Category Archives: National Rally

Paris prosecutor seeks jail and public office ban for Marine Le Pen

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Request in embezzlement trial threatens to undermine National Rally’s efforts to polish image before 2027 polls

A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.

The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win.

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Marine Le Pen and other RN figures go on trial over EU fake jobs allegations

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French far-right leader and 24 others from National Rally party allegedly embezzled European parliament funds

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial on charges of embezzling money from the European parliament, in a high-profile case that could endanger her presidential ambitions.

“We have not broken any rules,” the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally (RN) said before the start of the hearings in Paris, adding that she was in a “very calm” mood.

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Barnier fights to form French government amid no-confidence threats

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Party spokesperson says new PM has ‘complex equation to solve’ and is unlikely to appoint ministers this week

The new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, has continued negotiations with potential ministers as he struggles to form a government to end the country’s political deadlock.

The veteran politician and former EU Brexit negotiator, appointed by the president, Emmanuel Macron, earlier this month, had promised to form a new administration this week after “listening to everybody”.

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‘It was like us – a chaotic mess’: France enjoys Paris Games opening ceremony

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Most French newspapers praise the Olympics spectacle but far-right commentators reject ‘woke propaganda’

They had waited 100 years for it and the French, mostly, were determined to love their kitsch, crazy, subversive, waterborne and very rain-drenched Olympics opening ceremony. Less happy were far-right figures, who spied “wokeist” propaganda.

A thoroughly unscientific poll on the rue de Rochechouart in Paris – where the far right have never had so much as a look-in – found plenty of enthusiasm.

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France: failure to agree on new PM puts leftwing coalition in ‘stalemate’

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A week after election, unity in NFP has fractured with LFI suspending talks with other alliance members

The leftwing coalition that won most seats in France’s snap general election is facing division after its leading party said it was suspending negotiations with the others over a failure to agree on a prime minister.

Just one week after the election, the fragile unity within the New Popular Front (NFP) fractured on Monday when France Unbowed (LFI) accused the Socialist party (PS) of “unacceptable methods” in vetoing suggestions over who should lead any new administration.

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‘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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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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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 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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