Category Archives: France

‘It’s going to be a mess’: uncertainty tempers election relief in Lyon

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Surprise result ‘restores hope’ but politicians urged to heed warning after far-right National Rally falls short

Against the backdrop of Lyon’s emblematic Bartholdi fountain, much of which was sculpted by the artist behind New York’s Statue of Liberty, the same word was on seemingly everyone’s lips on Monday after the French election result: soulagement, or relief.

“It’s great that the far right didn’t win,” said Stéphane, 47. But he, like everyone else the Guardian spoke to, was swift to add a caveat given the political uncertainty that now looms over the nation. “It’s going to be a mess. They’re not going to agree on a lot of things.”

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French stock market swings to gain after election surprise; Britvic agrees to improved Carlsberg offer – business live

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Live coverage of business, economics and markets after New Popular Front is largest party in second round of France’s election, with far-right third

The French election has meant that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) will not be in power, but it has not settled what France’s new government will look like.

The New Popular Front (NFP), the hastily arranged coalition of left-wing parties, won the most seats, but it is far short of a parliamentary majority. The result will mean a lot of negotiation to agree on who will be the new prime minister – let alone on achieving anything meaningful in governing the country.

The French parliament is more divided than ever, made up mainly of three blocs (Left – 182 seats, Centre – 168 seats, Extreme Right – 143 seats) and a number of smaller ones. As we predicted before the elections, no bloc can claim an absolute majority.

Minority government

French political parties “are not used to making concessions in order to create a programme around a coalition with other parties”, and the NFP’s most prominent figure, Jean-Luc Mélenchon demanded its entire programme be implemented. “If political parties maintain such positions, a long period of instability will ensue,” said Ledent.

Learning to cooperate

“Excluding the 80 MPs from the far left and the 145 from the far right, there are over 350 MPs left to form a broad coalition ready to reform France, taking into account the diversity of opinions. In other European countries, including Germany, such a configuration would be quite natural and would result in a government with a clear majority.

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France election 2024 live: political deadlock looms after leftwing alliance wins most seats

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Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally fails to take power while no party wins absolute majority; PM Gabriel Attal offers resignation

“Deadlock” is the most likely outcome of the elections, with no “quick solution” likely in the coming days, according to economist and international law professor Armin Steinbach of HEC Paris business school. He says:

France has no political culture of making coalitions and compromises, like Germany or Italy. That is why it feels like a crisis for the French.

Much depends on whether the NFP will stay united and not break up into old conflicts.

This would be very unpopular and may trigger protests because he [Macron] clearly lost the election.

With his self-confidence he will probably stay on as president until 2027. In other countries, the head of state would resign after such a defeat. With this defeat, he lacks the legitimacy to appoint a new government.

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Monday briefing: French opposition to the far right comes out on top

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In today’s newsletter: A shock defeat for the far right National Rally in France, while in the UK the new Labour government gets down to work

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Good morning.

The far right were riding high from the first round of voting in the French elections last week, after coming out on top with an unprecedented 12m votes. They were hoping to replicate that historic victory last night but their plans were scuppered after exit polls indicated that an unexpected left wing surge blocked the National Rally (RN) and its allies from their anticipated success.

Environment | The world has baked for 12 consecutive months in temperatures 1.5C greater than their average before the fossil fuel era, new data shows. Temperatures between July 2023 and June 2024 were the highest on record, scientists found, creating a year-long stretch in which the Earth was 1.64C hotter than in preindustrial times.

Politics | Rachel Reeves has pledged to “fix the foundations” of the British economy, revealing an immediate plan to boost growth by unblocking infrastructure and private investment in her first speech as chancellor. In an address to business leaders, she will say that economic growth for all parts of the country is “a national mission”.

Conservatives | A number of opposition MPs have suggested that the former home secretary Suella Braverman is losing support as a potential party leader, as some who lost votes across southern England privately urged colleagues to resist a lurch to the right.

US | Joe Biden has insisted he is the person to reunite America in a second term in the White House, even as the number of high-profile Democrats calling him to stand aside has grown. Congressmen Jerry Nadler of New York and Jamie Raskin of Maryland were reportedly among a clutch of lawmakers who have joined calls for Biden to leave the race.

Israel-Gaza | In the initial chaos of the Hamas attack on 7 October, Israel’s armed forces employed what is known as the Hannibal protocol, a directive to use force to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers even at the expense of hostages’ lives, according to a report in Haaretz.

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Pistols Napoleon planned to use to kill himself sold in France for €1.7m

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Napoleon said to have tried to use the guns after defeat of French campaign, but grand squire removed the gunpowder, so French ruler tried poison instead

Two pistols that Napoleon Bonaparte once intended to use to kill himself were sold in France on Sunday for €1.69m (US$1.8m), the auction house said, with the government banning their export so that they stay in the country as national treasures.

The identity of the buyer at the auction in Fontainebleau south of Paris of the finely adorned objects was not made public but the final sale price, with fees, was above the estimates of €1.2-1.5m.

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Leftwing coalition wins most parliamentary seats in France – as it happened

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This blog has now closed but you can read our full report on the French election results here

Hello from Paris.

I spent time this afternoon outside a polling station in the city’s 16th district.

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France on course for highest turnout in decades at pivotal election

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Far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen poised to become dominant force in country’s national assembly

Voter turnout in one of France’s most momentous elections in living memory appears to be heading for a historic high, with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies poised to become the dominant force in the national assembly.

After a rest day with no political activity allowed, voting began across mainland France at 8am local time (7am BST) on Sunday, with pollsters due to publish usually reliable seat projections as the last big-city polling stations close at 8pm.

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‘Our backs are against the wall’: French grassroots mobilise against far right

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Activist groups have sprung up across the country in efforts to defeat National Rally in second round of elections

The truck rumbled through the streets of Montpellier, eliciting insults and bursts of applause as it made its way through the French city. As it rolled past onlookers, the giant screens on its sides scrolled through various pieces of legislation that the far-right National Rally (RN) had voted against, from measures to combat domestic and sexual violence to providing meals and school supplies for children in need.

It was one of dozens of grassroots efforts that have sprung up in recent weeks as France hurtles towards the second round of snap parliamentary elections that could see Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant party form a government in a historic first.

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French artists, DJs and musicians unite to fight threat of far-right government

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Front Électronique acts as ‘world of the night’ to combat rise of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally

More than 1,200 artists, DJs and promoters from the French music industry have come together in a bid to galvanise “the world of the night” into political action and to protest at the possibility of the first far-right French government since the second world war.

Members of the Front Électronique (FE) have organised live debates on video streaming service Twitch and free concerts, and released a fund-raising album Siamo Tutti Antifascisti Vol.1 (We are all Anti-Fascists) featuring 38 artists. The compilation is described as a “call to arms”.

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French Jewish people conflicted over voting choices amid antisemitism fears

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Many say they feel stuck in middle between far-right National Rally and hard-left France Unbowed

As France faces a high-stakes second round of elections on Sunday, French Jewish people say they are grappling with tough choices and feel caught between extremes amid concerns about rising antisemitism.

As part of her longstanding efforts to detoxify the image of the far-right National Rally (RN) – currently leading in opinion polls – Marine Le Pen, to the incredulity of many, has sought to present herself as a friend of Jewish people and Israel.

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Moulin Rouge in Paris celebrates installation of new windmill sails

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Cabaret club’s sails collapsed in April and new ones are up in time for Olympic torch to pass by on 15 July

Paris’s Moulin Rouge cabaret club, whose landmark windmill sails fell down in April, has inaugurated a new set, a week before the Olympic torch was due to pass by the venue.

The home of the can-can was temporarily laid low after the sails of the red-painted windmill tumbled to the ground in the early hours of 25 April.

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French PM urges calm after assaults in run-up to second round vote

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Gabriel Attal’s call comes on tense last day of campaigning after more than 50 candidates and canvassers attacked

The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has urged all political parties to call for calm on a tense last day of campaigning for a snap election in which the far right hopes to win a majority in parliament.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in our society,” Attal wrote in a social media post.

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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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France to deploy 30,000 police after election runoff amid fears of violence

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Move comes after attacks on government spokesperson and RN candidate in buildup to Sunday’s poll

About 30,000 police will be deployed across France on Sunday night amid fears of violence after the final results of a snap election in which the far right hopes to gain a majority in parliament.

Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, said 5,000 police would be on duty in Paris and its surrounding areas to “ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem”.

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French PM says ‘no place for violence and intimidation’ after candidate attacked putting up election posters – as it happened

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Gabriel Attal said candidate Prisca Thevenot and members of her campaign team were attacked by four individuals

The Ecologists’ Marine Tondelier has criticised the far right National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, arguing that his party is allowing some candidates who made racist, anti-Semitic and misogynistic comments to remain on the ballot.

The French prosecutor’s office said it opened an investigation into an assault with a weapon against a public official, after government spokesperson and candidate Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked yesterday, the Associated Press reported.

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French critic sues after Spanish theatre-maker’s insults on stage

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Angélica Liddell, who describes herself as an ‘irresponsible artist’, read out a bad review by Stéphane Capron and called him a ‘bastard’

A Spanish theatre-maker is being sued for defamation by a French theatre critic after she read out one of his reviews on stage, flashed her bare bottom at the audience and called him a “bastard”.

In a stunt that has sparked a debate about the limits of artistic freedom in politically divisive times, Angélica Liddell, a director and performer, read out a list of negative reviews of her past work from French critics, many of whom were in attendance at her opening show of the Avignon performing arts festival on Saturday.

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Hundreds of France election candidates withdraw amid pressure over tactical approach to stopping far right – as it happened

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This live blog is closed.

It was raining in Calais on election day. A thin, penetrating, miserable drizzle blowing in off the Channel that was entirely in keeping with the mood of a great many voters as they headed to the polls in France’s most momentous ballot in living memory.

“It’s all going to shit,” said Xavier Hembert, voting with his son Arthur on the rue Philippine de Hainaut, named after Edward III of England’s French-born wife, much loved here ever since she persuaded him not to decapitate the port’s Burghers in 1347.

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French PM says efforts to prevent far-right majority can succeed

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Gabriel Attal urges on campaign to peg back rise of National Rally as candidates pull out to avoid splitting vote

France’s prime minister has said nationwide efforts to prevent Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) winning an outright majority in parliament could succeed, after more than 200 candidates pulled out of Sunday’s legislative election runoff to avoid splitting the anti-far-right vote.

“We can avoid an absolute majority for the far right,” Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday, adding that 90% of candidates from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp had quit three-way races if they were in third with an RN candidate ahead of them.

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A tale of two elections: how angry voters in France and UK turned on their leaders

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The countries are heading in different directions, but voters on both sides of the Channel have similar concerns

It was raining in Calais on election day. A thin, penetrating, miserable drizzle blowing in off the Channel that was entirely in keeping with the mood of a great many voters as they headed to the polls in France’s most momentous ballot in living memory.

“It’s all going to shit,” said Xavier Hembert, voting with his son Arthur on the rue Philippine de Hainaut, named after Edward III of England’s French-born wife, much loved here ever since she persuaded him not to decapitate the port’s Burghers in 1347.

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