Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won 34% of the vote, with Macron’s party in third, on 21%
The French left took to the streets and caused chaos after the French right won a stunning victory in the first round of the country’s national elections.
Video footage posted to social media shows huge crowds smashing windows, setting fire to vehicles and clashing with riot police. The largest disturbances took place in Paris, but there were demonstrations and vandalism in other cities.
JUST IN: Massive protests and riots break out in France after Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally takes the lead in the first round of the parliamentary elections.
Just another day in France.
Le Pen’s party received 34% of the vote, with left-wing New Popular Front… pic.twitter.com/jDN4z3ELYc
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 30, 2024
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won 34% of the vote, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance on 28%. French President Emmanuel Macron came in third with a dismal 21%.
According to a Bloomberg analysis of the result, Le Pen’s support has increased in 98.6% of French municipalities since 2017.
“In a legislative election that has already seen the highest turnout in first-round voting since the 1997 ballot, Le Pen’s party and allies doubled their score or more in 83.3% of these areas, and the most in the departments of Paris, Haute-Corse, Cantal and Lozère,” the Bloomberg report notes.
“In two-thirds of municipalities in those four departments, the National Rally had a score below 10% in the 2017 election.”
National Rally achieved 20 percentage points more than in 2017.
This election will select the 577 members of the lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly. French President Emmanuel Macron called the election after his party’s disastrous performance in the European elections, when Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won 32% of the vote compared to Macron’s 15%.
The election will not decide the presidency, but if Macron loses, he will face intense pressure to resign.
