‘A seismic event’: Le Pen’s party makes historic breakthrough in French parliament

Marine Le Pen, French far-right Rassemblement National leader, votes in the second round of the French parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Henin-Beaumont, France, June 19, 2022. © Johanna Geron, Reuters

Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) made historic gains in Sunday’s French parliamentary election second round, on track to win 90 seats according to projections by Ipsos – a score way beyond the record gains polls predicted. Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc, meanwhile, underperformed polling expectations and fell well short of a majority – leaving a deal with conservative Les Républicains (LR) as his best hope for governing unencumbered.

Nobody expected Le Pen’s party to win anything like 90 seats.