He is seen as a centrist, representing the Republic on the Move (En Marche) party and attracting voters from the right and left. President Macron has attacked the group as being “totally immigrationist” and allowing people to alvexo forex broker change gender at their town hall, an accusation that has prompted allegations of transphobia. An RN victory could open the door to almost three years of “cohabitation”, or power-sharing, when the president of one party heads the state and another party runs the government. If his party loses, and National Rally wins, then the question is whether RN can win an absolute majority of 289 seats, or a relative majority similar to that held since 2022 by the Macron camp.
Has Macron fixed France’s political mess?
Before the election, it held 88 seats in France’s National Assembly, but polls suggest it could become the biggest party after this election. A Kremlin-linked Russian bank financed some of Ms Le Pen’s previous election campaigns. Ms Le Pen says she would put forward Jordan Bardella, her 28-year-old party head, as a candidate for prime minister.
The war in Ukraine overshadowed early campaigning, but recent opinion polls suggest that the cost of living has become the single most important issue. Mr Macron’s projected lead for Sunday’s vote appears to have widened since the first round to around eight to nine percentage points. Jean-Luc Mélenchon from far-left party France Unbowed came third with just under 22%. The Popular Front has promised to fight antisemitism, even though it includes candidates who have been accused of making antisemitic remarks.
Will Jordan Bardella be PM?
France is on the cusp of a massive event, with the Paris Olympics running from 26 July to 11 August. Mr Macron had no need to call National Assembly elections for another three years. France has suffered a string of terror attacks in recent years which have strengthened the importance of security for many French voters. On security, Emanuel Macron has pledged to put thousands more police on the streets, after sharp criticism from Ms Le Pen.
The main party groups
- Anti-Ciotti Republicans have said they are putting up nearly 400 candidates across the country.
- The presidential election was followed by the 2022 French legislative election, held on 12–19 June, to elect the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament.
- Ensemble (ENS) is a coalition of centrist parties, including Mr Macron’s Renaissance party; the pro-European MoDem; Horizons, a party founded by Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister; and others.
- It could hope to receive support from the Greens in a bid to stop France Unbowed from taking control.
- Official results are revealed throughout the night in each of France’s 577 constituencies.
Analysts noted that the failure of any bloc to attain support from an absolute majority of deputies could lead to institutional deadlock because any government must be able to survive motions of no confidence against them. Although Macron can call a second snap election, he is unable to do so until at least a year after the 2024 election, as stipulated by the constitution. Ensemble (ENS) is a coalition of centrist parties, including Mr Macron’s Renaissance party; the pro-European MoDem; Horizons, a party founded by Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister; and others.
The presidential election was followed by the 2022 French legislative election, held on 12–19 June, to elect the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament. This page lists public opinion polls conducted for the snap 2024 French legislative election, which will be held in two rounds on 30 June and 7 July 2024. Unless otherwise noted, all polls listed below are compliant with the regulations of the national polling commission and utilize the quota method. Sample sizes listed are for registered voters, and polls are listed in reverse chronological then alphabetical order by name of institute. A candidate must have secured 500 Présentation signatures from elected officials in order to appear on the first-round ballot. Some of them received sponsorships without being candidates, and one sponsored himself.
But that barrage is this time more likely to benefit the left than Mr Macron’s Ensemble. And many voters in the centre might prefer RN over the Popular Front, because of the dominance of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed. Until now voters have traditionally used “le vote utile” – tactical voting – to form a “barrage” and keep the far right out. The Macron alliance had only 250 seats in the outgoing Assembly and had to build support from other parties every time to pass a law. For the first time in France, National Rally could win power, despite widespread appeals to voters to steer clear of extremes. “This decision has created everywhere in our country, in the French people, worry, incomprehension, sometimes anger,” says Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
The wife of French President Emmanuel Macron features in new episodes released by Netflix on Thursday. They have promised to scrap the Macron pension and immigration reforms and their platform is otherwise based on the idea that “it’s either the far right, or us”. Instead, Mr Bardella focuses on cutting VAT (sales tax) on energy and a list of 100 essential goods and repealing the Macron pension reforms in a matter of months. For years Marine Le Pen has sought to “de-diabolise” or detoxify her party from the antisemitic and extremist roots of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and his fellow founders of the National Front, which she renamed as National Rally. But Mr Macron does have to reflect the make-up of the new Assembly, so if National Rally are the predominant party he could find it hard to choose someone else. Apparently Mr Macron had been thinking about calling an election for months, but it came out of the blue even for his closest colleagues.
The confirmed seats in the new Assemblée Nationale
In GraphsFrench voters returned to the polls on Sunday, July 7, to elect a new Assemblée Nationale and determine who will be in a position to govern France. The left-wing alliance is on course to win the most seats in a dramatic parliamentary election. President Macron meets left-wing leaders at the start of crunch talks on who will form a government. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will face each other in a second round of the French presidential election on Sunday. Because turnout is expected to be high, Ipsos pollster Brice Teinturier estimates at least 250 seats could become three-way races next Sunday. The first round eliminates all candidates who fail to win the support of 12.5% of locally registered voters.
No single candidate for the position as prime minister has yet been announced by the coalition. National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, is a hard-right party and the successor to the National Front, founded by Ms Le Pen’s father. At the European Parliament elections on June 9th the RN won 30 seats whereas Mr Macron’s coalition secured just 13.
The left-wing New Popular Front alliance landed a shock success in the French legislative election Sunday night. After the dissolution of the 16th legislature by Macron on 9 June 2024, the early legislative elections took place on 30 June and 7 July. While the National Rally was originally anticipated to obtain a relative coinsmart review majority, it came third behind the New Popular Front and Ensemble. Anyone who scores more than 50% of the vote with a turnout of at least a quarter of the local electorate wins automatically. That normally happens only in a handful of constituencies, but the RN believes this time it could win dozens.
The last polling stations close at 8 pm in Paris and other big cities, meaning their results will arrive later in the evening. Our chart and map will automatically update throughout the night as results are made available by the Interior Ministry. POLITICO analyzes the vote that redrew French politics, in which the left beat Marine Le Pen’s far right. The Socialists have fewer MPs than France Unbowed, but have nonetheless strengthened their presence in parliament and closed the gap with its radical partner LFI. It could hope to receive support from the Greens in a bid to stop France Unbowed from taking control. The new PM has met President Macron and embarked on the task of forming a government.
Immigration has featured prominently in the campaigns of the right-wing candidates. Analysts say Ms Le Pen has moderated her stance on some issues in recent days, in an attempt to win over undecided voters. France football captain Kylian Mbappé has warned his compatriots “the extremes are at the gates of power”, prompting Mr Bardella to hit back at multimillionaire sports figures “giving lessons to people struggling to make ends meet”.