France's far-right National Rally in the lead in first-round legislative elections
National Rally is leading in the first round of voting in a high-stakes election that puts France on course for a far-right government for the first time since World War II.
National Rally is leading in the first round of voting in a high-stakes election that puts France on course for a far-right government for the first time since World War II.
Projections by polling agencies suggest that National Rally secured a third of the vote during Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, early polling suggests the leftist alliance, New Popular Front, has 29% of the vote. French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists trailed third, with 20.5%.
Parties are competing for a total 577 seats in the National Assembly, the French equivalent of the U.S. House of Representatives. Those who polled above 12.5% of registered voters in their constituencies but did not cross the 50% threshold will enter the runoff next week.
Supporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen in Henin-Beaumont, northern France on Sunday.Thibault Camus / APMacron called the snap election a day after his party was crushed by RN in June’s European parliamentary elections. His decision was widely seen as an attempt to spook voters away from the political extremes, but his gamble backfired after a lightning-fast, three-week campaign failed to turn the tide.
“The center has imploded,” Samantha de Bendern, a geopolitical consultant for the news outlet La Chaine Info, said before the election. “Macron miscalculated. He was hoping the moderate left and moderate right would both come to him. Instead, they’ve both joined the extremes.”
Rating: 5