National Rally Leads French Parliamentary Elections as Macron Calls for Unity Against Far Right

France has recently held its first round of parliamentary elections, with the far-right National Rally leading the way according to exit polls. The Ipsos Talon institute predicts that Le Pen’s party will receive over 34% of the vote, making them the clear front-runners in the upcoming election. In second place is the “New Popular Front” alliance of left and far-left forces, with President Emmanuel Macron’s “Together” supporters in third place.

In response to the results, Macron has called for a united front against the far right in the second round of elections on July 7, emphasizing the need for a broad alliance of democratic and republican forces. On the other hand, Le Pen has urged her supporters to give maximum support to the National Rally in order to secure an absolute majority in parliament and install Bardella as prime minister.

The National Assembly in France consists of 577 deputies, and it is anticipated that after two rounds of elections, the National Rally will secure 230-280 mandates, while the New Popular Front will have 125-165 seats and Together will have 70-100 deputies.

Macron decided to hold early elections following his party’s success in European Parliament elections earlier this year, but shifted significantly towards the right to attract their voters. Despite these efforts, however, his party did not see significant gains in this election cycle.

The National Rally evolved from Jean Marie Le Pen’s original National Front party and has historically been marginalized within French politics. Notably, despite initially holding anti-Semitic views, they have recently become staunch supporters of Israel.