Polls: French Far Right Party Ahead in Regional Elections

Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Front is hoping the two-round voting that starts Sunday will consolidate political gains she has made in recent years – and strengthen her front’s legitimacy as she prepares to seek the presidency in 2017.

President Francois Hollande, who cast his vote in Tulle in central France, has seen his personal ratings surge as a result of his hardline approach since the November 13 attacks in Paris.

The issue of the so-called “barrage republicain” – a “barricade to block the FN – will be at the centre of the campaign for the second round next Sunday (13 December)”. The National Front was leading in six of the 13 regions, including two where it was strongly ahead.

Marion Maréchal Le Pen, niece of the party leader, last week said Muslims could not be French because they rejected France’s “customs and morals” rooted in Christianity.

The party were criticised over an election poster imploring voters to “Choose Your Suburb”, accompanied by a picture of a veiled woman, and an unveiled woman with the French tricolore painted on her cheeks.

Exit polls from yesterday’s vote predicted that the FN had won between 27-30 per cent of the vote. The Socialists have since announced that they will not contest the next round of voting in some areas, in order to allow supporters of mainstream parties to rally around a single candidate.

It is a massive coup for Le Pen, who received 40% of votes in the north-eastern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie.

Sarkozy’s conservative Republicans party and its allies were projected to come in second place in the national vote at around 27 percent. Sarkozy has so far refused to entertain any possibility of an alliance with the Socialists in a bid to keep the Front National out of regional councils.

France is having regional elections today, and the early returns and exit polls suggest a big win for Le Pen.

The arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Europe and the exploits of the Islamic State have bolstered the discourse of the National Front. Le Pen’s father, National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, had a history of anti-Semitism, though his daughter has distanced herself and the party from him and his record.

“The idea is now clear that National Front may be the party that is going to rule France”.

“People of the left, one more time the Republic depends on you”.

“I think it is important to vote even if one leaves the ballot blank”, he said.