When new party X has the ‘X factor’

Abstract

There is no single, correct answer to the question ‘what type of party is new party X?’ nor is there a foolproof way of gauging new-party X’s prospects of survival as a parliamentary actor. The recent literature on new parties predicts a relatively low survival rate for ‘entrepreneur parties’, defined as parties formed without a measure of support from an external ‘promoter’ organisation. Charisma alone, the argument goes, is unlikely to be sufficient for party ‘sustainability’. This article, however, identifies a sustainable type of new party in which the founding entrepreneur, acting without specific external group support, combines charismatic leadership and organisational leadership to create a stable mass membership party. The article’s empirical section focuses on the evolution of one such ‘charisma plus’ or ‘resilient entrepreneurial party’ — the True Finns — and, based on personal interviews with its long-serving leader, it does so from the express standpoint of the party entrepreneur.