Le Pen hails ‘victory’ after breakthrough in French Senate

A new poll showed Le Pen leading the field in the first round of voting to succeed President Emmanuel Macron and ahead of potential opponents in a runoff.(AFP) — Marine Le Pen’s far-right party will be able to form a group in the French Senate for the first time, election results showed Monday, a breakthrough just over six months before the presidential election.Le Pen’s National Rally, or RN, and a smaller allied party will hold at least 15 seats in the 348-seat Senate, exceeding the 10 needed to form a parliamentary group. A group can hold seats on influential committees that shape legislation.The Senate, long dominated by the right, plays a key role in legislation alongside the lower house, the National Assembly. Its members are elected by local officials rather than by direct public vote.The results from the weekend election came as a new poll showed Le Pen leading the field in the first round of voting to succeed President Emmanuel Macron and ahead of potential opponents in a runoff.Local elected officials choose half the Senate every three years. Senators serve six-year terms.The RN, then known as the National Front, entered the Senate with two seats in 2014 and won three seats in 2023. RN candidates won nine seats in the latest election, while candidates from ally Éric Ciotti’s Union of the Right for the Republic won three, bringing the parties’ combined total to at least 15.“This is a historic victory, and a major milestone with the formation for the first time of a group in the Senate,” Le Pen said on X.RN leader Jordan Bardella, who is eyeing the prime minister’s post if Le Pen becomes president, said the results confirmed “the momentum of our movement as we approach the mother of all battles — the presidential election.”“If our compatriots so desire, we will very soon govern France,” he said.A Toluna-Harris poll for RTL and M6 published Monday projected Le Pen would receive about 35% to 36% of the vote in the first round April 18. It showed her ahead of France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and centrist Édouard Philippe in hypothetical May 2 runoffs.The right, led by the Republicans, is expected to retain control of the Senate despite losing seats, according to initial results. Senate President Gérard Larcher, 77, is expected to keep his post. France Unbowed won its first Senate seat.Le Pen’s anti-immigration party emerged as the largest single party in the National Assembly after Macron called a snap election in 2024, though it fell well short of a majority.The newspaper Le Monde described the Senate results as a “warning,” saying they showed “the extent to which the RN has established itself within our institutions in barely ten years.”“The far-right breakthrough was expected, and the result does not alter the Senate majority. … Yet a new threshold has been crossed,” it added.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads