Far-Right National Rally Takes Early Lead in French Legislative Elections, Leaving Macronist Bloc Behind

On Sunday, France held its first round of legislative elections. More than 49.5 million citizens were called to the polls to elect their 577 deputies in the National Assembly. The second round will take place next Sunday, July 7th.

The far-right National Rally (RN) leads the polls with a voting intention of 36%, even more than the 31.4% obtained in the European elections on June 9th, which prompted President Emmanuel Macron to call these elections. The New Popular Front (NFP), representing the left, has an average of 28.2% in the polls, while the Macronist bloc is further behind, with an average of 20.3%, a sharp drop compared to two years ago.

The president of RN and candidate for prime minister, Jordan Bardella, who is only 28 years old, has been insistent in asking voters for an absolute majority so that he can have a free hand to apply his electoral program without hindrance. In this election, voters will elect 539 deputies from metropolitan France, 27 from overseas territories in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean as well as 11 representing French people living abroad.

The result of the first round will provide a general picture of voter opinion but not necessarily of the overall composition of the National Assembly because it is extremely difficult to make predictions due to the complex voting system and parties’ efforts between rounds to form alliances or exit others. In past elections such strategies helped keep far-right candidates out of power; however now support for Le Pen’s party has become widespread and it remains uncertain how events will unfold in this election cycle