Does populism pose a risk to markets in 2019?  Yes! but not from the expected quarter. 2019 brought a surprise on the European front.  The support for traditional parties has been plummeting for a long time.  We call this the European souffle where support for the centre ground continues to cave over time.  Populist parties gained 20% or more of the vote in many national elections this year, thought there were signs of their vote stabilising in the most recent polls.