France’s far-right National Rally (RN) and its ally, the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), have won enough seats to form a group in the Senate for the first time, marking a breakthrough for the party ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The breakthrough came after 178 of the Senate’s 348 seats were contested on Sunday across 64 of France’s 101 departments. Senators are indirectly elected by an electoral college made up largely of local elected officials.
Nine RN senators were elected, joining the party’s three existing senators, while three senators from Éric Ciotti’s UDR are expected to join them to create a 15-member group. At least 10 senators are required to form a political group in the upper chamber.
The result marks a significant change for the RN, which had only three senators before Sunday’s vote and lacked the numbers needed to establish its own group.
Forming a group gives the party additional parliamentary resources and influence, including more speaking time, parliamentary staff and greater representation within the Senate’s committees.
RN leader Marine Le Pen welcomed the result, saying it had “exceeded our expectations.”
She also described the result as a major victory and said the party’s newly elected senators would play an important role in its presidential campaign.
Despite the RN’s gains, the broader balance of power in the Senate remains largely unchanged, with the traditional right and centre retaining control of the chamber.
Les Républicains remain the largest political force, with 123 senators, while their centrist allies hold about 72 seats. The two blocs are expected to maintain their majority.
The election also delivered La France Insoumise (LFI) its first senator, with Gabriel Amard winning a seat in the Rhône department.
Sunday’s Senate election was France’s final nationwide electoral test before the 2027 presidential election and comes as parties begin positioning themselves for the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
Le Pen confirmed in July that she would run for president after the Paris Court of Appeal shortened a ban on standing for office, leaving her eligible for the 2027 election. She has appealed her conviction to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court for criminal and civil cases.
Former Socialist President François Hollande has also raised the possibility of entering the race.
Hollande, 72, said on Monday that he would consider standing only in exceptional circumstances and if he believed he had a realistic chance of reaching the second round and ultimately winning.
Hollande, who served as president from 2012 to 2017, said France was facing a more dangerous international environment and that Europe was confronting what he described as an “existential crisis.”
Prosecutors in Paraguay have charged former President Santiago Peña and ex-central bank chief Carlos Carvallo Spalding over the collapse of ...
At least six people have been killed and 15 injured after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's main square, Polish authoritie...
The U.S. military has established a new unit to stop Iran transporting advanced weapons systems via its land borders and the Caspian Sea. ...
Democrats' sweeping victory in the U.S. midterm elections has sent technology stocks plunging, as investors fear tougher AI regulations could slow infrastructure development and threaten the boom that has driven market gains this year.
Romanian authorities said late on Thursday that two additional planes had received bomb threats including a KLM flight to Tel Aviv that had a layover in Bucharest.
U.S. President Donald Trump has predicted a breakthrough in efforts to end the war in Ukraine after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, ahead of U.S.-mediated peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi on 10-11 November.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to fight attempts to impeach him, dismissing the growing campaign against him as politically motivated amid mounting criticism of his handling of the war in Iran.
Two people, including a child, were killed and 16 others injured when an intercity bus crashed in eastern France on Friday morning, authorities confirmed.
Prosecutors in Paraguay have charged former President Santiago Peña and ex-central bank chief Carlos Carvallo Spalding over the collapse of Ueno Bank, and have asked a court to hold both men in pretrial detention.
At least six people have been killed and 15 injured after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's main square, Polish authorities have said. The suspect, a Polish national, opened fire on people at random in Rynek Główny at around 3pm local time on Saturday, according to Polish police.
Paraguay’s Vice President Pedro Alliana has assumed the presidency after the Senate impeached and ousted Santiago Peña amid a banking crisis that sparked widespread political backlash.
New Zealand’s ruling centre-right National Party has taken a narrow lead over the opposition Labour Party in Saturday’s general election, with the country’s current three-party coalition projected to retain power.
Russian forces launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv early on Saturday, 7 November, injuring two people and damaging residential buildings, just three days before U.S.-led peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment