So the pattern seems to be that incumbent parties did well in three large countries where television news apparently isn’t as independent as you’d wish (Spain, Italy and France) and collapsed in every other country.
(Correlation isn’t always causation.)
Germany?
You are kidding yourself about the true level of independence the BBC has left.
The incumbents did terribly in Germany. It’s typical for junior parties in coalitions to get hit the hardest.
Well I don’t believe in causality here, at least for France.
As a French I can tell you that the victory of the governing party as much more to do with the division of opposition parties, both between them and internaly, particularly for the socialist party.
Apart from Alliance Ecologique their campaign as been pitiful, a disaster, they’ve focused their campaign on a pro/anti Sarkozy axe, on national and personnality issues and they have been punished for it.
Our opposition must rethink all from scratch, new ideas, new strategies, new leaders. And A PROJECT please! Their failure in those elections is their failure as trustworthy and credible opposition parties.
And they have a lot of work, because the UMP is well organized and adapts itself quite well and quickly, in permanence.