National Rally
National Rally Rassemblement National | ||
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^ A: The RN is considered part of the radical right, a subset of the far-right that does not oppose democracy.[8][9][10] |
The National Rally (
The party was founded in 1972 to unify the French nationalist movement. Its political views are nationalist, nativist and anti-globalist. Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the party and was its leader until his resignation in 2011. While the party struggled as a marginal force for its first ten years, it has been a major force of French nationalism since 1984.[15] It has put forward a candidate at every presidential election but one since 1974. In 2002, Jean-Marie came second in the first round, but finished a distant second in the runoff to Jacques Chirac.[16] His daughter Marine Le Pen was elected to succeed him as party leader in 2012. She temporarily stepped down in 2017 in order to concentrate on her presidential candidacy; she resumed her presidency after the election.[17] She headed the party until 2021, when she temporarily resigned again. A year later, Jordan Bardella was elected as her successor.[18]
The party has seen an increase in its popularity and acceptance in French society in recent years. While her father was nicknamed the "Devil of the Republic" by mainstream media and sparked outrage for hate speech, including Holocaust denial and Islamophobia, Marine Le Pen pursued a policy of "de-demonisation" of the party by softening its image and trying to frame the party as being neither right nor left.[19] She endeavoured to extract it from its far-right roots, as well as censuring controversial members like her father, who was suspended and then expelled from the party in 2015.[20] Following her election as the leader of the party in 2011, the popularity of the FN grew.[21] By 2015, the FN had established itself as a major political party in France.[22][23] Sources traditionally labeled the party far-right.[24] However, some media outlets have started to refer to the party as "right-wing" or "nationalist right" instead, arguing that it has substantially moderated from its years under Jean-Marie Le Pen.[11]
At the FN congress of 2018, Marine Le Pen proposed renaming the party Rassemblement national (National Rally),
Le Pen reached the second round of the
Background
The party's ideological roots can be traced to both
Espousing France's Catholic and monarchist traditions, one of the primary progenitors of the party was the Action Française, founded at the end of the 19th century, and its descendants in the Restauration Nationale, a pro-monarchy group that supports the claim of the Count of Paris to the French throne.[34][35]
History
Early years
Foundation (1972–1973)
While the ON had competed in some local elections since 1970, at its second congress in June 1972 it decided to establish a new political party to contest the
The National Front fared poorly in the 1973 legislative elections, receiving 0.5% of the national vote (although Le Pen won 5% in his Paris constituency).[46] In 1973 the party created a youth movement, the Front national de la jeunesse (National Front of the Youth, FNJ). The rhetoric used in the campaign stressed old far-right themes and was largely uninspiring to the electorate at the time.[47] Otherwise, its official program at this point was relatively moderate, differing little from the mainstream right.[48] Le Pen sought the "total fusion" of the currents in the party, and warned against crude activism.[49] The FNJ were banned from the party later that year.[50][47] The move towards the mainstream cost it many leading members and much of its militant base.[50]
In the 1974 presidential election, Le Pen failed to find a mobilising theme for his campaign.[51] Many of its major issues, such as anti-communism, were shared by most of the mainstream right.[52] Other FN issues included calls for increased French birth rates, immigration reduction (although this was downplayed), establishment of a professional army, abrogation of the Évian Accords, and generally the creation of a "French and European renaissance."[53] Despite being the only nationalist candidate, he failed to gain the support of a united far-right, as the various groups either rallied behind other candidates or called for voter abstention.[54] The campaign further lost ground when the Revolutionary Communist League published a denunciation of Le Pen's alleged involvement in torture during his time in Algeria.[54] In his first presidential election, Le Pen gained only 0.8% of the national vote.[54]
FN–PFN rivalry (1973–1981)
Following the 1974 election, the FN was obscured by the appearance of the
For the
Jean-Marie Le Pen's leadership
Electoral breakthrough (1982–1988)
While the French party system had been dominated by polarisation and competition between the clear-cut ideological alternatives of two political blocs in the 1970s, the two blocs had largely moved towards the centre by the mid-1980s. This led many voters to perceive the blocs as more or less indistinguishable, particularly after the Socialists' "austerity turn" (tournant de la rigueur) of 1983,[68] in turn inducing them to seek out to new political alternatives.[69] By October 1982, Le Pen supported the prospect of deals with the mainstream right, provided that the FN did not have to soften its position on key issues.[70] In the 1983 municipal elections, the centre-right Rally for the Republic (RPR) and centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF) formed alliances with the FN in a number of towns.[70] The most notable result came in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, where Le Pen was elected to the local council with 11% of the vote.[70][71] Later by-elections kept media attention on the party, and it was for the first time allowed to pose as a viable component of the broader right.[72][73] In a by-election in Dreux in October, the FN won 17% of the vote.[70] With the choice of defeat to the political left or dealing with the FN, the local RPR and UDF agreed to form an alliance with the FN, creating national sensation, and together won the second round with 55% of the vote.[70][71] The events in Dreux were a monumental factor for the rise of the FN.[74]
Le Pen protested the media boycott against his party by sending letters to President Mitterrand in mid-1982.[72] After some exchanges of letters, Mitterrand instructed the heads of the main television channels to give equitable coverage to the FN.[72] In January 1984, the party made its first appearance in a monthly poll of political popularity, in which 9% of respondents held a "positive opinion" of the FN and some support for Le Pen.[72] The next month, Le Pen was for the first time invited onto a prime-time television interview programme, which he himself later deemed "the hour that changed everything".[72][75] The 1984 European elections in June came as a shock, as the FN won 11% of the vote and ten seats.[76] Notably, the election used proportional representation and was considered to have a low level of importance by the public, which played to the party's advantage.[77] The FN made inroads in both right-wing and left-wing constituencies, and finished second in a number of towns.[78] While many Socialists had arguably exploited the party in order to divide the right,[79] Mitterrand later conceded that he had underestimated Le Pen.[72] By July, 17% of opinion poll respondents held a positive opinion of the FN.[80]
By the early 1980s, the FN featured a mosaic of ideological tendencies and attracted figures who were previously resistant to the party.[80] The party managed to draw supporters from the mainstream right, including some high-profile defectors from the RPR, UDF, and the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP).[80] In the 1984 European elections, eleven of the 81 FN candidates came from these parties, and the party's list also included an Arab and a Jew (although in unwinnable positions).[80] Former collaborators were also accepted in the party, as Le Pen urged the need for "reconciliation", arguing that forty years after the war the only important question was whether or not "they wish to serve their country".[80] The FN won 8.7% overall support in the 1985 cantonal elections, and over 30% in some areas.[81]
For the
Consolidation (1988–1997)
Le Pen's campaign for the upcoming presidential election unofficially began in the months following the 1986 election.
The FN was hurt in the snap
In the wake of FN electoral success, the immigration debate, growing concerns over Islamic fundamentalism, and
The FN won an
Turmoil and split of the MNR (1997–2002)
In the 1997 legislative elections, the FN polled its best-ever result with 15.3% support in metropolitan France.[110][111] The result also showed that the party had become established enough to compete without its leader, who had decided not to run in order to focus on the 2002 presidential election.[112] Although it won only one seat in the National Assembly (Toulon),[113] it advanced to the second round in 132 constituencies.[114] The FN was arguably more influential now than it had been in 1986 with its 35 seats.[115] While Bruno Mégret and Bruno Gollnisch, favoured tactical cooperation with a weakened centre-right following the left's victory, Le Pen rejected any such compromise.[116] In the tenth FN national congress in 1997, Mégret stepped up his position in the party as its rising star and a potential leader following Le Pen.[117] Le Pen however refused to designate Mégret as his successor-elect, and instead made his wife Jany the leader of the FN list for the upcoming European election.[118]
Mégret and his faction left the FN in January 1999 and founded the National Republican Movement (MNR), effectively splitting the FN in half at most levels.[119][120] Many of those who joined the new MNR had joined the FN in the mid-1980s, in part from the Nouvelle Droite, with a vision of building bridges to the parliamentary right.[119] Many had also been particularly influential in intellectualising the FN's policies on immigration, identity and "national preference", and, following the split, Le Pen denounced them as "extremist" and "racist".[119] Support for the parties was almost equal in the 1999 European election, as the FN polled its lowest national score since 1984 with just 5.7%, and the MNR won 3.3%.[121] The effects of the split, and competition from more moderate nationalists, had left their combined support lower than the FN result in 1984.[122]
Presidential run-off (2002)
For the 2002 presidential election, opinion polls had predicted a run-off between incumbent President Chirac and PS candidate Lionel Jospin.[123][124] The shock was thus great when Le Pen unexpectedly outperformed Jospin (by 0.7%) in the first round, placing second and advancing to the runoff.[124] This resulted in the first presidential run-off since 1969 without a leftist candidate and the first ever with a candidate of the far-right.[125] To Le Pen's advantage, the election campaign had increasingly focused on law and order issues, helped by media attention on a number of violent incidents.[126] Jospin had also been weakened due to the competition between an exceptional number of leftist parties.[127] Nevertheless, Chirac did not even have to campaign in the second round, as widespread anti-Le Pen protests from the media and public opinion culminated on May Day, with an estimated 1.5 million demonstrators across France.[128] Chirac also refused to debate with Le Pen, and the traditional televised debate was cancelled.[129] In the end, Chirac won the presidential run-off with an unprecedented 82.2% of the vote and with 71% of his votes—according to polls—cast simply "to block Le Pen".[129] Following the presidential election, the main centre-right parties merged to form the broad-based Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).[130] The FN failed to hold on to Le Pen's support for the 2002 legislative elections, in which it got 11.3% of the vote.[131] It nevertheless outpolled Mégret's MNR, which won a mere 1.1% support, even though it had fielded the same number of candidates.[132]
Decline (2003–2010)
A new electoral system of two-round voting had been introduced for the 2004 regional elections, in part in an attempt to reduce the FN's influence in regional councils.[133] The FN won 15.1% of the vote in metropolitan France, almost the same as in 1998, but its number of councillors was almost halved due to the new electoral system.[134] For the 2004 European elections, too, a new system less favourable to the FN had been introduced.[135] The party regained some of its strength from 1999, earning 9.8% of the vote and seven seats.[135]
For the
Marine Le Pen's leadership
Revival of the FN (2011–2012)
Jean-Marie Le Pen announced in September 2008 that he would retire as FN president in 2010.[123] Le Pen's daughter Marine Le Pen and FN executive vice-president Bruno Gollnisch campaigned for the presidency to succeed Le Pen,[123] with Marine's candidacy backed by her father.[123] On 15 January 2011, it was announced that Marine Le Pen had received the two-thirds vote needed to become the new leader of the FN.[139][140] She sought to transform the FN into a mainstream party by softening its xenophobic image.[123][139][140] Opinion polls showed the party's popularity increase under Marine Le Pen, and in the 2011 cantonal elections the party won 15% of the overall vote (up from 4.5% in 2008). However, due to the French electoral system, the party only won 2 of the 2,026 seats up for election.[141]
At the end of 2011, the National Front withdrew from the far-right Alliance of European National Movements and joined the more moderate European Alliance of Freedom. In October 2013, Bruno Gollnisch and Jean-Marie Le Pen resigned from their position in the AENM.
For the 2012 presidential election, opinion polls showed Marine Le Pen as a serious challenger, with a few polls even suggesting that she could win the first round of the election.[142][143] In the event, Le Pen came third in the first round, scoring 17.9% – the best showing ever in a presidential election for the FN at that time.
In the 2012 legislative election, the National Front won two seats: Gilbert Collard and Marion Maréchal.[144][145][146]
In two polls about presidential favourites in April and May 2013,[147] Marine le Pen polled ahead of president François Hollande but behind Nicolas Sarkozy.[147]
Electoral successes (2012–2017)
In the municipal elections held on 23 and 30 March 2014, lists officially supported by National Front won mayoralties in 12 cities: Beaucaire, Cogolin, Fréjus, Hayange, Hénin-Beaumont, Le Luc, Le Pontet, Mantes-la-Ville, the 7th arrondissement of Marseille, Villers-Cotterêts, Béziers and Camaret-sur-Aigues. While some of these cities were in southern France (like Fréjus) which traditionally votes more for right-wing parties than the rest of the country, others were located in northern France, where Socialist Party was strong until 2010s. Following the municipal elections, the National Front had, in cities of over 1,000 inhabitants, 1,546 and 459 councilors at two different levels of local government.[148] The international media described the results as "historic",[149][150][151] and "impressive", although the International Business Times suggested that "hopes for real political power remain a fantasy" for the National Front.[152]
The National Front received 4,712,461 votes in the 2014 European Parliament election, finishing first with 24.86% of the vote and 24 of France's 74 seats.[153] This was said to be "the first time the anti-immigrant, anti-EU party had won a nationwide election in its four-decade history."[154] The party's success came as a shock in France and the EU.[155][156]
Presidential and parliamentary election, rebranding (2017–2022)
On 24 April 2017, a day after the first round of the
During the following parliamentary elections, the FN received 13.02% of the vote, which represented a disappointment compared to the 13.07% of the 2012 elections. The party appeared to have suffered from the demobilisation of its voters from the previous vote. However, eight deputies were elected (six FN and two affiliated), the best number for the FN in a parliamentary election using a majoritarian electoral system since its creation (proportional representation was used in the 1986 elections). Marine Le Pen was elected to the National Assembly for the first time, and Gilbert Collard was re-elected. Ludovic Pajot became the youngest member of the French parliament at 23.
In late 2017,
At the conclusion of the party congress in Lille on 11 March 2018, Marine Le Pen proposed renaming the party to Rassemblement national (National Rally) while keeping the flame as its logo. The new name was put to a vote of party members.[25] Rassemblement national had already been used as the name of a French party, the Rassemblement National Français, led by the radical right lawyer Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour. His presidential campaign in 1965 was managed by Jean-Marie Le Pen.[159] The name had also been used by the FN previously, for its parliamentary group between 1986 and 1988. However, the name change faced opposition from an already-existing party named "Rassemblement national", whose president, Igor Kurek, described it as "Gaullist and republican right": the party had previously registered its name with the National Institute of Industrial Property in 2013.[160][161] On 1 June, Le Pen announced that the name change was approved by party adherents with 80.81% in favour.[26]
During that party congress, Steve Bannon, former advisor to Donald Trump before and after his election, gave what has been described as a "populist pep talk".[162] Bannon advised the party members to "Let them call you racist, let them call you xenophobes, let them call you nativists. Wear it like a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger and they get weaker. ... History is on our side and will bring us victory." Bannon's remarks brought the members to their feet.[163][164][165]
In January 2019, ex-Sarkozy minister
During a 2021 debate Marine Le Pen was called "soft" on Islam by the Minister of the Interior in Macron's government,
In the months before the 2021 French regional elections political commentators noted an increased moderation in the party in order to attract conservative voters,[169] as well as a new image of the party as a force of "la Droite populaire" or the Social Right.[170][171] The party fared badly in these elections.[172]
In the 2022 French presidential election, Le Pen again reached the second round with 23.15% of the votes. Nonetheless she was ultimately defeated by incumbent Macron, receiving 41.45% of the votes in the run-off.[173]
In the 2022 French legislative election, the party received 18.68% of the votes in the first round[174] and won 89 seats in the National Assembly in the second round,[175] an increase on the previous total of eight seats. Polling had indicated that the party would win only 15 to 45 seats. The 89 seats enabled National Rally to form a parliamentary group (for which 15 deputies are required) for the first time since 1986, when the national assembly was elected by proportional voting. The result made the party the third largest party in the assembly and the largest parliamentary opposition group.[176]
Jordan Bardella's leadership (from 2022)
Bardella was elected president of RN on 5 November 2022, ending Marine Le Pen's period as president of the party. Le Pen remained president of RN's parliamentary group.[18]
Political profile
This article is part of Conservatism in France |
The party's ideology has been broadly described by scholars, including
The FN changed considerably since its foundation, as it pursued the principles of modernisation and pragmatism, adapting to the changing political climate.[181][182] Its message increasingly influenced mainstream political parties,[182][183] and some commentators described it as right-wing, moving closer towards the centre-right.[184][190] In the 2010s, the party attempted to "de-demonise" its image and changed its name to National Rally. A 2022 Kanar survey found that 46% of French voters saw Marine Le Pen as "representing a patriotic Right attached to traditional values", although 50% saw her as "a danger to democracy".[191]
Law and order
In 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen campaigned on a law-and-order platform of zero tolerance, harsher sentencing, increased prison capacity, and a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty.[125] In its 2001 programme, the party linked the breakdown of law and order to immigration, deeming immigration a "mortal threat to civil peace in France."[127]
Marine Le Pen rescinded the party's traditional support for the death penalty with her 2017 campaign launch, instead announcing support for imprisonment "in perpetuity" for the "worst crimes" in February 2017.[192] In 2022, she proposed to hold a referendum on capital punishment in France if she were elected.[193][194]
The party opposed the 2016 criminalisation of the use of prostitution in France, on the grounds that it would negatively affect the safety of sex workers.[195]
Immigration
Since its early years, the party has called for immigration to be reduced.[196] The theme of exclusion of non-European immigrants was brought into the party in 1978 and became increasingly important in the 1980s.[197]
After the 1999 split, the FN cultivated a more moderate image on immigration and Islam, no longer calling for the systematic repatriation of legal immigrants but still supporting the deportation of illegal, criminal or unemployed immigrants.[198]
Following the Arab Spring (2011) rebellions in several countries, Marine Le Pen campaigned for a halt to the migration of Tunisian and Libyan immigrants to Europe.[199]
In November 2015, the party stated as its goal to have a net legal immigration rate (immigrants minus emigrants) of 10,000 in France per year. Since 2017, that yearly net immigration rate was around 182,000[200] if one takes into account only people born abroad from non-French parents, but was around 44,000 if one includes also the departures and returns of French expatriates.[201]
In 2022, Marine Le Pen proposed an end to “family reunification” rights for foreigners with residency permits and the end to the right to automatic citizenship for children born in France to foreigners living there.[191] She also supported a referendum on immigration policy.[193]
Islamism and Islamisation
Representatives of the party have connected immigration to Islamic terrorism.
Economy
At the end of the 1970s, Jean-Marie Le Pen broke away from the
The party's economic policy shifted from the 1980s to the 1990s from
Under Marine Le Pen, the RN has supported economic nationalism,[212] which it calls "economic patriotism" and has advocated populist policies such as tax cuts for those under 30 and cuts in VAT on energy and essential products. The party has supported public services, protectionism and economic intervention, and opposed the increase in the fuel tax in 2018 and the increase in the retirement age in 2023.[191][213][214]
Climate
Le Pen does not plan to withdraw from the
Feminism
In the
Foreign policy
From the 1980s to the 1990s, the party's policy shifted from favouring the European Union to turning against it.[208] In 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen campaigned on pulling France out of the EU and re-introducing the franc as the country's national currency.[125] In the early 2000s the party denounced the Schengen, Maastricht, and Amsterdam treaties as foundations for "a supranational entity spelling the end of France."[218] In 2004, the party criticised the EU as "the last stage on the road to world government", likening it to a "puppet of the New World Order."[219] It also proposed breaking all institutional ties back to the Treaty of Rome, while it returned to supporting a common European currency to rival the United States dollar.[219] Further, it rejected the possible accession of Turkey to the EU.[219] The FN was also one of several parties that backed France's 2005 rejection of the Treaty for a European Constitution. In other issues, Le Pen opposed the invasions of Iraq, led by the United States, both in the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War.[198] He visited Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 1990, and subsequently considered him a friend.[220]
Marine Le Pen advocated France leaving the
Le Pen has praised Egyptian President
Le Pen supports the restoration of
Russia and Ukraine
Marine Le Pen described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "defender of the Christian heritage of European civilisation."[228] The National Front considers that Ukraine has been subjugated by the United States, through the Revolution of Dignity. The National Front denounces anti-Russian feelings in Eastern Europe and the submission of Western Europe to "Washington's" interests in the region.[229] Marine Le Pen is very critical against the threats of sanctions directed by the international community against Russia: "European countries should seek a solution through diplomacy rather than making threats that could lead to an escalation." She argues that the United States is leading a new Cold War against Russia. She sees no other solution for peace in Ukraine than to organise a kind of federation that would allow each region to have a large degree of autonomy.[230] She thinks Ukraine should be sovereign and free as any other nation.[231] During the 2022 French presidential election, Le Pen supported sending non-lethal defensive aid to Ukraine, but not heavy weapons that would make France a "co-belligerent" in the conflict.[215]
European Union
Since their entry into the European Parliament in 1979, the National Rally has promoted a message of being pro-Europe, but anti-EU.[236] However, in 2019 the proposal that France leave the Eurozone and the EU was removed from the party's manifesto, which has since called for "reform from within" the union.[237][238][239] The party advocates that EU legislation should be initiated by the Council of the EU rather than the European Commission, and that French laws should have primacy over EU laws.[28][193]
NATO
The party's stance on NATO has varied throughout the years, under Jean-Marie Le Pen's leadership the party advocated for a complete withdrawal from the organization, while under Marine Le Pen's leadership the party has softened its stance to instead advocate leaving NATO's integrated military command structure, which France joined in 2009.[240][241][242][243]
Electoral reform and referendums
The National Rally has advocated for full proportional representation in France, claiming that the two-round system disenfranchises voters. In early 2021, Marine Le Pen, along with centrist politician François Bayrou and green politician Julien Bayou, cosigned a letter asking President Emmanuel Macron to implement proportional representation for future elections.[244]
The party advocates referendums on key issues such as the death penalty, immigration policy and constitutional change. In 2022, Marie Le Pen stated, "“I want the referendum to become a classic operating tool."[193]
Controversies
View on Nazi history and relations with Jewish groups
There has been a difference between Marine Le Pen's and her father's views concerning the
During the 2012 presidential election, Marine Le Pen sought the support of Jewish people in France.
Czecho-Russian bank loan
In November 2014, Marine Le Pen confirmed that the party had received a €9 million loan from the First Czech Russian Bank (FCRB) in Moscow to the National Front.[254][255] Senior FN officials from the party's political bureau informed Mediapart that this was the first instalment of a €40 million loan, although Marine Le Pen has disputed this.[228][255] The Independent said the loans "take Moscow's attempt to influence the internal politics of the EU to a new level."[228] Reinhard Bütikofer stated, "It's remarkable that a political party from the motherland of freedom can be funded by Putin's sphere—the largest European enemy of freedom."[256] Marine Le Pen argued that it was not a donation from the Russian government but a loan from a private Russian bank because no other bank would give her a loan. This loan is meant to prepare future electoral campaigns and to be repaid progressively. Marine Le Pen has publicly disclosed all the rejection letters that French banks have sent to her concerning her loan requests.[257] Since November 2014, she insists that if a French bank agrees to give her a loan, she would break her contract with the FCBR, but she has not received any other counter-propositions.[258] Le Pen accused the banks of collusion with the government.[257] In April 2015, a Russian hacker group published texts and emails between Timur Prokopenko, a member of Putin's administration, and Konstantin Rykov, a former Duma deputy with ties to France, discussing Russian financial support to the National Front in exchange for its support of Russia's annexation of Crimea, though this has not coalesced.[259]
Links with the far-right
A 2019 undercover investigation by
Alleged payment of party officials with EU funds
In December 2023, 28 people, including
International relations
The FN has been part of several groups in the
During Jean-Marie Le Pen's presidency, the party has also been active in establishing extra-parliamentary confederations. During the FN's 1997 national congress, the FN established the loose
At a conference in 2011, the two new leaders of the FN and the FPÖ, Marine Le Pen and Heinz-Christian Strache, announced deeper cooperation between their parties.[268] Pursuing her de-demonisation policy, in October 2011, Marine Le Pen, as new president of the National Front, joined the European Alliance for Freedom (EAF).[269] The EAF is a pan-European sovereigntist platform founded late 2010 that is recognised by the European Parliament. The EAF has individual members linked to the Austrian Freedom Party of Heinz-Christian Strache, the UK Independence Party, and other movements such as the Sweden Democrats, Vlaams Belang (Belgian Flanders), Germany (Bürger in Wut), and Slovakia (Slovak National Party).[270]
During her visit to the United States, Marine Le Pen met two
In 2017, Marine Le Pen met with and was interviewed for the British radio station
In 2019, RN MEPs participated in the first international delegation to visit India's
In October 2021, Le Pen met with
Relations with the AfD deteriorated in January 2024, following Le Pen's disagreements with the AfD members' discussions over remigration.[285]
Leadership
The executive bureau features: Jordan Bardella (president), Steeve Briois (vice-president), Louis Aliot (vice-president), David Rachline (vice-president), Kévin Pfeffer (treasurer), Julien Sanchez (spokesperson), Gilles Pennelle (regional councilor), Edwige Diaz (deputy regional councilor), Hélène Laporte, Philippe Olivier, and Jean-Paul Garraud.[286]
Presidents
No | President | Term start | Term end |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jean-Marie Le Pen |
5 October 1972 | 15 January 2011 |
Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the National Front for French Unity party in 1972 and contested the Presidency of France in 1974, 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. He served several terms as a deputy of the National Assembly of France and a Member of the European Parliament. He later served as honorary president of the party from January 2011 to August 2015[287] | |||
2 | Marine Le Pen |
15 January 2011 | 5 November 2022 |
Marine Le Pen took over as the president of the party in 2011 and contested the 2012, 2017 and 2022 French presidential elections. She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 and has served as a deputy of the National Assembly of France since 2017. Under her leadership the party was renamed National Rally in 2018. | |||
3 | Jordan Bardella |
5 November 2022 Acting since 13 September 2021 |
Incumbent |
Jordan Bardella became acting president of RN after Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign in September 2021.[288] He was elected president in November 2022. |
Vice Presidents
The party had five vice presidents between July 2012 and March 2018 (against three previously).[289]
- Alain Jamet, first vice president (2011–2014)[290]
- Louis Aliot, in charge of training and demonstrations (2011–2018)[291]
- Marie-Christine Arnautu, in charge of social affairs (2011–2018)[292]
- Jean-François Jalkh, in charge of elections and electoral litigations (2012–2018)[293]
- Florian Philippot, in charge of strategy and communication (2012–2017)[294]
- Steeve Briois, in charge of local executives and supervision (2014–2018)[295]
- Jordan Bardella, (2019–2022)
In March 2018, the position of vice-president replaced that of General Secretary.[287] It became a duo in June 2019:[296]
- Steeve Briois (2018–present)
- Louis Aliot
- David Rachline
General Secretaries
The position of General Secretary was held between 1972 and 2018:[287]
- Alain Robert (1972–1973)
- Dominique Chaboche (1973–1976)
- Victor Barthélémy (1976–1978)
- Alain Renault (1978–1980)
- Pierre Gérard (1980–1981)
- Jean-Pierre Stirbois (1981–1988)
- Carl Lang (1988–1995)
- Bruno Gollnisch (1995–2005)
- Louis Aliot (2005–2010)
- Jean-François Jalkh (2010–2011; interim period during the internal campaign)
- Steeve Briois (2011–2014)
- Nicolas Bay (2014–2017)
- Steeve Briois (2017–2018)
Elected representatives
As of February 2023, National Rally has 88
Election results
The National Front was a marginal party in 1973, the first election it participated in, but the party made its breakthrough in the 1984 European Parliament election, where it won 11% of the vote and ten MEPs. Following this election, the party's support mostly ranged from around 10 to 15%, although it saw a drop to around 5% in some late 2000s elections. Since 2010, the party's support seems to have increased towards its former heights. The party managed to advance to the final round of the 2002 French presidential election, although it failed to attract much more support after the initial first round vote. In the late 2000s the party suffered decline in elections. Under Marine Le Pen's presidency the party has increased its vote share significantly. The National Front came first in a national election for the first time during the 2014 European elections, when it gained 24% of the vote. During the 2017 presidential election the party advanced to the second round of the election for the second time, and doubled the percentage it received in the 2002 presidential election, earning 34%. In the 2019 European elections the rebranded National Rally retained its spot as first party.
National Assembly
National Assembly | |||||||
Election year | Leader | 1st round votes | % | 2nd round votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973[297] | Jean-Marie Le Pen | 108,616 | 0.5% | — | — | 0 / 491
|
|
1978[297] | 82,743 | 0.3% | — | — | 0 / 491
|
||
1981[297] | 44,414 | 0.2% | — | — | 0 / 491
|
||
1986[297] | 2,703,442 | 9.6% | — | — | 35 / 573
|
35
| |
1988[297] | 2,359,528 | 9.6% | — | — | 1 / 577
|
34
| |
1993[298] | 3,155,702 | 12.7% | 1,168,143 | 5.8% | 0 / 577
|
1
| |
1997[298] | 3,791,063 | 14.9% | 1,435,186 | 5.7% | 1 / 577
|
1
| |
2002[298] | 2,873,390 | 11.1% | 393,205 | 1.9% | 0 / 577
|
1
| |
2007[298] | 1,116,136 | 4.3% | 17,107 | 0.1% | 0 / 577
|
||
2012 | Marine Le Pen | 3,528,373 | 13.6% | 842,684 | 3.7% | 2 / 577
|
2
|
2017 | 2,990,454 | 13.2% | 1,590,858 | 8.8% | 8 / 577
|
6
| |
2022 | 4,248,626 | 18.7% | 3,589,465 | 17.3% | 89 / 577
|
81
|
Presidential
Election year | Candidate | First round | Second round | Result | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Rank | Votes | % | Rank | |||
1974 | Jean-Marie Le Pen | 190,921 | 0.75 | 7th | — | Lost | ||
1981 | did not participate | |||||||
1988 | Jean-Marie Le Pen | 4,375,894 | 14.39 | 4th | — | Lost | ||
1995 | 4,570,838 | 15.00 | 4th | — | Lost | |||
2002 | 4,804,713 | 16.86 | 2nd | 5,525,032 | 17.70 | 2nd | Lost | |
2007 | 3,834,530 | 10.44 | 4th | — | Lost | |||
2012 | Marine Le Pen | 6,421,426 | 17.90 | 3rd | — | Lost | ||
2017 | 7,678,491 | 21.30 | 2nd | 10,638,475 | 33.90 | 2nd | Lost | |
2022 | 8,133,828 | 23.15 | 2nd | 13,288,686 | 41.45 | 2nd | Lost |
Regional councils
Regional councils | ||||||||||
Election | Leader | 1st round votes | % | 2nd round votes | % | Seats | Regional presidencies | +/– | Winning party | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986[297] | Jean-Marie Le Pen | 2,654,390 | 9.7% | — | — | 137 / 1,880
|
0 / 26
|
Union for French Democracy | 4th | |
1992[297] | 3,396,141 | 13.9% | — | — | 239 / 1,880
|
0 / 26
|
Rally for the Republic | 3rd | ||
1998[297][299] | 3,270,118 | 15.3% | — | — | 275 / 1,880
|
0 / 26
|
||||
2004[300] | 3,564,064 | 14.7% | 3,200,194 | 12.4% | 156 / 1,880
|
0 / 26
|
Socialist Party | |||
2010[301] | 2,223,800 | 11.4% | 1,943,307 | 9.2% | 118 / 1,749
|
0 / 26
|
||||
2015[302] | Marine Le Pen | 6,018,672 | 27.7% | 6,820,147 | 27.1% | 358 / 1,722
|
0 / 18
|
The Republicans | ||
2021[303][304] | 2,743,497 | 18.7% | 2,908,253 | 19.1% | 252 / 1,926
|
0 / 18
|
Leftist Union + Ecologists |
European Parliament
European Parliament See also Elections to the European Parliament | ||||||||
Election | Leader | European alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Winning party | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984[297] | Jean-Marie Le Pen | DR | 2,210,334 | 11.0% | 10 / 81
|
10 | Union for French Democracy | 4th |
1989[297] | 2,129,668 | 11.7% | 10 / 81
|
3rd | ||||
1994[297] | NI | 2,050,086 | 10.5% | 11 / 87
|
1 | 5th | ||
1999[297] | TGI | 1,005,113 | 5.7% | 5 / 87
|
6 | Socialist Party | 8th | |
2004[297] | NI | 1,684,792 | 9.8% | 7 / 78
|
2 | 4th | ||
2009[298] | EURONAT | 1,091,691 | 6.3% | 3 / 74
|
4 | Union for a Popular Movement | 6th | |
2014[305] | Marine Le Pen | EAF | 4,712,461 | 24.9% | 24 / 74
|
21 | National Front | 1st |
2019 | Jordan Bardella | ID | 5,286,939 | 23.3% | 23 / 79
|
1 |
Congress of New Caledonia
Election | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | 6,135 | 6.85% | 4 / 54
|
2009 | 2,591 | 2.68% | 0 / 54
|
2014 | 2,706 | 2.57% | 0 / 54
|
2019 | 2,707 | 2.46% | 0 / 54
|
See also
Notes
- ^ The party was formerly part of the European Right (1984–1989), the European Right (1989–1994), the Technical Group of Independents (1999–2001) and Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (2007).
- ^ Other customary colours[7] include the following:
Black Grey Brown Red
References
- ^ "Vive la difference – has France's Front National changed?". BBC News. 5 December 2015. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "Après la mode des «mouvements», le grand retour des partis politiques". 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Jordan Bardella lance la campagne des européennes, Marine le Pen celle de l'après-Macron". Le Monde.fr. 16 September 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-349-28476-4.. The Economist.
- "'The nation state is back': Front National's Marine Le Pen rides on global mood". the Guardian. 18 September 2016.
- "Marine Le Pen says sanctions on Russia are not working"
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- Taylor, Adam (8 January 2015). "French far-right leader seeks to reintroduce death penalty after Charlie Hebdo attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- "The French National Front: On its way to power?". Policy-network.net. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
Devil of the Republic:
- Craw, Victoria (23 January 2015). "Marine Le Pen National Front leader | Who is Marine Le Pen?". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
Holocaust denial:
- "Jean-Marie Le Pen fined again for dismissing Holocaust as 'detail'". theguardian. 6 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
Islamophobia:
- "Jean-Marie Le Pen condamné pour incitation à la haine raciale". Le Monde.fr. lemonde.fr. 24 February 2005. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- "France National Front: Jean-Marie Le Pen suspended". BBC News. 4 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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- Azéma, Jean-Pierre; Winock, Michel (1994). Histoire de l'extrême droite en France. Éditions du Seuil. ISBN 9782020232005.
- Camus & Lebourg 2017
- DeClair 1999
- Hobolt, Sara; De Vries, Catherine (16 June 2020). Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691194752.
- Joly, Bertrand (2008). Nationalistes et Conservateurs en France, 1885–1902. Les Indes Savantes.
- Kitschelt, Herbert; McGann, Anthony (1995). The radical right in Western Europe: a comparative analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. pp. 91–120. ISBN 0472106635.
- McGann, Anthony; Kitschelt, Herbert (1997). The Radical Right in Western Europe A Comparative Analysis. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472084418.
- Mayer, Nonna (January 2013). "From Jean-Marie to Marine Le Pen: Electoral Change on the Far Right". Parliamentary Affairs. 66 (1): 160–178. .
- Messina, Anthony (2015). "The political and policy impacts of extreme right parties in time and context". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 38 (8): 1355–1361. S2CID 143522149.
- Mondon, Aurelien (2015). "The French secular hypocrisy: the extreme right, the Republic and the battle for hegemony". Patterns of Prejudice. '49 (4): 392–413. S2CID 146600042.
- Mudde, Cas (25 October 2019). The Far Right Today and The ideology of the extreme right. ISBN 978-1509536856.
- Rydgren, Jens (2008). France: The Front National, Ethnonationalism and Populism. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781349284764.
- Shields 2007
- Simmons, Harvey G. (1996). The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge To Democracy. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813389790.
- Williams, Michelle Hale (January 2011). "A new era for French far right politics? Comparing the FN under two Le Pens and The Impact of Radical Right-Wing Parties in West European Democracies". Análise Social. 201 (1): 679–695.News:
- "Victory for France's conservatives in local elections". Deutsche Welle. AP, AFP, Reuters. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
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- Frosch, Jon (7 March 2011). "Far-right's Marine Le Pen leads in shock new poll". France 24. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
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{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Le Pen said she and Wilders differ in their approach to Islam. 'I am against the visibility of Islam in society. We have a tradition of a strict division between church and state so I think religious symbolism has no place in the street. But I have nothing against Islam per se.'
- John Lichfield (26 May 2014). "European elections 2014: Marine Le Pen's Front National victory in France is based on anguish, rage and denial". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- "What does France's National Front stand for?". France 24. 28 May 2014.
Le Pen says she supported the intervention in Mali, because the Malians asked France to step in
Les responsables du Front national érigent volontiers les Émirats en contre-exemple du Qatar, accusé de financer le fondamentalisme islamiste.
- "European far right hails Brexit vote". the Guardian. 24 June 2016.
- "European elections 2019 – as it happened". Financial Times. 27 May 2019.
- "EU vote may shift power in main euro zone states, stall integration". Reuters. 24 May 2019.
- "Economic Voting and the national Front: Towards a Subregional Understanding of the Extreme-Right" (PDF). Politics.as.nyu.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- "Marine Le Pen, entre souverainisme et identitarisme". Enquete&Debat. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
Lechevalier said that most National Front politicians, and most of its leaders, held similar views as the GI. But they had to hide them from voters, she said. "We need the greatest number of people to come to our side to obtain the highest vote, in order to win,' she said. 'Then we can do what we want when we are in power.'
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Sources
- ISBN 9780674971530.
- Davies, Peter (2012). The National Front in France: Ideology, Discourse and Power. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-72530-4.
- DeClair, Edward G. (1999). Politics on the Fringe: The People, Policies, and Organization of the French National Front. Duke University. ISBN 978-0-8223-2139-2.
- Kitschelt, Herbert; McGann, Anthony J. (1997). "France: The National Front As Prototype of the New Radical Right". The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. University of Michigan. pp. 91–120. ISBN 978-0-472-08441-8.
- Shields, James (2007). The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen. ISBN 978-0-415-37200-8.
Further reading
- Beauzamy, Brigitte (2013). "Explaining the Rise of the Front National to Electoral Prominence: Multi-Faceted or Contradictory Models?". Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. London/New York: Bloomsbury. pp. 177–190. ISBN 978-1-78093-343-6.
- Davies, Peter (1999). The National Front in France: Ideology, Discourse and Power. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-15866-4.
- Hainsworth, Paul (2012). "The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen". Modern & Contemporary France. 20 (3): 392. S2CID 145348163.
- Joly, Bertrand (2008). Nationalistes et Conservateurs en France, 1885–1902 (in French). Les Indes Savantes.
- Mayer, Nonna (2013). "From Jean-Marie to Marine Le Pen: Electoral Change on the Far Right". Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- Russo, Luana (2014). "France: The historic victory of the Front National" (PDF). In De Sio L.; Emanuele V.; Maggini N. (eds.). The European Parliament Elections of 2014. Rome: CISE. pp. 181–188. ISBN 978-88-98012-15-2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- Shields, James (2013). "Marine Le Pen and the 'New' FN: A Change of Style or of Substance?". Parliamentary Affairs. 66 (1): 179–196. .
- Simmons, Harvey G. (1996). The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge To Democracy. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813389790.
- Winock, Michel (1993). Histoire de l'extrême droite en France (in French).
External links
- Official website (in French)
- FNinfos, the official website of National Front activists Archived 7 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Nations Presse Info, an information Website near the National Front
- Has Marine Le Pen made France's Front National respectable? RFI English
- Marine Le Pen's Protectionist Economics and Social Conservatism