And so it did not come to pass. For all the expectation – and yes, fear among some in France and around the world – the far-right has failed in its bid to gain a majority in the French National Assembly (the lower house of France’s parliament).
Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) and its allies came top in the first round of voting in France’s hastily called legislative election. But in the second round, the party simply could not break through the so-called “republican front”, the practice of candidates withdrawing to avoid splitting the vote against the far right. And so RN has failed to produce the first far-right government in France since the second world war.
Instead, the New Popular Front of left-wing and green parties looked set to win the highest number of seats with 182. Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance came second with 168 seats. RN and its allies have been pushed into third place overall with 143 seats.
