France: Left Alliance Beats Far Right in Snap Election Shock
In a dramatic turn that gives a surprise blow to the far-right party of Marine Le Pen, the left-wing alliance in France has won most of the seats in parliament.
In the first round of voting a week ago Le Pen’s National Rally came top and was aiming to secure the most seats in France’s legislature for the first time in the party’s history on Sunday. However, tactical voting and collaboration between Le Pen’s opponents to keep her party out of power paid off, final results showed.
The election, has however resulted in a hung parliament with no single party winning majority seats in Parliament.
President Emmanuel Macron gambled on a snap election after a stunning defeat in last month’s European Parliament election, promising “a clarification” he hoped would put the far right back in its box. Instead, he lost seats and landed France in greater uncertainty.
Despite the challenging circumstances, spirits remained high in President Macron’s camp on Sunday night. Macron adopted a defiant stance, rallying his political allies by asserting, “Our ideas are still alive, and we haven’t lost voters,” according to a source present at the gathering.
Macron’s presidency was secure until 2027, but his Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, has expressed his intent to resign, leaving uncertainty about his successor.
The final results showed an exceptionally high turnout. The left-wing alliance secured 188 seats in France’s 577-seat National Assembly, gaining nearly 60 seats. Macron’s liberals ended with 161 seats, a decrease of over 70 since 2022. The far-right National Rally and its allies gained more than 50 seats, finishing with 142 MPs.
Following the seat forecasts, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon celebrated with his supporters, stating, “We achieved what everyone deemed impossible through a remarkable civic effort... The people have avoided the worst.”
After the first round of voting on June 30, Le Pen’s party appeared poised for its best election result and a parliamentary majority. However, intense political maneuvering by Macron’s team and left-wing leaders aimed to thwart the far-right. Many candidates from the left and center withdrew to prevent vote splitting, ultimately shifting momentum to the left.
Attention will turn to who could become France’s next prime minister. Convention dictates that Macron will invite a politician from the largest grouping to take on the role. The president’s office said he would reflect on the results before taking “the necessary decisions.”
Attal, Macron’s choice as the current French prime minister, said Sunday that he would offer to resign, but he opened the door to heading a caretaker government during the Paris Olympic Games, which begin on July 26. “I will carry out my duties as long as duty demands it, it cannot be otherwise on the eve of such important events,” Attal said in Paris.
At the rally in the Northeast of Paris, Mélenchon demanded Macron appoint a prime minister from his left-wing coalition, known as the New Popular Front. “The president has the power and the duty to call the New Popular Front to govern. It is ready,” said Mélenchon, who leads the radical France Unbowed party.
