France's anti-immigration, far-right National Rally party, once considered a fringe group, scored its biggest electoral triumph to date, taking a clear first place in snap parliamentary elections Sunday called by President Emmanuel Macron in a gamble to try to limit the party's influence.
Conservative National Rally takes historic first in French parliamentary voteSupporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France.
Pollsters from Ipsos-France on Sunday estimated that, at most, just 85 of the 577 seats up for grabs in the lower house of parliament were decided outright, with the rest heading to two- or three-candidate run-offs. That may dampen pre-election hopes expressed by National Rally leader Marine Le Pen that her party could seize an outright majority in the 577-seat lower house parliament, name party rising star Jordan Bardella as prime minister, and force Mr. Macron into a “cohabitation” government that could hamstring the remaining three years of his term.
Both of the leading French polling agencies projected shortly after the voting concluded that the National Rally was in clear first with about 34% of the vote, the leftist alliance of parties known as the New Popular Front second with about 29% of the vote, and Mr. Macron’s centrist party third with just 22%.
Whatever the final numbers, the result was a remarkable achievement for Ms. Le Pen, who has worked for years to raise the far-right party to respectability and shed its historical ties to fascist and antisemitic forces. Mr. Macron has been a leading hawk in support of Ukraine in both NATO and the European Union in its war with Russia. Ms. Le Pen has firmly ruled out Mr. Macron’s trial balloon of sending French troops to aid in the fight and Mr. Bardella said during the campaign he would oppose sending long-range artillery to Kyiv.
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First French projections put hard-right National Rally well ahead in EU electionFirst projected results from France put far-right National Rally party well ahead in EU elections, according to French opinion poll institutes.
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First French projections put hard-right National Rally well ahead in EU electionFirst projected results from France are putting the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union's parliamentary election, according to French opinion poll institutes.
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First French projections put hard-right National Rally well ahead in EU electionFirst projected results from France are putting the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union's parliamentary election, according to French opinion poll institutes
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French voters propel far-right National Rally to strong lead in first-round legislative electionsFreddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.
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