Category Archives: Emmanuel Macron

Police, poverty and populism: how Perpignan became a laboratory for the far right

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French city’s election of a National Rally mayor has been a study in the party’s attempts to normalise itself in local politics

As Patrice Burel scooped coffee at his roastery in Perpignan, he lamented the steady closure of other shops on this narrow city centre street. “They gradually disappeared like sugar dissolving in a cup of tea,” he said, blaming crime, traffic jams and competition from out-of-town shopping centres. “I long argued for the pedestrianisation of this street.”

Then in 2020 came political change. Perpignan, with a population of 121,000 and close to the Spanish border, became the biggest city to be run by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in 20 years. The historic city at the foot of the Pyrenees, which for decades has had some of the starkest inequality in France, is now a municipal laboratory for the far right. The new mayor, Louis Aliot, a lawyer who was formerly Le Pen’s romantic partner and is a party vice-president, picked up the pedestrianisation plan for Burel’s street, which began in 2022.

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Performance of French far right, who ‘see Europe as the problem’, fears German foreign minister – as it happened

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Marine Le Pen’s victory has been applauded by other far-right leaders in Europe. Santiago Abascal, who heads the far-right Vox party across the border in Spain, called it a “victory of hope, freedom and security for the French people”, while André Ventura, leader of Portugal’s Chega party, hailed “a great victory”, adding: “Europe is waking up! Soon, it will be Portugal!”

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and the leader of the far-right League party, accused Macron of undemocratic behaviour after the French president called for a united front to head off Le Pen’s National Rally in the second round.

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Far-right National Rally in reach of being dominant French party after election first round

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RN has won about 34% of national vote, exit polls suggest, as Marine Le Pen targets absolute majority

Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration party is in reach of becoming the biggest political force in the French parliament after a historically high showing in the first round of snap parliament elections.

The left and centrists immediately began to call for tactical voting to try to stop the far-right before next Sunday’s final round runoff, after exit polls indicated the National Rally (RN) had won about 34% of the national vote share with the leftwing alliance in second place and Emmanuel Macron’s grouping trailing in a distant third.

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French election: thousands protest far-right results in Paris – as it happened

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The far-right National Rally’s Marine Le Pen will soon address supporters after first estimates put her party in the lead.

With polls now closed, first estimates have been published.

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Voter turnout in France’s parliamentary election at near-40-year high

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Ballot could enable Marine Le Pen’s National Rally to form government as polls suggest support for party has grown

Voter turnout across France has surged to a near four-decade high as voters cast their ballots in the first round of high stakes, snap parliamentary elections that could lead to the far-right party of Marine Le Pen forming a government in a historic first.

While polls suggest support for Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) has strengthened in recent days, the outcome of the two-round election, called three weeks ago by the president, Emmanuel Macron, following the crushing defeat of his allies in the European parliamentary elections, remains highly uncertain.

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Macron told ‘people detest you’ as far-right bids to be biggest party in France

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Centrists are fighting for their survival in Sunday’s poll, amid fears the president’s snap election has unleashed chaos

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping was fighting for survival this weekend before the first round of France’s high-stakes snap election, which could see the far-right National Rally (RN) become the biggest force in parliament.

Macron, who warned last week that France risked “civil war” if Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration RN, or the leftwing New Popular Front coalition, came to power, said at the European summit in Brussels that “uninhibited racism and antisemitism” had been unleashed in France.

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Far-right National Rally strengthening in final polls ahead of vote

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Marine Le Pen’s party has pledged to boost spending power, slash immigration and restore law and order

The far-right National Rally (RN) has strengthened in final polls, including one suggesting it could be on course for a historic parliamentary majority, as candidates fought for votes on the last day of campaigning before the first-round ballot in France’s most momentous election for decades.

Two days before Sunday’s ballot, two polls on Friday showed Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, France-first party pulling steadily further ahead in a race it has led since President Emmanuel Macron called the shock ballot almost three weeks ago after the defeat of his centrists in the European parliamentary election.

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‘It’s going to be tight’: Macron’s centrists struggle to deter voters from backing far right

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With the first round of France’s snap election on Sunday, the president’s allies are desperate to shore up support

Standing in a courtyard framed by the white walls of one of Marseille’s Armenian churches, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, France’s secretary of state tasked with citizenship, took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully as she addressed a voter who had admitted she was considering switching allegiances to the far right.

Agresti-Roubache, born to a family with Algerian roots, led with the heart, describing how concerns over the snap parliamentary election results had left her elderly mother “in tears” daily. When the tactic proved futile, she changed tack. “When you don’t have power, you can say whatever people want to hear,” said Agresti-Roubache.

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EU braces for the nightmare scenario- a eurosceptic France

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National Rally win may hamper bloc’s ability to get things done and pose existential question over French role

On the night her party swept to a crushing victory in European elections and France’s president triggered a political earthquake by dissolving parliament, Marine Le Pen, the longtime leader of the National Rally (RN), could not have been much clearer.

“Tonight’s message – including the dissolution – is also addressed to the leaders in Brussels,” she said. “This great victory for patriotic movements is in alignment with the direction of history … We are ready to take power if the people so wish.”

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Emmanuel Macron: win for far left or far right ‘will spark civil war’

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French president’s comments made on podcast as RN releases manifesto pledging to ‘limit immigration’

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the far right National Rally (RN) party and the leftwing New Popular Front coalition – both of which are frontrunners in the parliamentary election – risked bringing “civil war” to France.

Macron told the podcast Generation Do It Yourself that the manifesto of the RN party – which election pollsters put in first place – and their solutions to deal with fears over crime and immigration were based upon “stigmatisation or division”.

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France’s far-right leader says he will not be PM without absolute majority

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National Rally’s Jordan Bardella insists he would need to govern free of partners if party wins parliamentary elections

Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally (RN), has said he will not accept the job of prime minister unless his far-right party wins an absolute majority in parliament because he would not have the freedom to act “in the daily lives of French people” as he sees fit.

Polls suggest the RN is on course to win the snap parliamentary elections called by Emmanuel Macron after the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration party’s crushing victory in European parliament elections earlier this month.

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Don’t vote for the far right, French sports stars urge public

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Kylian Mbappé and Marion Bartoli among athletes criticised by rightwing politicians for intervening

More than 200 French athletes and sporting personalities have signed an open letter calling on voters to reject the far right in the snap parliamentary election called by Emmanuel Macron, describing it as “not only … a civic duty, but also an act of love for our country”.

As the official election campaign kicked off with just two weeks to go before the first round of voting, the appeal called for “a more inclusive and democratic society” and accused rightwing politicians of exploiting differences and diversity and “manipulating our fears to divide us”.

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Ursula von der Leyen on track to keep job after EU elections boost

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Macron’s move to call snap elections also seen as helping commission president’s bid for second term

Ursula von der Leyen is on track to remain for a second term as president of the European Commission, as EU leaders meet on Monday for a first discussion on divvying up the bloc’s top jobs.

The EU’s 27 heads of state and government will gather for dinner in Brussels in their first group meeting since European elections last week boosted nationalist and far-right parties and triggered Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections in France.

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Macron calling snap elections could leave France in chaos, Sarkozy warns

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Ex-president says decision to hold vote after upheaval of European parliamentary ballot is ‘major risk’ for country

Emmanuel Macron has been warned by a former French president that his decision to call snap elections could plunge France into chaos, as his centrist party languishes third in opinion polls, far behind the far-right National Rally.

Nicolas Sarkozy said dissolving the national assembly was “a major risk” for France, “because it could plunge it into chaos, from which it will have the greatest difficulty emerging”.

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‘This could end up ugly’: after Macron’s gamble, will the far right seize power in France?

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Marine Le Pen’s party is breaking record high scores across vast areas of the country, polls show, with an increase in its influence inevitable

It is 8pm on Sunday 7 July. Polling stations have just closed after the second round of snap French parliamentary elections – the country’s most momentous ballot in living memory – and the first estimations flash up on the nation’s TV screens.

President Emmanuel Macron has lost his gamble. The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen has more than trebled its tally of deputies in the assemblée nationale to just over 290: an absolute majority. France’s next government will be far right.

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French centrists losing sleep after Macron’s gamble on snap election

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President’s move viewed as ‘Russian roulette’ after far-right support reached record high in European elections

France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stared ahead with his arms folded while another minister covered his face with his hands as Emmanuel Macron gathered top government figures at the Élysée last Sunday to make the shock announcement that he would dissolve parliament and call a snap legislative election in the wake of a win at the polls by Marine Le Pen’s party. The mood, said Attal, was “grave”.

One senior centrist figure said this week they had not slept properly since the announcement of a campaign that will be the shortest in modern French history at barely three weeks. Some party supporters said their world had been turned upside down. “We’re going to get out there and do our best,” said a government minister.

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Emmanuel Macron defends snap election and calls for moderate parties to unite against far right – as it happened

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Macron is now speaking about economic goals.

Speaking at a press conference, Emmanuel Macron said that in Sunday’s vote in the European election citizens have expressed their concerns and difficulties. We must bring a democratic response, he said.

Returning to the sovereign people is, in my opinion, the only republican decision in this context.

Do we think that (Republicans party leader) Mr. Ciotti - and The Republicans who follow him - who up until now explained that the ruling majority was too lax and that we needed to rein in our public spending faster, would govern effectively with the (far-right) National Rally, whose program has been independently costed at about 100 billion euros a year for our taxpayers?

We must, first and foremost, continue relentlessly to act for greater security and (state) firmness, and implement the laws that have been passed, like our European texts, to reduce illegal immigration.

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Macron urges French parties to unite against far-right National Rally

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President warns against ‘spirit of defeatism’ as country prepares for snap vote to clarify far-right surge in support

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has urged all parties to form an alliance against Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and resist the “spirit of defeatism” after he announced a surprise snap election in response to the far-right’s large gains in European elections.

With the far right at a historic high and the French political class plunged into uncertainty with less than three weeks until the first round of the legislative vote, Macron said he had dissolved parliament and called the election in order to hold back “extremes”.

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How a far-right push in Europe triggered a shock election in France – podcast

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The far right has made significant gains in the European parliament elections. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has responded with a high-stakes gamble

As the results of the EU elections came in, the shocks kept coming. In France, Germany and Italy the far right made serious gains. Just under a quarter of MEPs in the European parliament will be drawn from these parties. But outside the biggest countries the picture was more complicated – in some places, the centre parties held their ground, in others, the left did well.

The biggest fallout has been in France. Macron saw the surge in the far-right votes as a direct challenge to his rule and his response was to call snap elections for the French parliament. Why has he taken such a huge gamble and what could all this mean for France – and the direction of Europe?

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‘We’ve all got to mobilise against the far right’: inside a French town that voted for Le Pen

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In L’Aisne, where the National Rally won over 50% of votes in the European elections, there is unease about the snap election

“Everyone is in total shock,” said Baptiste Lopata, a radiologist, sitting in his trade union office in the small northern French town of Soissons. “Now we’ve all got to mobilise against the far right.”

When Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, far-right National Rally (RN) won a historic victory in the European elections on Sunday night, its highest scores were here, in the north-eastern département of l’Aisne, where it won over 50%, and even 60% in some rural villages, compared with a 31% score nationwide.

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