Confronted with its biggest test since the second world war, France’s republican front magnificently, defiantly held the line. More than 200 candidates from the left and centre withdrew from Sunday’s second round of legislative elections to allow better-placed rivals a free run against Marine Le Pen’s radical right. Their sacrifice was rewarded beyond anyone’s expectations. Having won the first round with a vote share that suggested an absolute majority was within reach, Ms Le Pen’s National Rally party (RN) slumped to third place.
In an era when the rise of rightwing nationalism has coincided with declining trust in mainstream politics, this is an outcome to celebrate. Emmanuel Macron’s reckless election allowed RN to substantially bolster its number of MPs. But a high turnout across France led to millions of voters burying very real differences to join forces against it. They did so in order to see off a party whose xenophobic core is at odds with republican values of equality and inclusion. The RN’s plans to bar dual nationals from sensitive state jobs proved to be a political liability, not an asset. So did an array of candidates whose racist views and pro‑Putin sympathies, when uncovered on social media, inspired widespread revulsion.
What happens next is, to put it mildly, far less clear‑cut. A last-ditch resistance operation has produced a parliament divided between three main blocs and with no obvious route to a stable majority. The second surprise of the weekend was the first-place finish for the New Popular Front (NPF), a hastily assembled broad-left alliance. But to govern, the NPF will need the support of a substantial swathe of Mr Macron’s Renaissance MPs. They will be loath to do any deals with its radical-left component, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
For his part, Mr Macron may yet hope to reinstall a centrist government, perhaps comprising the rejuvenated centre-left socialists and the centre‑right Républicains. But given his own parliamentary alliance lost about a third of its seats in finishing second, the president is in no position to call the shots. Weeks, if not months, of haggling loom, as the outgoing prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stays on in a caretaker capacity.
It is an unsatisfactory and unstable mess for which the president bears responsibility. Political paralysis will only help Ms Le Pen’s cause, as she eyes the main prize of the Elysée in 2027’s presidential election. Left unaddressed, persistent anger over declining living standards – especially in less well-off provincial towns and rural areas – will further boost the ranks of disaffected citizens willing to give her a hearing.
In that light, and with a sense of humility following the turmoil he unleashed, Mr Macron should take note of the numbers and allow the narrowly victorious centre-left to set the political compass. During the short campaign, figures such as the Green party leader, Marine Tondelier – who made her name in a former mining town and RN stronghold – showed signs of embodying a promising progressive alternative to Ms Le Pen. And in elements of the NPF’s programme, there were signposts to a proactive policy route to taking on the radical right. An emphasis on greater levels of spending on health and education, for example, should now move to the heart of the national conversation.
The republican front held. But, in increasingly volatile times, mainstream French politics cannot afford to repeatedly rely on it in extremis.
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