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS due to its connection to the criminal underworld and its excessive use of force. SARS was disbanded in 2020. Obi's presidential campaign in 2022 and 2023 constantly ran on issues such as
economic development,
fighting corruption, moving beyond ethnic politics, which have dominated Nigeria going back to its founding, and promoting
criminal justice reform. Obi sought to challenge the traditional
two-party system, led by the
centrist and
Buharist All Progressives Congress on one side, and the
center-right,
nationalist, and
conservative-liberal Peoples Democratic Party.
South Africa Julius Malema, the former leader of the
African National Congress Youth League, broke away from the center-left
African National Congress to form the
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The EFF are notable for their extreme
black nationalism, which has been accused by critics of including
anti-Asian racism,
anti-White racism, and
antisemitism. This also includes radical economic reforms inspired by
Marxism-Leninism, including
land reform without compensation. The EFF is also extremely
anti-West, to the point of actively trying to support
Russia's invasion and occupation
in Ukraine and has denied the well documented
war crimes committed by Russia, as well as the
Belt and road initiative within Africa itself. However, the EFF is not socially conservative. In fact, voters for the EFF are the mostly likely of all voters in South Africa to support
same-sex marriage, which has been legal
since 2006. In the run-up to the
2024 South African general election, former president
Jacob Zuma has formed his own political party,
uMkhonto we Sizwe. Named after
the former paramilitary wing of the ANC of the same name, Zuma has been trying to position himself as supporting a more legitimate version of the ANC. MK, as Zuma's party is also known, calls for
deporting illegal immigrants to South Africa,
land reform without compensation, and
opposition to same-sex marriage, the latter making it in opposition to the ANC on that one particular issue.
Tanzania Uganda Zimbabwe Former dictator
Robert Mugabe and his
ZANU–PF party are seen as populist by many observers. Mugabe's ideology combined
African nationalism with
socialist economics and a broad-based appeal to the people. The most notably policies of ZANU–PF are their
land reforms.
Americas Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (the
President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015) and her husband
Néstor Kirchner were said to practice
Kirchnerism, a variant of
Peronism that was often mentioned alongside other
Pink tide governments in Latin America. During Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's time in office, she spoke against certain free trade agreements, such as the proposed
Free Trade Area of the Americas. Her administration was characterized by tax increases, especially on agricultural exports during the late 2000s commodities boom,
Argentina's main export, in order to fund social programs such as the PROGRESAR university scholarships, the
universal allocation per child subsidy (commonly referred to as AUH in Argentina,
Asignación Universal por Hijo), a
means-tested benefit to families with children who qualified for the subsidy, and progressive social reforms such as the recognition of
same-sex marriage.
Bolivia The leadership of
Siles Zuazo practised left-wing populism as well as that of former socialist
President Evo Morales. but it appeals to a
progressive, common-class image and also has populist elements in terms of popular mobilization.
Ecuador Rafael Correa, the former
President of Ecuador, has stressed the importance of a "populist discourse" and has integrated technocrats to work within this context for the common Ecuadorians. Correa has blamed foreign
non-governmental organizations for exploiting the indigenous people in the conflict between the indigenous peoples and the government.
Mexico in 2018 Former
President of Mexico,
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (or AMLO for short), and his party, the
Morena, are considered left-wing populist in nature. AMLO has been a politician in Mexico for over three decades. He has been described as many different things, including
centre-left,
progressive, a left-wing populist,
social democratic, and
economically nationalist.
United States in 2020 During the 1890s and 1900s, the
People's Party (United States), commonly known as the Populists, was a political party that grew out of a broad, economically left-wing movement, agrarian in nature but formed out of a "coalition of farmers, laborers, and middle-class activists" during a period of intensive labor unrest and economic transformation in the
United States. Concerned that the two major American political parties were too beholden to corporate interests and hence inimical to reform, this coalition gave rise to the People's Party by 1892. They cast themselves in opposition to big business, particularly the banks and gold standard, and the political establishment controlled by them. It advocated for government intervention in the economy, such as the government ownership of railroads.
Huey Long, the Great Depression-era Governor-turned-Senator of Louisiana, was one of the first modern American left-wing populists in the United States. He advocated for wealth redistribution under his Share Our Wealth plan, which had its roots in the classical left-wing populist movement of
Jacksonian democracy, which is related to the
radical movement.
Bernie Sanders and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, self-described
democratic socialists, are examples of modern left-wing populist politicians. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez's populist message tend to place the people in opposition to big business and the very wealthy. Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic primary victory over the establishment Democratic Caucus Chair
Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. The Nation magazine described Ocasio-Cortez as a "new rock star" who was "storming the country on behalf of insurgent populists".
Elizabeth Warren is also mentioned as a representative left-wing or
liberal populist, and Warren is sometimes evaluated as a
social democrat.
Joe Biden is usually classified as a political moderate, but his economic policies occasionally have attracted the populist moniker.
Sherrod Brown has also been cited as a "left-wing
progressive" and
populist.
Venezuela The presidency of
Hugo Chávez resembled a combination of folk wisdom and charismatic leadership with doctrinaire socialism. Chávez's
anti-establishment stance helped him win the
1998 Venezuelan presidential election. His closeness to Cuba caused problems for Venezuela's relationship with the US. The relationship further soured due to the
failed 2002 coup attempt, for which Chávez blamed the US and the
CIA. His foreign policy opposed the US and, in a speech before the
United Nations General Assembly, he said that
George W. Bush was "the devil himself" and that he had left a "smell of sulphur" in the Assembly chamber. He was admired by progressives and popular among his own people, especially the poor. George W. Bush openly supported the Venezuelan opposition, but
Barack Obama scaled back the support after his election.
Asia Israel in 2015. She was an activist involved in
Israel's social justice movement and broadly seen as a
left-wing progressive firebrand.
Stav Shaffir is a politician who was traditionally associetated with the more
left-wing and
populistic elements of
Israeli politics, especially issues of
environmentalism,
social justice, and a
strongly pro-peace stance to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She initially got her start in Israeli politics as one of the three leaders, alongside
Daphni Leef and
Itzik Shmuli, of the
2011 social justice protests. Shaffir became particularly well known for her debate with
Likud MK Miri Regev over housing prices on the Israeli television program
Erev Hadash. She would go on to discuss the protest movement on tours to the United States, alongside
pro-peace Labor Zionist Amos Oz, serving as a keynote speaker for
Jewish-American organizations like
JStreet. In 2012, Shaffir joined the
Israeli Labor Party. She became a
member of the Israeli Knesset after the
2013 Israeli legislative election. She became famous for being the MK with the lowest net worth, owning nothing more than her apartment and a car. She worked with the
socially liberal,
secular, and
liberal Zionist party
Hatnua, eventually forming the
Zionist Union, which would also run in the
2015 Israeli legislative election. By that time, however, she had left and become the leader of the
Green Movement, later renamed to the Green Party in 2019. For the
September 2019 Israeli legislative election, Shaffir organized various parties together to form the
Democratic Union coalition. However, after the
2020 Israeli legislative election, Shaffir lost her seat. During her tenure as
MK from 2013 to 2020, Shaffir worked on issues from social justice to defunding West Bank settlements, and from government transparency efforts to LGBT rights.
Yesh Atid is a
radical centrist or
liberal party. In Israeli politics, "liberal" is not particularly a concept that is distinguished by
left or
right, but Yesh Atid is evaluated that it has a left-wing populist element in part. They criticize elitism that causes political corruption and demand a position on material redistribution. However, Yesh Atid has an element of
economic liberalism simultaneously. Former
Aluf in the
IDF Yair Golan has promoted views supporting
Leftist Zionism, a
two-state solution with Israel keeping some of the
settlement blocs, but opposition to total annexation of the West Bank,
full separation of synagogue and state as well as
ending the marriage monopoly by the
Chief Rabbinate, supporting
LGBTQ+ rights, Reiwa Shinsengumi is also called a "progressive populist", because they are not rooted in the traditional Japanese socialist or Labor movement, but are
culturally and
economically progressive, representing marginalized
young people and
minorities.
South Korea South Korea's leftist political party, the
Progressive Party, advocates
direct democracy,
anti-neoliberalism and
anti-imperialism. They support a
national liberalist foreign policy hostile to
Japan.
Lee Jae-myung, one of
DPK's major politicians, has been mentioned as a "populist" in some media outlets. Lee Jae-myung pledged to implement the world's first
universal basic income system if elected in the 2022 South Korean presidential election but said he would not pay for it if the people opposed it. South Korea's
right-wing politician
Hong Joon-pyo saw Lee Jae-myung in September 2021 and accused him of being "
Chávez of
Gyeonggi Province". However, there is controversy in South Korea as to whether Lee Jae-myung can be viewed as a "left-wing populist" in the context of the United States or Europe. He once said he was "conservative" and suggested policies far from general left-wing populism in the United States and Europe, partially insisting on
economic liberal policies such as deregulating companies on some issues. In addition, he showed a somewhat conservative tendency on some social agendas. In addition, Kim Hyun-jong, the head of the International Trade Special Division at the Lee Jae-myung Camp, met with
Henry Kissinger, and Henry Kissinger gave Lee Jae-myung a handwritten autograph called "Good wishes". In addition, Lee Jae-myung's political orientation was somewhat ambiguous, so
conservative journalist
Dong-A Ilbo denied that he was a left-wing politician, while South Korea's
far-left organization
Workers' Solidarity evaluated him as a
social democratic. (However, another South Korean left-wing
undongkwon group denied that Lee Jae-myung is not a social democratic.) Lee is also a staunch supporter of
free trade, unlike ordinary
economic populists.
Europe France , founder and leader of
La France Insoumise France has a long tradition of left-wing populism. During the
French Revolution, the
Hébertists, founded by
Jacques Hébert in 1791, were a
radical faction within the
Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a
Jacobin group leading
France during the
Reign of Terror. They were most known for their militant opposition to the more
moderate leadership of
Georges Danton and supported
dechristianization. The party is led by its founder, the populist firebrand
Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Germany The
Party of Democratic Socialism was explicitly studied under left-wing populism, especially by German academics. The party was formed after the
reunification of Germany, and it was similar to
right-wing populists in that it relied on anti-elitism and media attention provided by charismatic leadership. The party competed for the same voter base with the right-wing populists to some extent, although it relied on a more serious platform in Eastern Germany. This was limited by anti-immigration sentiments preferred by some voters, although the lines were, for example, crossed by
Oskar Lafontaine, who used a term previously associated with the
Nazi Party,
Fremdarbeiter ('foreign workers'), in his election campaign in 2005. The Left Party is also viewed as a left-wing populist party,
Ireland Sinn Féin is generally considered an
Irish republican,
Irish nationalist,
democratic socialist, and
left-leaning populist political party.
Italy , founder of the
M5S, generally considered a big tent populist party with some left-wing tendencies The Italian
Five Star Movement (M5S), which became the largest party in the
2018 general election, has often been described as a
big tent populist party, but sometimes also as a left-wing populist movement; the "five stars", which are a reference to five critical issues for the party, are
public water,
sustainable transport,
sustainable development,
right to Internet access, and
environmentalism, typical proposals of left-wing populist parties. However, despite its background in left-wing politics, the M5S has often expressed right-wing views on immigration. In September 2019, the M5S formed a government with the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD) and the left-wing
Free and Equal (LeU), with
Giuseppe Conte at its head. The
government has been sometimes referred to as a left-wing populist cabinet.
Netherlands The
Socialist Party has run a left-wing populist platform after dropping its
communist course in 1991. Although some have pointed out that the party has become less populist over the years, it still includes anti-elitism in its recent election manifestos. It opposes what it sees as the
European superstate.
Romania ,
Victor Ponta and
Ion Iliescu Since its foundation, the
Social Democratic Party (PSD) has been described as left-wing populist and
left-wing nationalist. Political analyst Radu Magdin described the PSD as a
big tent catch-all pragmatic party with a strong populist rhetoric. Under the leadership of
Victor Ponta and
Liviu Dragnea, PSD was also
sovereigntist.
Spain , leader of
Podemos The left-wing populist party
Podemos achieved 8% of the national vote in the
2014 European Parliament election. Due to avoiding
nativist language typical of right-wing populists, Podemos can attract left-wing voters disappointed with the
political establishment without taking sides in the regional political struggle. In the
2015 election for the national parliament, Podemos reached 20.65% of the vote and became the third largest party in the parliament after the conservative
People's Party with 28.71% and the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party with 22.02%. In the new parliament, Podemos holds 69 out of 350 seats, which has resulted in the end of the traditional
two-party system in Spain. In a November 2018 interview with
Jacobin,
Íñigo Errejón argues that Podemos requires a new "national-popular" strategy to win more elections.
Ukraine , leader of the
Radical Party of Oleh Liashko During the
1917 elections for the Russian Constituent Assembly, the
Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party, a
Ukrainian nationalist and
agrarian socialist party inspired by the
Narodniks, ran and won almost every region in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionaries supported the
Ukrainian People's Republic during the
Ukrainian War of Independence. They also opposed
Bolshevik occupation of Ukraine during the
Ukrainian-Soviet War. The Socialist-Revolutionaries also rebelled against
Ukrainian reactionary Hetmanates taking over their country. In contemporary Ukrainian politics, the
Radical Party of Oleh Liashko is generally speaking considered a left-wing populist party with anti-
oligarch and
left-wing nationalist stances. The party is also considered
social democratic, and supports Ukraine's ascension into
NATO and the
European Union. Not all Ukrainian left-wing populists oppose Russian influence, however. In 1993, the
Communist Party of Ukraine was founded by
Petro Symonenko, a former
apparatchik of the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,. Generally, the party is a continuation of
the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, the same one which oversaw the implementation of the
Holodomor. The party primarily opposed
decommunization laws. Some critics say the party is not really
communist but rather a kind of
conservative pro-Russian party with the aesthetic of
Soviet communism and the
Soviet Union. The party has similar views to the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The role of the Communist Party of Ukraine in financing
Donbas separatist movements and the
Donetsk and
Luhansk People's Republic has been disputed, with credible reports of the party providing some
materiel support to the Russian backed separatists, though this is denied by the CPU. == Left-wing populist political parties ==