France’s anti-immigration, far-right National Rally party, once considered a fringe group, scored its biggest electoral triumph to date, taking a clear first place in snap parliamentary elections Sunday called by President Emmanuel Macron in a gamble to try to limit the party’s influence.
France’s anti-immigration, far-right National Rally party, once considered a fringe group, scored its biggest electoral triumph to date, taking a clear first place in snap parliamentary elections Sunday called by President Emmanuel Macron in a gamble to try to limit the party’s influence.
But while battered by the result, the centrist Mr. Macron may have dodged the knockout blow many feared, as the National Rally appeared to capture around a third of the vote, while a coalition of leftist parties and Mr. Macron’s own Together party getting a combined 50% of the vote.
The focus in Paris quickly shifted to next Sunday’s second round of run-off voting, where the parties can combine and coordinate in districts where no single candidate obtained a clear majority.
Pollsters from Ipsos-France on Sunday estimated that, at most, just 85 of the 577 seats up for grabs in the lower house of parliament were decided outright, with the rest heading to two- or three-candidate run-offs.
Leaders of France’s coalition of leftist parties, who also outpolled Mr. Macron on Sunday, say they will drop out of races where their candidate finished third, in hopes of combining the anti-conservative vote.
Although the numbers were highly fluid, the first projections gave the National Rally between 230 and 280 seats in the 577-seat assembly, the left-wing alliance 125 to 165 seats and Mr. Macron’s coalition 100 at the most.
That may dampen preelection hopes expressed by National Rally leader Marine Le Pen that her party could seize an outright majority in the 577-seat lower house parliament, name party rising star Jordan Bardella as prime minister, and force Mr.
