Marine Le Pen

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 07: Supporters of the left wing union, New Popular Front, gather at the Place de la Republique on July 7, 2024 in Paris, France following the defeat of the far-right in France's legislative elections. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

July 8, 2024 11:19 AM

France election: Policy paralysis looms as left gains and far right stumbles

France faced a hung parliament and the prospect of taxing negotiations starting Monday to form a government, after a surprise left-wing surge blockedç's quest to bring the far right to power. The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday's election, but with no single group securing a working majority the possibilities include the NFP forming a minority government or the building of a broad, unwieldy coalition. The result delivered a s...

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 30: Voters queue outside a polling station during the first round of parliamentary elections on June 30, 2024 in Paris, France. Today is the first round of legislative elections, with the second vote being held on July 7. The snap election was called by President Macron in response to his party's defeat in the European elections earlier this month. (Photo by Owen Franken - Corbis/Getty Images)

July 4, 2024 12:09 PM

As France votes, Europe holds its breath

When President Emmanuel Macron shocked France last month by calling a snap election, he was gambling with the future of Europe as well as his own country. While much depends on the second round of voting on Sunday, it already seems clear that Macron's role as a driver of European integration will be significantly diminished. The two most likely scenarios – a government led by the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen or a hung parliament – would present unprecedented challenges fo...

July 3, 2024 4:34 PM

Far-right majority can be avoided, French PM says

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he believed a cross-party bid to deprive Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally of a majority in next Sunday's parliamentary run-off could succeed. Attal was speaking after more than 200 candidates across the political spectrum agreed to pull out of local contests to clear the path for whoever was best placed to defeat the RN runner in their voting district. "What these withdrawals show is that we can avoid ...

BAYEUX, FRANCE - JUNE 28: Illustrative photo of a set of French electoral ballots for the first round of the 2024 legislative election distributed to electors in the 5th constituency of Calvados, on June 28, 2024, in Bayeux, Normandy, France. France will hold an early legislative election in two rounds on June 30 and July 7 2024, following President Emmanuel Macrons decision which was triggered by his partys heavy defeat to the far-right National Rally in the 2024 European Parliament election. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

July 1, 2024 10:18 AM

Far-right National Rally wins first round in France election

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party scored historic gains to win the first round of France's parliamentary election on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the final result will depend on days of horsetrading before next week's run-off. The RN was seen winning around 34% of the vote, exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe showed, in a huge setback for President Emmanuel Macron who had called the snap election after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament ...

May 29, 2024 4:19 PM

Once ostracised, Italy’s Meloni is now centre stage in Europe

When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took power in 2022, far-right parties across Europe hailed her victory, expecting the fiery new leader in Rome to pursue a nationalist agenda and battle the Brussels bureaucracy. But rather than clash with the European Union elites, Meloni surprised friend and foe alike by working closely with them, presenting herself as a bridge between the mainstream centre-right and her own arch-conservative camp, which was previously shunned. Her influence...