Dawn Butlereuropean electionsincelsLabour PartyRight-wing populism

For any pundits scratching their heads as to how Europe’s Right-wing achieved so much success in the weekend’s elections, just ask Labour MP Dawn Butler. Are voters motivated by concerns over immigration? Do they just want to send a message to the establishment? No, Butler says: they’re just not getting laid. The politician tweeted today, in response to yesterday evening’s results, that “we were all warned about the rise of the far right and INCELS [her caps]. The attack on Woke feeds into this dangerous rhetoric.” She added: “Farage & Reform some Tories should be nowhere near power [sic]”.

There has been research into the political positions of incels — that is, people, most predominantly men, who are involuntarily celibate — and the EU has even published a solemn guide to the phenomenon. Newspapers have even published articles drawing links between membership of incel subcultures and terrorist attacks. So maybe incels are to blame — or more probably, it’s continent-wide deindustrialisation, declining living standards and out-of-control immigration. Take your pick.