The National Rally party is predicted to win the first round of the snap parliamentary election
The right-wing National Rally (RN) party is projected to win the first round of the French snap parliamentary elections held on Sunday, according to exit polls. This outcome represents a significant setback for President Emmanuel Macron and his centrist Together (Ensemble) coalition.
Macron called for an early vote after his Renaissance Party performed poorly in the European Parliament election last month, where RN, led by Jordan Bardella, won the most seats allocated to France.
Pollsters Ipsos and Talan’s projections released on Sunday night indicate that RN and its allies are leading with 33.2% of the vote. They are followed by the left-wing New Popular Front bloc (28.1%), with Macron’s coalition coming in third at 21%. The voter turnout is estimated at 65.5%, the highest France has seen in four decades.
According to Radio France Internationale (RFI) projections, RN is expected to secure between 230 and 280 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, while Macron’s bloc is estimated to secure between 70 and 100 seats.
RN supporters celebrated their victory, with party leaders urging them to “mobilize” for the second round of voting on July 7.
“The French people have nearly wiped out the Macronist bloc,” stated Marine Le Pen, RN’s former long-time leader who currently leads the party’s faction in parliament. “The second round will determine the [final] outcome,” she added, emphasizing that RN needs to secure an absolute majority for Macron to appoint Bardella as prime minister.
Macron responded to this upset by urging voters to “block the far right” and form a coalition to prevent RN from gaining control of the parliament.
“The time has come for a broad, unequivocally democratic and republican alliance for the second round,” Macron said on Sunday. He noted that the high turnout demonstrated “the importance of this election for all our compatriots and the desire to clarify the political situation.”
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated that “not a single vote should go to National Rally,” arguing that the country “must stop” the right from obtaining an absolute majority.
New Popular Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon described Sunday’s results as a “heavy and undisputable” defeat for Macron’s alliance but also urged the French people to unite against RN.