By Elizabeth Pineau
PARIS (Reuters) – The champagne was on ice on the far-right Nationwide Rally’s (RN) headquarters, however the celebratory temper swiftly turned to disbelief when the primary projected outcomes from Sunday’s parliamentary election appeared on TV screens.
For days, Marine Le Pen had confidently predicted that her occasion would triumph with an outright majority and her protege Jordan Bardella could be prime minister. As an alternative, the Nationwide Rally was heading in the right direction to come back third, behind a left-wing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc.
It was undone to a big extent by tactical dealmaking between centrist and leftist opponents, who pulled greater than 200 candidates from three-way races to keep away from splitting the anti-RN vote.
The projected outcome dropped at a shuddering halt what had gave the impression to be the far proper’s relentless rise in France, rigorously engineered by Le Pen who had sough to scrub up her occasion’s picture and faucet the grievances of voters indignant over residing prices, strained public companies, and immigration.
To make sure, Le Pen and her occasion have suffered disappointment earlier than, most lately her 2022 defeat to Macron within the presidential election, and have managed to bounce again extra strongly than earlier than.
However for now, the end result was a bitter tablet to swallow.
“The outcomes are disappointing and so they do not symbolize what French folks need,” mentioned Jocelyn Cousin, 18, who had come to occasion HQ anticipating a victory occasion.
The RN’s momentum had appeared unstoppable after it trounced the centrists in European elections in early June and got here first, forward of the swiftly assembled leftist New Well-liked Entrance, within the first spherical of the parliamentary vote on June 30.
Le Pen and Bardella attributed their occasion’s setback on Sunday to the what Bardella referred to as the “disgraceful alliance” the anti-RN forces, who he mentioned had caricatured the occasion and disrespected its voters.
However IPSOS pollster Brice Teinturier pointed to the RN’s personal shortcomings, together with revelations earlier than the run-off that a number of of its candidates had expressed xenophobic views, elevating questions over whether or not the occasion had actually ditched its extra poisonous previous.
“What occurred can also be that RN candidates themselves confirmed on this marketing campaign that they both weren’t prepared or had of their ranks candidates which are antisemitic, xenophobic or homophobic,” Teinturier informed France 2 tv.
‘TIDE IS RISING’
Florent de Kersauson, an RN candidate in Brittany in western France, acknowledged the fallout had been damaging. However he additionally mentioned voters might have felt the occasion was conceited in predicting an absolute majority.
“I assumed it was unusual that they mentioned that,” mentioned Kersauson, who misplaced his race towards a pro-Macron candidate. “It appeared like one thing that was very arduous to attain.”
Bardella and Le Pen strove to place a courageous face on their outcome. The occasion had elevated its share of seats within the Nationwide Meeting to a file excessive, they famous, vowing to maintain preventing till they gained energy.
“The tide is rising, however it did not rise fairly excessive sufficient this time,” mentioned Le Pen, who’s more likely to mount her fourth presidential marketing campaign in 2027. “Our victory has merely been delayed.”
That was additionally the sensation amongst lots of the supporters gathered at occasion HQ in Paris.
“I see our victory coming. Individuals are going to know that the Nationwide Rally is just not so horrible. I imagine it is going to occur in 2027. I’ve plenty of hope and I will proceed to struggle,” mentioned Elea da Cunha, 17.
Frederic-Pierre Vos, a detailed affiliate of Le Pen and former RN occasion lawyer elected in a constituency north of Paris, mentioned the hung parliament thrown up by the election would imply an ungovernable France, offering recent alternatives for RN in 2027.
But regardless of the occasion’s preventing discuss, Sunday’s final result was a transparent setback.
Enterprise newspaper Les Echos ran a entrance web page displaying a grim-faced Bardella with the headline “la claque” or “the slap”.