Early projections show National Rally on course for victory in the vote for a new parliament as Emmanuel Macron’s election gamble backfires.
Early projections show National Rally on course for victory in the vote for a new parliament as Emmanuel Macron’s election gamble backfires.
PARIS — France on Sunday took a step closer to delivering what was once seen as an unthinkable nightmare: a far-right government taking power in Paris for the first time.
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally made big gains in the first round of a snap election that could upend political orthodoxy across Europe and beyond, with implications for markets and global security that will be hard to predict.
According to early estimates by pollsters Ipsos, the far-right National Rally is on course to win 34 percent of Sunday’s vote while French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance suffered staggering losses, coming third with 20.3 percent of vote. The left-wing alliance made a strong showing with 28.1 percent of the vote.
“The French people have shown that they want to draw a line under seven years of [Macron’s] disdainful rule,” said Le Pen, speaking at a party event in the Eastern French town of Hénin-Beaumont. “We haven’t won yet, the second round will be crucial … we need an absolute majority so that Jordan Bardella, in eight days, can be appointed prime minister by Emmanuel Macron,” she added.
