Exit polls published in past few minutes suggest that anti-austerity Syriza are on course to win the Greek general election. One put Syriza on 35.5 per cent of the vote, and other at 39.5 per cent, with New Democracy behind on 23-27 per cent. Another one puts Syriza on 34.5 – 40.5 per cent of the vote. This would translate to around 146 – 155 seats out of 300 in the Greek Parliament.
The party has already declared a victory, tweeting ‘hope has won’ following the poll results:
Η ελπίδα νίκησε! #syriza #ekloges2015 pic.twitter.com/7mFdzHyTON
— ΣΥΡΙΖΑ (@syriza_gr) January 25, 2015
If the party gets an overall majority, then as James explained in the magazine recently, the eurozone crisis will go from being in chronic stage to an acute phase. The leftwing party will demand leeway on the austerity programme foisted on Greece as part of the terms of its bailout. European leaders won’t want to hand anything other lest it encourage parties in other struggling countries.
But it will also be interesting to see the impact on the politics of other European countries – not just those in the eurozone. In the UK, Ed Miliband has stopped talking about François Hollande as the leftwing beacon of hope in Europe, but some of those two his left may conclude that a strong anti-austerity message has major purchase with the electorate. They would be ignoring many glaring differences between the miserable situation Greek voters find themselves in and that of the average UK voter. But even so, a win for Syriza could have a profound impact on our politics, whether to the benefit of Nigel Farage because Europe would become an issue again, or to the benefit of the Tories because a strong economy would look even more desirable against the backdrop of a calamitous eurozone.
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