France votes for its MPs
Opinion polls put President Macron’s party well in front with socialists close to collapse and Le Pen party support falling
France goes to the polls again this weekend with the first round of the parliamentary elections to choose the MPs who will decide how President Emmanuel Macron will be able to govern.
Candidates who win an absolute majority in their seats on Sunday are elected but if there is no absolute majority then candidates who have won at least 12.5% of the vote go to a second election on June 18.
Despite the massive interest in Mr Macron’s election, opinion polls have indicated a record number of abstentions – a possible 48% (yesterday’s UK general election saw 31.3% abstentions).
Latest indications are that Mr Macron’s La République En Marche (REM) party will win a majority of seats in the Assemblée Nationale.
An Ipsos/Sopra Steria poll predicted REM would have a group of between 385 to 415 députés (MPs) – and well above the 289 needed for an absolute majority.
It will mean many new faces in parliament with fewer career politicians, fulfilling Mr Macron’s promise of a new broom. More than a third of the MPs in the old parliament are not standing.
With REM’s avowed position of being ‘neither right nor left’ it will also mean serious disruption for both the Parti Socialiste (PS) and Les Républicains (LR).
Some polls have said the socialists will get only 7-9% of the vote and as few as 25 seats.
For Les Républicains, losing three leading members to Mr Macron’s new government in Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire and Budget Minister Gérald Darmanin is a heavy blow. Polls suggest they will get fewer than a quarter of the vote and up to 125 MPs.
Mr Darmanin has suggested many LR members have switched to the extreme right Front National (FN).
Political analysts say a key seat for the FN will be Hénin-Beaumont in Pas-de-Calais where party leader Marine Le Pen is standing and leading the polls.
However, the party is not faring well nationally. Although Ms Le Pen took 33.9% of the vote in last month’s presidential election, opinion polls give the FN a possible 17-19% of the vote and 5-15 seats.
No official details of the election can be given until results are declared but Twitter users have been using the hashtags #radiolondres or #radiolondres2017 to get a ‘hint’ of the results.
