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Far right hopes to make history as France votes in high-stakes poll
France is voting in a parliamentary election that could make history, with the far right closer to power than it has ever been in modern times.
The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella is well ahead in the polls – three weeks to the day since they won European elections. President Emmanuel Macron reacted immediately by calling a national vote and stunning his country.
By midday, more than a quarter of France’s 49 million voters had cast their ballot, more than seven points up on the last election, and confirming the high turnout widely expected in such a pivotal election.
This is a two-round election, and most of the National Assembly’s 577 seats will not be decided until the second-round run-off vote next Sunday.
The campaign only lasted 20 days, and that also benefited RN, which quickly refined its existing promises on immigration, crime and insecurity as well as tax cuts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Jordan Bardella wants to be RN’s first prime minister, and his party is confident of winning dozens of constituencies outright in the first round.
He says he will only take the job if the party secures an absolute parliamentary majority of 289 seats. The alternative would be a hung parliament and stalemate.
