French election: Le Pen's party now dominant force in France

The right-wing National Rally is projected to top the first vote - but all is still to play for.

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There will be much talk in the coming days of centrist and left-wing candidates standing aside in round two in order to concentrate the anti-RN vote – and much wailing about the disappearance of the old Front Républicain (when the other parties used to agree to keep out the far-right).

But it would take an upset of monumental proportions to overturn the only conclusion that can be drawn from this first round of voting, which is that RN is now indisputably the dominant political force in France.

Nonetheless, what remains to be decided over the next week is still quite significant.

It is the difference between a far-right government having a free hand because of an outright majority in the National Assembly and a far-right government unable to do very much at all because the Assembly is split.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd10g29l7y4o

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