French Populists Now Largest Political Party in France

Written by Chriss W. Street

Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally party took 34.2 percent of French votes to send President Emmanuel Macron centrist Renaissance party to the waste basket of history.  

Formerly known as the National Front, its candidate were defeated in the second round in the 2002, 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.  The  party opposes open border immigration, protectionist trade policies, advocates for a “more independent” foreign policy, opposes French military intervention in Africa, supports France leaving NATO's integrated command and has zero tolerance for breaches of law and order. 

President Macron who wants NATO to fight the Russians in Ukraine, promised the parliamentary elections would cure his coalition’s divisions and disorder by providing a “moment of clarification” for French voters to choose who they wanted to lead.  

Huge turnout in the first round voting for 577 parliamentary seats is projected to give Le Pen’s Rally National took first place with 34.2 percent of the vote, the socialist/Marxist New Popular Front alliance took second place with 29.1 percent, while Macron’s Ensemble took a humiliating third place with 21.5 percent of the vote.   

Voter turnout exploded to 59.39 percent versus 39.42 percent in 2022, making the snap election turnout the highest since the 1980s.  The surging turnout means the second round of voting on July 7^th will include over half the races being three-party runoffs since parties that don’t get 12.5 percent of voters are eliminated in the second round.   

Since the Rally National and New Popular Front voters ideologically hate each other,  Macron’s Ensemble and the New Popular Front that only despise each other will most likely form a coalition.  But in any such strategy discussions, it would be the socialist/Marxist Popular Front NFP that would have the real leverage.  

If that second round vote sees another populist surge, Le Pen’s party could feasibly form a government.  If that happens, National Rally’s 28-year-old Jordan Bardella will become France’s next prime minister.  Bardella has said he won’t take the position unless National Rally wins an outright majority.  In such an event, the hard-right will take power for the first time since President Charles De Gaulle left office in 1969.