National Rally leads with a third of votes

In the initial round of France’s National Assembly elections, the right-wing National Rally party emerges as the frontrunner with 34% of the votes, under the leadership of Jordan Bardella. Trailing closely is the left-wing NFP coalition with 29%, followed by Ensemble, an alliance including President Macron’s Renaissance party, with 20.5-23%. Marine Le Pen, parliamentary group leader of the National Rally, hopes for an absolute majority and for Bardella to become Prime Minister. Bardella pledges to be a prime minister ‘for all French’ and stresses the importance of next week’s second round. The left’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon urges voters to block the far right, and even Macron calls for unity against the National Rally. The final impact of this election is yet to be determined as many candidates advance to a decisive second round.