EU elections: Marine Le Pen French victor as Macron pays the price of unpopularity

Marine Le Pen’s far-right party tops the EU vote in France at President Macron’s expense.

Marine Le Pen after the announcement of initial results. Picture: Bertrand Guay/AFP

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party took first place in France in a setback to President Emmanuel Macron in the EU elections, but it was short of the substantial blow that had been expected.

The former National Front party gained a projected 24.2 per cent of the vote in a near record 53 per cent turnout. The surge in voter interest reflected the way that the 33-party race had become a referendum on the president, with Ms Le Pen as the challenger. Mr Macron’s centrist La Republique En Marche party won about 22.5 per cent, according to early estimates.

The surprise was the strong performance of France’s small Greens party, in keeping with the trend across Europe, in third place with just under 13 per cent, compared with 8.9 per cent in 2014.

The traditional governing parties, the centre-right Republicans and Socialists, were humiliated with 8 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively.

Ms Le Pen declared victory for “the French people” and called on Mr Macron to call parliamentary elections. “Given the democratic disavowal that the government has suffered this evening, it is up to the president to draw conclusions since he made the election a referendum on his policies,” she said. “He has no choice but at the very least to dissolve parliament.”

Strong rebuff

Jordan Bardella, the 23-year-old leader of the National Rally’s European campaign, said: “Macron and his politics have been rejected … The European Union [has] radically shifted direction on the political, social and economic front.”

The Rally’s vote was a strong rebuff to Mr Macron’s appeal to voters to back his party and its pro-EU doctrines in the face of an “existential threat” from the populist Eurosceptic movement. There was, however, relief in the president’s camp that Ms Le Pen had not been able to do more to harness resentment that has manifested itself in the yellow vest movement. Her party’s score was on course to be lower than its 25 per cent in 2014.

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte (R) greet well-wishers a they leave a polling station in Le Touquet.Picture: AFP.

“There is of course some disappointment,” an Elysee Palace official said, “but the score is absolutely honourable compared to how incumbents did in previous European elections.”

Nathalie Loiseau, leader of Mr Macron’s “Renaissance” list for the elections, said: “We didn’t come in first and we regret it. The fight isn’t over, we will continue the fight in the parliament.”

Commentators said voters were motivated to turn out to fend off Ms Le Pen, as they did in greater numbers in the 2017 presidential election when Mr Macron defeated her. “Marine Le Pen has profited from the social discontent of the moment against Mr Macron but we can’t call this a punishment vote against him,” Bernard Sananes, a leading pollster, said on BFM TV news.

Leaders of the defeated mainstream parties cried foul, complaining that Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen had turned the election into a duel that had leeched votes from the other groups. Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the Republicans, said: “Emmanuel Macron was the instrument of the National Rally’s advance.” Mr Wauquiez acknowledged that fourth place for the party was a bitter defeat. “Rebuilding will be long and demanding,” he said.

The Greens were jubilant. “We are witnessing a green European wave tonight that we are part of,” Yannick Jadot, their leader, said.

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The Times