“If you want to give us a go, we’ll need an absolute majority.” Ahead of France’s snap parliamentary elections, the National Rally’s top candidate Jordan Bardella insisted he’d only become prime minister if he had the numbers to implement his programme. After the first round on 30 June, this still seemed a possibility: his party came first in 297 of 577 local races. Yet in the 7 July runoff races, the National Rally was unable to push home its advantage. Its opponents rallied against it, voting tactically, and Bardella ended up with only a 143-strong contingent, the third-biggest force in parliament. Marine Le Pen insisted this was “a victory postponed” for her party. For Bardella, National Rally was thwarted by “a coalition of dishonour” between Macron and “far-left forces”.
Still, there were more critical responses from within the National Rally: it had not just been unfairly blocked or hit a ceiling of support but rather it had been punished for its failed efforts to “professionalise” its operation. Already before the runoff, its candidate list came under scrutiny: Bardella admitted there were “casting errors” among dozens of prospective MPs found to have made egregious racist comments. One candidate even had a criminal conviction for an armed hostage-taking. The night after the second-round vote, the party’s director-general Gilles Pennelle resigned.
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