Right Wing Party Could Score Major Victory In Upcoming French Elections

She said: “The French people have had enough of being treated like a herd of sheep”.

The momentum that the party is now building seems destined to improve those results significantly-even before this weekend’s regional election victory, Marine Le Pen has consistently placed first or second place in the polls for France’s next president. “We call on all the voters to block the FN”, Cambadelis said. In 2010, the party scored about 11% of the national vote in the departmental elections.

Le Pen is campaigning to run the northern Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, which includes the port city of Calais, a flashpoint in Europe’s migrant drama.

Mr Hollande has seen his personal ratings surge on the back of his hardline approach to security since the Paris carnage, but his party is being punished for a jobless total of almost 3-million. Le Pen has worked to undo its image under father and co-founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen as an anti-Semitic party under father and has lured new followers from the left, the traditional right and among young people.

A victorious Le Pen described the FN as “France’s first party” after its unprecedented triumph on Sunday.

Marine Le Pen can break out a bottle of champagne to celebrate after her far-right National Front (FN) earned an unprecedented victory in the first round of French regional elections on Sunday. If the party is able to solidify those gains in the second round of voting next Sunday, it will position the National Front leader, Marine Le Pen, as a formidable candidate in the 2017 presidential election.

The FN has in the past won control of less than a dozen French towns, but has never taken an entire region.

The National Front, led by former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, has been on the French political scene for decades and has enjoyed major successes before.

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

Republicans leader Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear since Sunday that his party would not withdraw or go into any “tactical alliances” ahead of the second round.

Many believe increased fear and anger following the Daesh-coordinated attacks in Paris last month garnered increased popularity for the hard-line party. The second round runoff vote for regional elections takes place next weekend.

According to Barah Mikail, senior researcher at FRIDE worldwide think tank, based in Madrid and Brussels, and Associate Professor at Saint-Louis University, Madrid, despite the results of the FN it is not the most significant political power for numerous French voters. “We think the best way to oppose the National Front is by taking our seats in the regional assembly”, he said.