National Rally is making gains with higher-earning professionals and older voters previously put off by party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen
Céline, a civil servant and administrator in several French government ministries, used to keep quiet about the fact that she voted for the far-right, anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen. “I couldn’t talk about it at work; people would say: ‘You’re a fascist.’ It was frowned upon – it was almost a sackable offence,” said the 68-year-old, who retired three years ago.
But today, even in her hometown of Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris, where the largely well-off residents have been historically closed to the far right, and voted 83% for the centrist Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 presidential final round, Céline has noticed a shift in the public mood. Across France, Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National (RN) is polling at a historic high of about 33% in Sunday’s European elections, more than double Macron’s grouping on about 16%. National politics has become increasingly focused on the far-right’s progress to the next presidential race in 2027, and whether anything will be capable of holding it back.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/07/french-election-you-can-feel-a-shift-far-right-propaganda-is-gaining-ground-will-the-french-be-lured-by-le-pen
Author : Angelique Chrisafis in Boulogne-Billancourt
Publish date : 2024-06-07 04:00:41
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