Europe's second thoughts about statism

It seems that there has arisen a groundswell on the continent that spawned Western civilization, a rethinking about the supposed merits of bureaucratic uber-administration, concentration of power in Brussels, and economic stagnation.

UKIP blew the doors off both the Tories and the Labor Party in elections for European Parliament seats.

Support for Ukip has surged by more than 12 per cent, outstripping a more modest boost in votes for Labour, while the Lib Dems faced near-wipeout, slipping into fifth place behind the Greens.

Mr Farage said he was 'proud' of the campaign which has seen him humiliate the Westminster parties, pushing Labour and the Tories into second and third.

On a dramatic political night: 

• The Lib Dems clung on to just one MEP - in the South East - as it faced wipeout elsewhere
• Labour only narrowly beat the Tories after failing to make progress in key areas where they must win at the general election
• The BNP lost its place in Brussels, as leader Nick Griffin conceded defeat
• David Cameron rejected local electoral deals with Ukip at next year’s general election, as he dismissed Mr Farage's image as a 'normal bloke down the pub'
• Mr Farage hailed the first election triumph for a minor party in more than 100 years

France's Front National likewise rocked that nation's elections for EP seats.

Now, there is a twist to this:  It was the radical-left Syriza Party in Greece that experienced such a surge in that nation's EP elections.

Drawing conclusions about an overarching message will require some time.  It does seem, though, that the European view of centralized power in the hands of pointy-headed acronym-enamored bureaucrats has undergone a shift that creates some space for other possibilities for a way forward.  It also reinforces the arrangement whereby the continent is composed of actual sovereign nation-states, and not just territories having different languages and cuisine.