the National Rally loses a partial legislative election against a former Renaissance deputy

The National Rally lost a deputy seat on Sunday during the partial legislative election in the first constituency of the Ardennes, won by the independent candidate and former Renaissance deputy Lionel Vuibert, who benefited from a Republican roadblock. Lionel Vuibert, who was elected deputy of the presidential majority in 2022 then beaten this summer by the young National Rally (RN) candidate Flavien Termet, was narrowly elected on Sunday in the second round, with 50.89% of the votes, against 49 .11% for his opponent from the RN Jordan Duflot.

This partial legislative election was organized after the surprise resignation of Flavien Termet. The youngest member of the National Assembly announced in September, two months after his election, his resignation “for personal medical reasons”. The two rounds of voting were marked by strong abstention. In the second round, the participation rate only reached 30.86%. In the first round, the National Rally (RN) candidate Jordan Duflot, who called for “once again censor Emmanuel Macron’s government”came in first with 39.12% of the votes.

Lionel Vuibert came second with 25.42% of the votes, followed by Guillaume Maréchal (LR) with 16.04%. New Popular Front candidate Damien Lerouge received 10.64% of the vote. Friday, Guillaume Maréchal announced his support for Lionel Vuibert for the second round, although they were “often scarred” in the past. In a press release, he criticized the RN for having “showed his true face” by joining forces with the Insoumis to vote for censorship of Michel Barnier's government. NFP candidate Damien Lerouge, for his part, called for «barrage au RN». On Wednesday, right between the two rounds, Jordan Bardella came to support the RN candidate and Marine Le Pen had published several messages of support on her X account. Lionel Vuibert, 56 years old, son of a former deputy of the department, is also a departmental advisor.