Elections in France: the “Republican front” has held once again

The political drama that has gripped France since the European elections on 9 June raised fears of the worst: the arrival of the far right in government. However, the results of the second round of legislative elections on 7 July overturned all predictions: the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) and a large part of the presidential majority (Ensemble) agreed to block the Rassemblement National (RN) by withdrawing the most vulnerable candidate in the event of a three-way tie. This operation, accompanied by a strong public mobilisation, worked. In the end, the RN won just 143 seats, ahead of Ensemble (168 seats) and the NFP, in first place (182 seats). Despite the relief of not seeing the RN come to power, the outcome of this political chapter remains uncertain and unprecedented. Even so, the far-right populists achieved the best result in their history. And the Assembly, with no majority and divided into three blocs, may well come to a standstill… until the next episode!