The National Rally (RN) finished first in the first round of the French legislative elections after a record turnout, suggesting complex races for the second round.
Marine Le Pen’s party won 29.25% of the vote in the poll, followed by the New Popular Front, formed by a coalition of left-wing parties, with 27.9% of the vote, according to the final results on the Interior Ministry’s website.
The presidential party came in third place with 20.04% of the vote, a difficult situation for Emmanuel Macron who had taken the decision to dissolve the National Assembly after the results of the European elections.
“We are truly living through a historic period in France with this majority vote for the National Rally and especially this participation, something never seen for over 40 years in France,” stressed Thomas Schnell, contributor in France for TVA Nouvelles.
In fact, more than 63% of voters turned out to cast their ballot paper.
Place for the second round
Many of the candidates still in the running for the second round, which is to be held on July 7, are facing a three-way race. There are thus more than a hundred constituencies in France where three candidates will face off.
“It is very difficult to predict the outcome of the election based on the results of the first round because from now on, everything is decided in the constituencies,” explained Georges Mercier, a doctoral student in political science at Sciences Po Paris.
Several candidates who came in third place, whether from the New Popular Front or the presidential party, decided to withdraw from the race in order to create an alliance to prevent Marine Le Pen’s party from obtaining a majority of seats in the National Assembly.
“The whole question is to see who Macron’s voters will turn to?” Mr. Mercier said.
