The European populist right has been at the top of the political agenda in recent days. On July 7, everyone in France was waiting expectantly for a Paris appeal court to decide on whether Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Rassemblement National (RN), would be allowed to run in the 2027 presidential election after her conviction for embezzlement of European funds. But just as the European media machine was gearing up for the verdict, across the Channel, Nigel Farage – the leader of Reform UK – an