French President Emmanuel Macron was pulverized in the national election today. According to exit polling, Marine LePen’s National Rally party will win around 32% of the vote, while Macron’s Renaissance party will win around 15%.
A massive rebuke of the leftist government in France.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament and called a fresh election on Sunday, following his party’s crushing defeat at the hands of far-right candidates in the European Union election.
The first round of the French Parliamentary election will take place on June 30. The second will be on July 7.
“France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony. To be French, at heart, is about choosing to write history, not being driven by it,” Macron said.
The far-right National Rally is projected to win the European election in France with 31.5 percent of the vote — more than twice the 15.2 percent Macron’s liberal Renaissance party is projected to win.
The National Rally’s share of the vote eclipsed the total for the second and third largest parties combined — with the center-left social democrats earning around 14 percent, according to early exit polls.
The decision to dissolve the National Assembly was met with disbelief by Macron’s supporters, with several people screaming “Oh no” as he spoke to a crowd in a televised address from his party headquarters in Paris. (read more)
Overall, in the EU elections this weekend the populist movement expanded seats and the leftist/green party’s lost seats.
(MSM) – […] Populist, far-right parties won record support in this year’s European Parliament elections, early exit polls and estimates indicated on Sunday.
The far-right Identity and Democracy group made major gains, while the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists saw a slight uptick in votes, according to the first official projection released by the EU at 8:30 p.m. local time.
The center-right European People’s Party is once again projected to win the most parliamentary seats, with a marginally bigger lead than before. If it’s able to repeat alliances with other centrist groups then it would retain a majority in the Parliament despite a surge from the far right.
The liberal Renew Europe and the Greens/European Free Alliance, meanwhile, are both seen losing a significant number of seats.
Here is the early 2024 vote breakdown versus 2019:
European People’s Party (EPP) — 181 seats, up from 176
Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D) — 135 seats, down from 139
Renew Europe (RE) — 82 seats, down from 102
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) — 71 seats, up from 69
Identity and Democracy (ID) — 62 seats, up from 49
Greens/European Free Alliance — 53 seats, down from 71
The Left — 34 seats, down from 37
Non-attached members (NI) — 51 seats, down from 61
The last time there was a populist revolt in the EU system, the summer of BREXIT, it preceded the successful election of President Donald Trump.
