France’s far-right leads election first round as Macron loses ground
- Strong showing for National Rally deals a blow to President Emmanuel Macron and his risky decision to call a snap election
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party scored historic gains to win the first round of France’s parliamentary election on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the final result will depend on days of horse-trading before next week’s run-off.
The RN was seen winning around 34 per cent of the vote, exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe showed, in a huge setback for President Emmanuel Macron who had called the snap election after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament elections earlier this month.
The RN’s share of the vote was comfortably ahead of leftist and centrist rivals, including Macron’s Together alliance, whose bloc was seen winning 20.5 per cent-23 per cent. The New Popular Front (NFP), a hastily assembled left-wing coalition, was projected to win around 29 per cent of the vote, the exit polls showed.
The exit polls were in line with opinion surveys ahead of the election, and were met with jubilation by Le Pen’s supporters. However, they provided little clarity on whether the anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic RN will be able to form a government to “cohabit” with the pro-EU Macron after next Sunday’s run-off.
A long-time pariah for many in France, the RN is now closer to power than it has ever been. Le Pen has sought to clean up the image of a party known for racism and antisemitism, a tactic that has worked amid voter anger at Macron, the high cost of living and growing concerns over immigration.
