Le Pen’s far-right National Rally take lead in first round of French election voting

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) has taken a strong lead in France’s first round of parliamentary elections, following an unusually high turnout among voters.

Official results showed that the nationalist leader’s party won 33 per cent of the vote, while current president Emmanuel Macron’s Together coalition slumped to third place on 20 per cent. Leftwing party New Popular Front (NFP) scored around 28 per cent.

Nearly 60 per cent of the population turned out to vote, the highest in nearly four decades. By 5pm local time, 59.39 per cent of voters had already cast their ballot, compared with 39.42 per cent in 2022, according to Ipsos researcher Mathieu Gallard.

Speaking at an election party in the northern town of Henin Beaumont, Ms Le Pen said: “Democracy has spoken, and the French people have placed the National Rally and its allies in first place – and has practically wiped out the Macronist bloc. Nothing has been won – and the second round will be decisive.”

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The elections were called just three weeks ago after Mr Macron’s party suffered heavy defeats in the European parliament election earlier in June by the National Rally, which has historic ties to racism and antisemitism and is hostile toward France’s Muslim community.

Mr Macron, in a written statement, called for a “broad” democratic alliance against the far-right and said that the high voter turnout spoke of “the importance of this vote for all our compatriots and the desire to clarify the political situation”.

His party said their candidates would drop out in areas where they had come third place in favour of contenders “in a position to beat the RN and with whome we share the essential: the values of the republic”.

Jean Luc-Melenchon, leader of the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI), a part of the NFP, called for all leftwing candidates tipped to come third to do the same and bow out of the race.

Meanwhile, Ms Le Pen said that an “absolute majority” at parliament would enable the far right to form a new government with party president Jordan Bardella as prime minister in order prioritise France’s “recovery”.

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Projections by polling agencies suggest the National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote, nearly double their 18 per cent in the first round in 2022.

Their success now leaves open huge questions on how Mr Macron will share power with a prime minister who is hostile to most of his policies.

The two-round elections that wrap up on 7 July could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine and the management of France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force.

However, many French voters are frustrated about inflation and other economic concerns, as well as Mr Macron’s leadership, seen as arrogant and out-of-touch.

Ms Le Pen‘s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and led in pre-election opinion polls.

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A new coalition on the left, the New Popular Front, also poses a challenge to the pro-business Mr Macron and his centrist alliance Together for the Republic.

His election call was a gamble that French voters who were complacent about the European election would be jolted into turning out for moderate forces in national elections to keep the far right out of power. Instead, pre-election polls suggested the National Rally had a chance at winning a parliamentary majority.

In that scenario, Mr Macron would be expected to name 28-year-old Mr Bardella as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation”.

It would then be his job to manage foreign policy and act as chief of the armed forces while Mr Bardella would run domestic affairs and set the budget.

While Mr Macron has said he will not step down before his presidential term expires in 2027, cohabitation would weaken him at home and on the world stage.