Far-Right Triumphs in First Round of French Elections
France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party has won a resounding victory in the first round of the country’s snap parliamentary elections.
Polls from IFOP, Ipsos, OpinionWay, and Elabe indicate Marine Le Pen’s RN securing around 34 percent of the vote. The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition is expected to get about 29 percent, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance is projected at approximately 20.5 percent.
This result positions the RN to potentially consider forming a government. However, other political forces have suggested they will collaborate to prevent the far-right party from succeeding in the second round of voting on July 7.
Macron surprised the nation by calling a snap election after the RN's strong performance in last month's European Parliament elections, betting that the anti-immigration party, with its historical ties to anti-Semitism, would not replicate that success on a national level.
At Le Pen’s Henin-Beaumont constituency in northern France, supporters waved French flags and sang La Marseillaise, the national anthem.
“The French have shown their willingness to turn the page on a contemptuous and corrosive power,” she told the cheering crowd.
RN President Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protege and candidate for prime minister, pointed out that the second round would be “the most important in the history of the French Fifth Republic”.
Pollster Elabe said in an estimate for BFM TV that the RN and its allies could win 260-310 parliament seats in the second voting round on July 7, while Ipsos projected a range of 230-280 seats for RN and its allies in a poll for France TV.
Le Pen and Bardella have both said their party is chasing an absolute majority – a total of 289 seats – in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament.
Macron calls for ‘broad democratic alliance’
The RN’s chances of winning power and forming a government depend on political dealmaking by its rivals over the coming days. In the past, centre-right and centre-left parties have worked together to keep the far right from power.
Macron Called for a "Broad" Democratic Coalition to Oppose the Far Right.
“Faced with National Rally, the time has come for a broad, clearly democratic and republican alliance for the second round,” he said in a statement.
If Democratic Confederation of Labour and current president of the European Trade Union Confederation, urged for a “blockade” in a post on X.
“This evening, our democracy and our republican values are at stake in the face of the National Rally on the threshold of power,” Berger said.
Najiya Khaldi, a 33-year-old teacher, said she felt “disgust, sadness and fear” at the RN’s strong results.
“I am not used to demonstrating,” she said. “I think I came to reassure myself, to not feel alone.”
If the RN manages to secure an absolute majority in the second round, it would lead to a tense period of “cohabitation,” where the president and the majority of MPs are from different political parties. Macron has pledged to serve out his term until 2027, adding to the potential tension.
Alternatively, there could be prolonged negotiations to establish a stable government.
Risk analysis firm Eurasia Group stated that the RN is now "likely" to fall short of an absolute majority. France faces "at least 12 months with a rancorously blocked National Assembly and – at best – a technocratic government of ‘national unity’ with limited capacity to govern," the firm added.
