According to preliminary figures from the French Interior Ministry, the National Rally (RN) of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen will be the largest party in the election – but not by as much as opinion polls had previously predicted.
It looks like the RN will get just over 29% of the vote – compared to around 28% for the left-wing NFP alliance. If we include the right-wing Republicans, where several candidates are willing to cooperate with Bardella’s party, support for the National Rally rises to around 33%.
Emmanuel Macron’s party fared worse and is expected to get only around 20% in the first round. It was the French president who decided to call new elections after his own party failed in the recent European elections, with the National Rally becoming the largest party there as well.
– Democracy has spoken. The French people have expressed their desire to turn the page after seven years of contemptuous and corrosive government, said National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.
The second round will be held on July 7 and will also determine the distribution of the 577 seats in parliament.
Je serai le garant de vos droits, de vos libertés, et de notre devise républicaine, celle qui unit tout le peuple de France dans une même promesse : liberté, égalité, fraternité.
Faites le choix de dirigeants qui vous aiment autant qu'ils aiment la France. #Législatives2024 pic.twitter.com/sgdBICcLtc
— Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) June 30, 2024
Want to “stop the far right”
Although the National Rally is the most popular party among the French people, a number of other left-liberal, socialist and environmentalist parties are seen as very likely to “join forces” to exclude the RN from any real influence, which is why it hopes for an absolute majority. Both the left-wing NFP alliance and Macron’s RE have largely campaigned on “stopping the far right” rather than promoting their own policies.
289 seats are needed to win an absolute majority in parliament, which is considered difficult but not impossible for the RN. Voter turnout in the first round was just under 67% – a sharp increase from 47% in the last election.
– We have seven days for France to avoid a catastrophe. What we do and what we say in the coming days will determine our place in history, argues Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, according to France24.