A coalition of left-wing parties, the New Popular Front (NFP), has won the largest number of seats in France's National Assembly, averting a feared landslide victory by the far-right National Rally (RN) party in legislative elections.
Sunday’s historic victory by the left-wing alliance – made up of hitherto deeply divided Socialists, Greens, Communists and Jean-Luc Melenchon’s Unbreakable France – did not come easily. Since its formation last month, the NFP has faced a barrage of criticism from both centrist and far-right elites, and has been demonised as a danger to the future of the republic. The media environment was also deeply hostile, with the discredited horseshoe theory – which holds that the far right and far left are closer to each other than either is to the political centre – dominating the discourse around the election.
Marine Le Pen and her protégé, RN president Jordan Bardella, spent the weeks leading up to the election attempting to complete the rebranding of their party as the new “centre-right” and presenting the NFP as the real “extremists”. The left-wing alliance and especially Mélenchon were accused of anti-Semitism for their support of Palestine, while the RN – a party founded by a convicted Holocaust denier – was recast as a strong force against anti-Semitism because of its pro-Israel stance.
The whitewashing of the RN’s racist legacy and the demonisation of the NFP as “anti-Semitic” was so extensive that the prevailing media narrative after the first round on 30 June was that a leftist victory would be as damaging, if not more so, than a far-right one.
With centrist President Emmanuel Macron having already blurred the line between centre and right by embracing a variety of right-codified authoritarian policies in recent years, it seemed that conditions were ripe for the RN to complete its rehabilitation as a dominant right-wing party and eventually take control of the French Parliament.
Yet, despite pollsters predicting a clear victory for RN, the French electorate on Sunday once again rejected Le Pen's far-right proposals and placed its trust instead in the left.
The NFP came in first, winning 182 seats, followed by Macron's centrist, neoliberal Ensemble, which took 163. Le Pen and Bardella's RN could only manage 143, leaving them with no real path to forming a government.
Election night was dramatic, with RN supporters in tears and many journalists covering the election seemingly unable to understand the results announced by the French. Where did everything go wrong for RN?
The appointment of Bardella, then 26, as chairman in 2022 was the beginning of a new era for the RN. Bardella embodied many qualities that excite the far right: youth, hypermasculinity and an immigration background combined with a tough anti-immigration stance, reinforced by the usual “anti-woke” rhetoric. He skillfully promoted a far-right agenda, opposing abortion rights, spreading Islamophobia and demonising immigrants while selling himself as a mainstream political operator. Most importantly, he sought to erase the party’s anti-Semitic history and the prevailing neo-Nazi views among its base by offering unconditional support to Israel’s far-right government and its bloody war on Gaza. He took advantage of the centrist government’s failings and authoritarian tendencies, presenting his party as mainstream and rapidly increasing its political influence. Macron's flirtation with far-right policies, such as banning social media during protests, significantly helped Bardella's efforts to present the movement he leads alongside Le Pen as a representative of conventional patriotic populism.
His work to raise his party's profile culminated in the RN winning a decisive 31 percent of the vote in last month's European Parliament election and securing the largest share of the vote in the first round of national parliamentary elections that Macron called in response.
But when the second round of elections came and the possibility of a French government led by the RN became a real possibility, the electorate made it clear that it does not want the far right, however normalized and media-educated it may be, to take the helm of the country. Moreover, by shifting its support to the left-wing coalition, it made it clear that it does not support the horseshoe theory or believe the narrative that criticizing Israel and its war on Gaza is anti-Semitic or hateful.
On Sunday, Mélenchon and his new allies on the French left undoubtedly scored a monumental victory. They demonstrated that the antidote to the growing popularity of the far right is the left and its unapologetic demand for meaningful reforms and social justice, not centrist proposals for “more of the same.” However, it is premature to celebrate.
The RN did, however, manage to win more than 100 seats, more than it has ever had before. The left does not have the majority needed to form a government on its own, which means there will be political turmoil in the immediate future. Once a government is formed, the RN may not be in it, but it will certainly have a stronger voice in parliament. There is reason to believe that the party will put up an even stronger fight in future elections.
However, the left still has an important and unmissable opportunity before it.
The French electorate has made it clear that it is tired of the centrist and ideologically ambiguous government offered by Macron. It was the French president’s failure to fix the economy and authoritarian policies that normalised the far right that pushed many French voters into the arms of the RN. Now, voters have rejected what the RN is offering and the left has a real chance to implement its agenda and chart a new path for France based on social justice, care for the environment and a foreign policy that is in line with the views and values of the French people.
The NFP programme includes raising the monthly minimum wage, lowering the legal retirement age from 64 to 60, building a million new affordable homes over five years and freezing prices for basic necessities such as food, energy and gas. The state would also cover all costs associated with children’s education, including meals, transport and extracurricular activities – all funded by higher taxes on the wealthiest. The left-wing alliance has also promised to stand in solidarity with Palestinians and to end the current French government’s mix of anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel and its far-right government.
The implementation of this ambitious agenda could restore balance to the French political system, act as a real long-term counterforce against the far right, and pave the way for a left-wing future in a country that urgently needs to recover from Macron’s neoliberalism. As things stand, the left now has a clear mandate to lead, and hopefully the centre will not prevent left-wing forces from forming a coalition, allowing Mélenchon to guide France towards healing its internal divisions.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
