France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen will address party, seeking to regain momentum after regional setback
- Le Pen’s National Rally last month failed in its bid to gain control of at least one of the 13 regions of mainland France for the first time
- The 2022 presidential race has long been expected to come down to a duel between Le Pen and President Emmanuel Macron
While the regional elections are very different to next year’s presidential race, the failure raised questions about the strategy of Le Pen, who over the last years has sought to rebrand her party as a more mainstream right-wing force.
It was little consolation for her that Macron’s ruling centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party fared even worse, with the traditional right showing signs of a resurgence.
Most analysts have expected the 2022 presidential race to come down to a duel between Macron and Le Pen – in a repeat of the 2017 scenario – but this is no longer seen as a forgone conclusion.
The two-day congress on Saturday and Sunday is being held in Perpignan in the south of France, the largest city to be controlled by the RN, under mayor Louis Aliot.
