Abdel Denfer gave up on France's traditional political groups and shifted his support to Marine Le Pen's far-right party after a group of Roma were allowed to reside on land near his home.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Rally party attends a news conference with Portugal's far-right presidential candidate Andre Ventura in Lisbon, Portugal, January 8, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File PhotoFar-right targets first regional powerbaseWATTRELOS, France, June 17 - Abdel Denfer gave up on France’s traditional political groups and shifted his support to Marine Le Pen’s far-right party after a group of Roma were allowed to reside on land near his home.
"Enough of being on the podium for the region with the highest unemployment, of our voices not being heard," Denfer said, driving through Roubaix, a deprived town near the Belgian border where vines pushed through boarded up red-brick houses. The far-right, which runs some ten town halls including the southern city of Perpignan, has never controlled a region, which come with multi-billion euro budgets and responsibility for economic development, high schools and transport.
Victory in a regional contest would boost the credentials of a party perceived by a growing number as less dangerous to democracy than a decade ago, said Brice Teinturier, an analyst with pollster IPSOS. In the northern city of Lille's shopping district, several young voters said their contemporaries increasingly talked of Le Pen as a serious and capable candidate.
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