France's far-right National Rally party makes big gains in first round of legislative elections

NEWS WIRES
·1-min read

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party made big gains in the first round of legislative elections on Sunday, winning an estimated 34% of votes, nearly double their 18% in the first round in 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron has called on voters to block the far right in the second round of voting on July 7.

France’s high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

The projections indicated that Macron's risky decision to call voters back to the polls for the second time in three weeks appeared to have backfired.

French polling agencies said Macron’s grouping of centrist parties could finish a distant third in the first-round ballot. Those projections put Macron’s camp behind both Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and a new left-wing coalition of parties that joined forces to keep her anti-immigration party with historical links to antisemitism from being able to form the first far-right government in France since World War II.

But with another torrid week of campaigning to come before the decisive final voting next Sunday, the election’s ultimate outcome remained uncertain.

Macron urged voters to rally against the far right in the second round.

Still, the National Rally isn't there yet.


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Far-right National Rally leads France's snap poll, left comes second ahead of Macron's camp
Far-right leader Le Pen questions French president's role as army chief
‘Love France or leave it’: the small-town voters driving support for Le Pen’s far right

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Marine Le Pen's Far-Right National Rally Party Leads in First Round of French Election

    The far-right party associated with Marine Le Pen led in the first round of France's two-part election.

  • Far right wins first round in France election

    STORY: Exit polls showed that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party won the first round of parliamentary elections in France on Sunday, but the final result will depend on days of hard bargaining before the second round of voting next week.Sunday's outcome is a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron, who stunned the nation when he called for snap elections after his party was trounced by the National Rally party in European Parliament elections earlier this month.In a speech to supporters Sunday night, Le Pen said her party's victory was decisive."My dear compatriots, democracy has spoken, and the French people have placed the National Rally and its allies on top and have practically wiped out President Macron's party."The results were in line with opinion polls ahead of the election, but provided little clarity on whether Le Pen's anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party will be able to form a government and coexist with the pro-EU Macron after next Sunday's second round of voting is concluded.A week of tough political decisions now lies ahead.In the past, center-right and center-left parties have teamed up to keep the National Rally from power, but that dynamic is less certain than ever. A longtime pariah, the far-right National Rally is now closer to power than it has ever been. Le Pen has sought to clean up the image of her party, known for racism and antisemitism. Her efforts appear to have worked amid voter anger at Macron, the high cost of living and growing concerns over immigration.

  • French far right eyes power as rivals wrangle over scope of anti-Le Pen front

    The first round of France’s legislative elections has confirmed that Marine Le Pen’s far right is now the dominant force in French politics, putting her anti-immigrant National Rally within reach of power. Whether the rest of the political spectrum still has the ability – and the will – to hold it back will determine the outcome of July 7 runoffs. After a lightening campaign marred by a rise in hate speech, French voters on Sunday put the National Rally (RN) in a commanding position in the first

  • The far-right has taken another step toward power in France's elections

    In the first round of parliamentary elections, the far-right National Rally came out on top, sending Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance reeling.

  • France election 2024: Everything you need to know

    France goes to the polls on Sunday July 7 for the second round of its most crucial election in decades.

  • Voter turnout in France’s parliamentary election at near-40-year high

    Ballot could enable Marine Le Pen’s National Rally to form government as polls suggest support for party has grown

  • France’s Far Right Wins First Round of Snap Parliamentary Elections; President Emmanuel Macron’s Party Comes in Third

    After dominating the European elections by a landslide, the French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) won the first round of the snap parliamentary elections with approximately 34% of votes, according to exit polls on June 30. The socialist party Nouveau Front Populaire party garnered an estimated 29%, while France’s President Emmanuel Macron …

  • What are Marine Le Pen’s plans for France?

    After Marine Le Pen’s National Rally walloped Emmanuel Macron in the first round of voting in the French elections, there is a real chance France could be governed by a hard-Right party for the first time since the Second World War.

  • Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after gains on Wall Street

    Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday after stocks advanced on Wall Street and yields jumped in the U.S. bond market as election-related issues swayed markets worldwide. The Japanese yen fell to near a fresh 38-year low, reaching 161.66 yen to the dollar early Tuesday. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.1% to 40,062.42, as the weaker yen spurred buying of export-oriented shares.

  • Macron urges democratic alliance against far right after National Rally's election success

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called for a "broad" democratic alliance against the far right after the National Rally party won the first round of parliamentary elections, according to estimates. "Faced with the National Rally, the time has come for a broad, unequivocally democratic and republican alliance for the second round," he said in a statement.He also noted that the high turnout in the first round highlighted "the importance of this vote for all our compatriots and the desir

  • SZA, Shania Twain and the biggest Glastonbury festival highlights from Sunday

    American contemporary R&B singer SZA drew perhaps the smallest audience I have ever seen at Glastonbury for a Pyramid stage main headliner, writes Neil McCormick. Not disastrously so, but a quarter of the number who turned out for Coldplay.

  • French voters in far-right bastion hope for change

    STORY: French voters in Henin-Beaumont, where far-right leader Marine Le Pen is expected to retain her seat as parliament member, said they want things to change."We have to try. We’ve never tried it out, why not try? That’s all.”The country is the closest it has been to having a far-right government since World War Two. Polls predict Le Pen's National Rally or RN could win a majority of seats in the two-phase election, a sea change at the heart of the European Union.Le Pen has sought to detoxify a party known for racism and antisemitism, a tactic that has worked amid voter anger at President Emmanuel Macron, the high cost of living and growing concerns over immigration.But not for everyone."I’m a bit scared of this National Rally. They have good ideas, but I’m really scared because I think that they're quite racist, and that’s something I don't tolerate.”Macron stunned the country when he called the vote after the RN crushed his centrist alliance this month. Participation was high in the first round on Sunday, underlining how France's rumbling political crisis has energized the electorate. Macron will remain president after the election, but he'll have to pick a prime minister from whichever party or alliance can command a majority in the National Assembly, regardless of how divergent their policies are from his own.France's electoral system can make it hard to predict the distribution of seats and the final outcome will not be known until the second round of voting ends on July 7.

  • Glastonbury 2024: 18 Highlights You Might Have Missed

    Little Simz, Seventeen, Idles, Avril Lavigne and a surprise appearance from Michael J Fox all got people talking this year.

  • Halle Bailey Embraces Backless Silhouette in Avellano Dress With Flowing Train on the BET Awards 2024 Red Carpet

    Bailey was nominated for two BET Awards.

  • Singapore Workers’ Party re-elects its main leadership team

    Singapore’s Workers’ Party re-elected its chair and secretary-general, choosing to retain the leaders that will take the island’s main opposition group into the next general election.

  • 70 percent of voters have decided who they will back in November: Poll

    More than 7 in 10 voters have already decided whom they will vote for in the November presidential election, according to a new poll. The Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday showed 72 percent of respondents said they have already made up their minds, while 28 percent said they are still weighing their choices. That’s a…

  • Harvard Law Professor Delivers Chilling Prediction After Trump Immunity Ruling

    Laurence Tribe explained what the Supreme Court decision means in "practical purposes" and it's "devastating."

  • Trump Throws Middle-Of-The-Night Fit After Nancy Pelosi Called Him Out On Live TV

    The former president attacked the former House speaker as a “sick puppy.”

  • Biden's family is telling him to stay in the race even as calls to exit grow

    The meeting was pre-planned but was a timely opportunity for Biden to discuss the future of his campaign with the most influential people in his life.

  • The reason why NATO and Europe found Biden’s debate performance so alarming

    Joe Biden’s performance at the CNN presidential debate against Donald Trump has raised concerns with US allies - particularly within NATO and Europe.