Shops boarded up and barricades burned as protests erupt after far-right National Rally surges ahead in French elections

1 July 2024, 05:51 | Updated: 1 July 2024, 09:07

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Shopfronts were boarded up and barricades set on fire last night as protests erupted across France after the first round of voting in the election saw the far-right National Rally surge ahead.

Marine Le Pen said on Sunday night that her party, the National Rally (RN), has "almost wiped out" President Emmanuel Macron.

President Macron called a surprise vote last month when his centrist alliance was beaten in the European elections by France’s National Rally party.

Last night's results put the RN on 33.2% of the vote, nearly double the party managed in the 2022 elections. The left-wing alliance came in second on 28.1%, while Macron dropped to a meagre third with 21% of the vote.

Protests erupted across France after the results, including in Paris, where shop windows were smashed and fires lit across the city - just 25 days before it hosts the Olympics.

Barricades set up by police to control the large protesting crows were set on fire as flares were set alight.

Addressing supporters in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, Ms Le Pen said “Democracy has spoken” after her party took the biggest share in Sunday’s first-round vote.

She added: “Nothing is won and the second round will be decisive, to avoid the country falling into the hands of the Nupes coalition, a far-Left with violent tendencies.”

Ms Le Pen said the second round of voting would be “decisive in giving Jordan [Bardella] an absolute majority in the National Assembly, to launch next week the recovery of France and the restoration of unity and national harmony”.

She added: "The French have almost wiped out the Macronist bloc."

Ms Le Pen's protégé and party leader Mr Bardella has enjoyed a spike in popularity, particularly among young voters.

He told supporters in Paris on Sunday evening: "Three weeks after the European elections the French people have given a verdict and they have confirmed their clear hopes for change.

"This is giving us hope throughout the country."

He warned of the "dangers" of the left-wing coalition its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, saying it could put France in "existential peril".

The first round of elections attracted a significant number of French voters with an unusually high turnout of reported.

"This is the highest level since the 1986 legislative elections," Mathieu Gallard, research director at the Ipsos polling institute, said.

At the same stage in the first round of the 2022 legislative elections, turnout was recorded as 39.42%.

Read more: France heading to the polls in high-stakes snap parliamentary election

Read more: Emmanuel Macron calls shock French snap election after far-right surge in EU poll

This first round of voting started at 8am - or 7am UK time - and ended at 4pm in smaller towns, and 6pm in bigger cities.

France's semi-presidential system means that it has both a president and a prime minister.

The voting happening today will reveal who is prime minister, but not president, with Mr Macron already having decided to stay in his role until the end of 2027.

If Ms Le Pen's party win an absolute majority, France would end up with a government and president from different political camps the fourth time in post-war history.

Polls showed that support for Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) had increased in recent days.

A poll undertaken for Les Echoes newspaper indicated that the RN was due to win 37 per cent of the national vote, which is an increase of two points from more than a week ago.

Another poll from BFM TV estimated that the far-right party might win between 260 and 295 seats, which could give it an outright majority within France's 577 constituencies.

Polls indicated that the New Popular Front (NFP), a leftwing alliance, might receive 28 per cent of the vote, whereas Macron's centrist bloc falls behind at 20 per cent.

After today's vote, campaigning will begin on Monday for an additional five days before voters are called back to the polls for a final, decisive second-round ballot on 7 July.

Following the first-round vote, Macron is planning to convene a government meeting to decide the further course of action, government sources told AFP.