5.3% for Marion Maréchal, a Pyrrhic “victory”

Analysis Reconquest! succeeded in its challenge of sending MEPs to Brussels and Strasbourg, despite a catastrophic campaign. The dissolution announced by Emmanuel Macron nevertheless offers them new perspectives.

No one believed it anymore, not even at Reconquest! whose executives have been anticipating a new fiasco for several weeks by happily throwing sugar at the back of their head of list Marion Maréchal. Obviously guilty of the rout that loomed in these European elections… And then no. At 8 p.m. this Sunday, June 9, Eric Zemmour’s party is still standing. On the razor’s edge, just above 5%, according to the first estimates from TF1 which brought loud cries of relief from the activists gathered in front of the screen installed at the party’s Parisian headquarters, near the Champs-Elysées.

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Reconquest! – who aspired to do “around 10%” at the start of the campaign – saved the furniture and will have at least five elected to the European Parliament. Marion Maréchal, Guillaume Peltier – the former member of the Les Républicains (LR) party who shone through his discretion –, Sarah Knafo – the companion of Eric Zemmour, who maintains polar relations with the head of the list –, Nicolas Bay – the felon ex-National Rally (RN) – and Laurence Trochu – unknown to the general public, president of the small ally Conservative Movement.

A small miracle for the far-right candidate and a Pyrrhic victory, as the mistakes of recent months had gradually transformed her campaign into a permanent sabotage operation. The Reconquest executives! Although they share Islamophobia and draw their historical references from Napoleon and Joan of Arc, the small group above all presented a spectacle worthy of a low-grade telenovela. Or a reality TV show whose protagonists, forced to live together to exist in the eye of the camera, always end up no longer seeing themselves in painting.

“Too early to do an autopsy of the campaign”

The noxious atmosphere of the campaign will leave its mark and the contours of the future cohabitation between Zemmourists and puppeteers in the European Parliament appear very vague. The kindnesses exchanged in recent months have been too numerous, too virulent, to hope for reconciliation. In Nice, Wednesday June 5, for the last campaign meeting, we still had to observe the relatives of the former resident of “Figaro” trashing the candidate only a few minutes before her entry on stage. Then kiss him as soon as the speeches are over… “Too early to do an autopsy of the campaign. We do not dissect a being that is still alive”we explained, promising the press to see each other “from Monday, to take stock of Marion” – that is to say, make him bear the responsibility in the event of failure. In response, Marion Maréchal canceled a walk planned with Eric Zemmour on Friday June 7 at a Parisian market. ” At least things are clear… “agreed, for once, those around them.

The poison of doubt and division will have been infused throughout. Doubts about the capacity of Reconquête!, in the process of advanced grouping, to put itself at the service of its head of list – from the announcement of its candidacy, made by Eric Zemmour in place of the person concerned. Doubts about the will of the two leaders and their teams, that of the historical figures of the presidential campaign and that made up of the faithful of Marion Maréchal, to work together – rather than beating each other up through the media. Division on the attitude to adopt towards the National Rally, which Marion Maréchal worked hard to spare despite the hostility of Eric Zemmour and those close to him – who believed that the reserve of votes to be sought was to be found at the RN and not at LR.

Legislative elections in sight

The small far-right company survived, but a good half of the zemmourists of 2022 have abandoned Reconquest! for the benefit of Jordan Bardella’s RN. And if Marion Maréchal can still boast good popularity scores in the RN, the former member of the National Front (FN, former name of the RN) will have to make up her mind: although she may be called Le Pen, the The attachment that some frontist voters still have is not synonymous with voting.

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This Sunday’s score, lower than that of Eric Zemmour in the 2022 presidential election, did not settle the debate about the RN, but the dissolution of the National Assembly, announced in the evening by Emmanuel Macron, could offer new perspectives for the small party by putting itself, during the campaign, in the wheel of the RN. This is what Marion Maréchal seemed to be sketching this Sunday, saying to herself “ready to meet in the coming days Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, Eric Ciotti [président de LR] and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan [chef de Debout la République] to work together » in the option of a “coalition” rights. The only passage of his speech that Eric Zemmour did not applaud. An Eric Zemmour who, for several weeks, no longer hid his fatalism regarding the future trajectory of his head of list, as many at Reconquête! suspect of preparing his return to the frontist fold. This evening of Sunday June 9, despite these chosen ones falling from the sky, must not have reassured them much.