Pollsters: France’s far right routed in regional elections after

The second round of the…

A fiery orator but also a pragmatist, Marine Le Pen has steered France’s far-right National Front (FN) from pariah status into the mainstream.

Acknowledging defeat, Ms Le Pen pledged to keep fighting. The second round of…

Marine Le Pen’s far-right Front National party failed to win a seat in any region in the second round of the regional elections.

A different result was feared as the National Front obtained the highest scores in the first round, one week ago – at the time leading in six regions out of 12, successfully surfing the wave of the anti-immigrant and security atmosphere sparked by the Paris attacks.

The National Front failed to build on first round leads in the French regional elections and did not win any councils, according to exit polls.

In the south-east, where Ms Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen was the FN’s lead candidate, the conservatives scored 54.5 per cent and the FN 45.5, the poll said.

Eschewing the nakedly xenophobic and controversial outbursts of her father, she set about broadening the party’s appeal by focusing on opposition to the European Union and immigration – two themes that struck a chord, particularly outside the big cities, at a time of economic downturn.

He said a vote for the FN was “not immoral” but they were “people who have never run anything, have no plan, have no self-control, who would create chaos”.

“Every night we hear helicopters checking to make sure migrants aren’t trying to get through”, said Arnaud Guellaen, 48, a high school physical education teacher who said he voted for the National Front.

The victor in Corsica was not affiliated with a major party.

Sunday’s poor results notwithstanding, the National Front’s policies have already reshaped French political life and sharpened skepticism about France’s mostly Muslim immigrants.

The northern region where Le Pen is running is one of two where the governing Socialists ordered their candidates to withdraw and vote for the right to block Le Pen.

The vote has been viewed as key for all three 2017 hopefuls: Ms Le Pen, Socialist President Francois Hollande, and former president Mr Sarkozy.

No doubt the British and worldwide newspapers will rejoice in the morning: “Front National trounced” etc etc – in fact the BBC is predictably already at it. The results were based on the count of between 71% and 100% of the votes in each region.

Indeed, the day kicked off the unofficial election season as politicians from all parties cast Sunday’s results in terms of their presidential ambitions.

Turnout stood at 19.59 percent at noon, up from 16.27 percent at the same point last Sunday and 18.57 percent during the last regional elections in 2010. The figures weren’t updated.

However, polls in recent days showed the National Front winning less than half the vote. That reflects a fear of allowing a party associated with extremism to take power.

Winning control of any region would have been an unprecedented boost for the National Front – and especially for Le Pen’s hopes for the presidency in 2017.

The FN argues that the political manoeuvring by the main two political parties shows that they are two sides of the same coin and the far-right offers the only real political alternative.

“We can no longer continue like this”.

“We are sick of the socialists and the conservatives”, Bernadette Gira, of Marseille, told Eleanor. The second round of the regional elections will take place Sunday.