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.
Continue reading...Category Archives: National Rally
France on course for highest turnout in decades at pivotal election
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.
Continue reading...‘Our backs are against the wall’: French grassroots mobilise against far right
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.
Continue reading...French artists, DJs and musicians unite to fight threat of far-right government
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”.
Continue reading...French Jewish people conflicted over voting choices amid antisemitism fears
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.
Continue reading...Police, poverty and populism: how Perpignan became a laboratory for the far right
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.
Continue reading...France to deploy 30,000 police after election runoff amid fears of violence
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”.
Continue reading...French PM says efforts to prevent far-right majority can succeed
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.
Continue reading...