France Election: French PM Valls calls for united anti-National Front vote

According to final estimates from the Interior Ministry that were released on December 7, the National Front came first with about 28 percent of the nationwide vote and topped the list in at least six of 13 regions.

France’s far-right National Front (FN) pulled off a historic win on Sunday, topping the vote in the first round of regional elections. Nicolas Sarkozy’s Les Républicains was second by gaining 29 percent of votes and the ruling François Hollande’s Socialists and leftwing allies was third party by gaining 23.3 percent of vote.

France’s National Front political party leader Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during the National Front political party summer university in Marseille, France, September 6, 2015. But his party, which now runs almost all of France’s regions, has seen its electoral support shrivel as the government has failed to shrink 10 percent joblessness or invigorate the economy.

Marechal-Le Pen did equally well in the vast southeastern Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, known for its glamorous beaches and stunning countryside.

The National Front denounces Europe’s open borders, what it calls the “migratory submersion” and what it claims is the corrupting influence of Islam on French civilization.

The second round of run-off voting this Sunday (Dec. 13) may put a dent in that support, if other parties unite behind a single candidate to prevent the National Front from taking control.

Shortly after the attacks, Le Pen penned an op-ed for Time magazine laying out her party’s plan for stopping similar attacks in the future.

Marine Le Pen attributes her party’s high scores to the nature of the political class, and the system it defends.

The National Front’s victory has been largely celebrated in Russian Federation.

Some 16 per cent of those who voted for the FN said they had changed their voting intentions after the attacks, an exit poll published yesterday said. The party’s founder and Marine Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie is known to have ties in Moscow.

Sunday’s result looks set to build on the party’s performance at last year’s municipal elections, its best result since 1995.

“We are destined to realise the national unity this country needs”, she added, promising to lead voters “on the path to greatness and happiness”.