French relegate the far right

The French left has achieved an electoral upset, coming out on top in the legislative elections, ahead of the Macronist bloc, which relegated the favourite, Marine Le Pen’s far-right, to third place.

But the unexpected political map created by the second round of voting predicts a hugely divided National Assembly with no clear majorities, which is why the governability of France is entering a very uncertain phase, even more so in a country with no tradition of coalitions or alliances.

With all 577 seats in the House already allocated, the New Popular Front (NFP) of socialists, communists, environmentalists and the more radical La France Insoumise (LFI) came out on top with 182 seats, plus 13 other left-wing independents, according to official data from the Ministry of the Interior.

The Macronist bloc, made up of three parties, lost its majority by being left with 168 deputies, with an appreciable drop compared to the 250 it hadbut much less pronounced than the first round predicted.

Third place went to the far-right National Rally (RN), which was the big favourite after its victory in the first round and the forecasts of the polls published up to Friday, but which finally came in at 143 seats.

Despite this strong disappointment, the RN achieved a historic result, well above the 89 deputies in 2022, which already represented an exceptional jump from the 8 they had in 2017.

The conservative Les Républicains (LR) is holding on to its position despite some defections to the RN and has won 45 seats, to which it could add another 15 right-wing independents.