The Left and Macron relegate the far right to third place

The French left on Sunday achieved a major 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 561 of the 577 seats already allocated, the New Popular Front (NFP) of socialists, communists, environmentalists and the more radical La France Insoumise (LFI) came first with 177 seats, plus another 12 independent left-wing seats, according to official data from the Ministry of the Interior.

The Macronist bloc, made up of three parties, won 160 seats, a significant drop from the 250 it had before, but much less pronounced than the first round had 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 was left at 141.

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 despite some defections to the RN and is now estimated to have 60 members.

With a very high turnout of around 67%, the highest in several decades, many French people appear to have mobilised to stop the far right from coming to power following its victory in the first round on 30 June.

In an Assembly of 577 deputies, the absolute majority is 289, a figure only achievable with agreements that right now seem unlikely given the veto of the Macronists and the conservatives to LFI, which will have more than 80 deputies.

Explosion of joy in Republic Square

The unexpected turnaround in the projections, followed by the results that came in dribs and drabs, was greeted with an explosion of joy in the symbolic Plaza de la República by thousands of left-wing supporters who had gathered at their usual meeting place.

LFI leader Jean Luc Mélenchon was quick to demand that President Emmanuel Macron appoint a prime minister from the left-wing alliance.

Mélenchon said the New Popular Front “must implement its programme and only its programme” and refused to enter into negotiations with Macron’s coalition.

More cautious was former Socialist President François Hollande, who was elected deputy after returning to active politics in these elections, and who acknowledged that, without an absolute majority, the left must show “responsibility” to implement its programme and pacify the country after the fractured campaign.

On the presidential front, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that he would resign tomorrow, but was open to leading a provisional government due to the “unprecedented political situation” as France opens the Paris Olympic Games in less than three weeks.

Sources at the Elysée Palace have said that Macron, who is travelling to Washington on Monday to take part in the NATO summit, will take his time until the new National Assembly is established “to take the necessary decisions”, that is to say to decide on the government that may be formed.

They added that when Macron has to decide, as “guarantor of the institutions, he will ensure that the sovereign decision of the French people is respected.”

The mood was very different on election night for the RN, where its president and prime ministerial hopeful, Jordan Bardella, grimly denounced the “unnatural alliances” that, in the form of candidates from other parties withdrawing from the second round, have harmed his party.

The party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, did not speak to the militants but in some interviews she said that today’s victory was “a delayed victory” since the progress of her party lays the foundations for a triumph that she sees as inevitable.

“The tide has risen, not enough this time, but it is still rising. It has been a victory in the making,” he said.

The results came after the RN won the first round on June 30 with 33.3% of the vote and was the unanimous favourite for the second round, although without an absolute majority, in all polls.

“It is the biggest electoral surprise in our history,” said political analyst Alain Duhamel on BFM.

In some cities across the country, demonstrations celebrating the victory of the left led to clashes with law enforcement, such as in Lyon, Rennes, Lille and Nantes, where they had been banned, prompting police interventions to clear them out with tear gas.