France holds back the far right

France has put the brakes on the far right. The party of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, Regroupement National, was the big favourite in the second round of the French legislative elections after winning the first round, but the cordon sanitaire imposed by the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, and the more centrist formation of the hitherto president Emmanuel Macron, Ensemble, has stopped the far-right led by Le Pen and Bardella. 

"The New Popular Front is ready to govern," said the leader of the left-wing coalition Jean Luc Mélenchon, after the amalgam of left-wing parties of the New Popular Front made a historic comeback in the second round of the legislative elections to win 182 seats, beating the National Rally, which in the end came third with 143 seats, being surpassed even by the more centrist coalition led by Emmanuel Macron, which won 168 MPs.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party and candidate for the French presidency, and the candidate to lead the government as prime minister from the far right, Jordan Bardella, had power at their fingertips after the first round of elections, but the political and social appeals of all kinds made in France have prevented the far right from taking power in the French Republic. 

This Sunday, after Election Day, Marine Le Pen was scheduled to appear triumphantly alongside Jordan Bardella at the headquarters of the National Rally, but Le Pen did not appear before the media after the defeat and Jordan Bardella did, who criticised the "dishonourable alliance and the dangerous electoral agreements made by Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal with the extreme left", which "deprive the French of a policy of recovery". 

The National Regroupment party has achieved a historic electoral result, going from almost marginality to the verge of power, but it has not been able to obtain an absolute majority. Jordan Bardella himself made it clear during the campaign that he would only run for prime minister if he had an absolute majority, something that did not happen in the end. 

The political programme of National Rally is far-right, nationalist, conservative and populist, and has made considerable progress among the French population, which is very unhappy with the social, labour and economic problems the country has been experiencing in recent years. The National Rally's discourse breaks completely with the line of the government led by Emmanuel Macron in recent years and, although it has made great efforts to moderate its stance towards the electorate, it maintains principles that are very critical of immigration, very protectionist, Eurosceptic and with very deep reforms. A very right-wing line. 

The electoral agreement is now expected to be reached for a complex government alliance that requires the left-wing New Popular Front to obtain the support of President Emmanuel Macron's coalition in order to reach the 289 deputies that give it an absolute majority in the National Assembly. 

The figure of left-wing leader Jean Luc Mélenchon is not well liked within Emmanuel Macron's party, but he warned France's still-president against turning to the New Popular Front to govern after the French population ruled out "the worst solution". 

Major political moves are expected after the current French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, announced his intention to resign from his post; an exit to which Emmanuel Macron will not react for the time being by appointing a new prime minister pending political negotiations for the establishment of a new power in France. Thus, in principle, he will wait for the National Assembly to take shape before appointing a new prime minister and a new executive, which will probably be a figure promoted by the left, the winner of the French legislative elections. The left is the winner of the French legislative elections, boosted by the fear of the ultra-right coming to power. 

Officially, the choice of France's prime minister rests with the country's president, who has significant prerogatives in France, and there is no clear legal text linking him or her to the election results, but political custom dictates that the prime minister be chosen from the ranks of the strongest political force in the National Assembly.

During the election campaign, the New Popular Front chose not to nominate a clear candidate for prime minister to head its electoral list, unlike the National Rally, which nominated Jordan Bardella as its candidate, and Macron's coalition, which was headed by outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal. 

Movements are now expected within the left-wing coalition, with greater weight of Jean Luc Mélenchon's more radical formation included in the New Popular Front and called France Insoumise, and of the socialists, which excludes other formations such as the Greens from the race. 

Jean Luc Mélenchon is the main candidate for Prime Minister, but there are sectors that see this figure as too radical because of his position on issues such as the war in Gaza or the economy. In the face of this, other names may emerge from within Mélenchon's own current, such as Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the New Popular Front. 

Outside France Insoumise, other left-wing representatives of other formations included in the New Popular Front could also be candidates for prime minister. Significant movements are expected, although the main figure that stands out is Jean Luc Mélenchon.