A thumping victory for the right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) party in yesterday’s EU elections has resulted in embattled French President Emmanuel Macron calling a snap election for June 30th and July 7th.
Macron’s Renaissance was soundly beaten into second place as the RN romped home with 31.5% of the vote nationwide. Le Pen declared that her party was “ready for power” indicating that Paris’ infamous cordon sanitaire that has kept her party out of government might be breaking down.
The populist leader announced that her 28-year-old deputy leader, Jordan Bardella, would run for the office of prime minister. Meanwhile, Macron is attempting to cobble together a coalition between the Left and centre to stymie RN.
Insider accounts reveal that the Macron government was sent into disarray by the RN’s shock result.
French prime minister Gabriel Attal reportedly tried to warn Macron that the move to call a snap election could backfire, but the president went ahead anyway.
Jubilant RN activists cheered the words “dissolution, dissolution” when Macron announced the surprise election on Sunday night. The president defended his decision in a live address to the nation, saying that Paris needed a “clear majority” for governance.
Addressing her supporters and the world’s media, Le Pen proclaimed her party’s triumph as a “great victory for patriotic movements.” She said that Europe was witnessing “the return of nations,” as national populists recorded historic results across the EU.
The impending vote is seen as a bellwether for France’s presidential election in 2027. Le Pen has previously failed to capture the Élysée Palace twice, but has since become a leading figure on the European Right.
Despite the two-round voting system historically keeping the RN out of government on multiple occasions at a national and presidential level, Macron is struggling to find allies to stop Le Pen from taking control of the National Assembly. Centre-right leader Eric Ciotti has said that a voting pact with the government is out of the question.
Other positive news for the Right was that Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête debuted positively, securing enough votes to enter the EU Parliament for the first time, winning five seats.
