A leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, has won the most seats in the 2024 French legislative election, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority.
The outcome leaves France facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and threatens political paralysis in a pillar of the European Union and Olympic host country.
Mélenchon has long been a figure on the left, first in the Socialist Party and as a senator. He founded the hard-left France Unbowed party in 2016 but failed to reach the presidential runoff in 2017 and 2022.
He then allied his party with the Socialists, Communists and greens to form the New Popular Ecological and Social Union.
Mélenchon is a divisive figure who angers many moderates. The alliance fell into disarray because of divisions over the Hamas-Israel war. The France Unbowed party condemned the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas and accused it of pursuing genocide against Palestinians. Party leaders denied antisemitism.
Then last month, Mélenchon’s party joined a similar alliance that was quickly thrown together for snap elections in response to the prospect of the far right gaining power. The alliance had more luck this time, winning the largest number of seats.
Here’s a look at the final results from the second round. According to the Interior Ministry, the leftist coalition has taken the most seats in parliament, with at least 181. Macron’s centrists have more than 160 seats. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally have 143 seats after leading in the first round.
No majority for anyone. The unpopular Macron will have to form alliances to run the government.
Many voters decided that keeping the far right from power was more important than anything else.
“Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is preparing to welcome the world in a few weeks.” That’s from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who plans to offer his resignation on Monday.
The weakened Macron could seek a deal with the moderate left to create a joint government, but France has no tradition of this kind of arrangement. A deal could take the form of a loose, informal alliance that likely would be fragile. And already, leaders of the leftist New Popular Front are pushing Macron to give their alliance the first chance to form a government and propose a prime minister to share power with him.
If he can’t make a deal, Macron could name a government of experts unaffiliated with political parties to handle the day-to-day work of keeping one of Europe’s largest countries running. But that would require parliamentary approval. And the first session with new members of the 577-seat National Assembly is July 18.
Meanwhile, no clear figure has emerged as a possible prime minister. Macron’s office has said he would wait for the new National Assembly to take shape before taking “the necessary decisions.”
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says France will be “totally deadlocked” with three groups of similar size in the National Assembly and none with a majority. But she says her National Rally party will be in a position to have a majority “maybe in a year.”
Sunday’s events have been a jolt for the party that hours ago seemed poised to make history by putting the far right in power for the first time since World War II.
Meanwhile, Le Pen is expected to run for president again in 2027. Macron can’t run again, but he has vowed to stay in office until the end of his term.
A month ago, the New Popular Front (NFP) did not exist. Now, it has won the most seats in the French parliament and could provide France with its next prime minister.
Here’s what you need to know:
Who are the NFP? The left-wing coalition is made up of several parties: the far-left France Unbowed party; the more moderate Socialist Party; the green Ecologist party; the French Communist Party; the center-left Place Publique, and other small parties. It formed just days after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election.
How much did they win by? The NFP won 182 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest bloc but short of an absolute majority, according to the French Interior Ministry.
Who’s in charge of the NFP? It’s hard to say; going into the second round, it was not clear who the coalition would nominate to be its prime minister. Its most prominent — and divisive — figure is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a 72-year-old populist firebrand and longtime leader of the France Unbowed party.
Who will be the next prime minister? That’s unclear due to the hung parliament. Figures in Macron’s Ensemble party have repeatedly said they would refuse to work with France Unbowed, saying it is just as extreme — and therefore as unfit to govern — as the RN.
What are the NFP’s policies? It has campaigned on an expansive economic platform, promising to raise the minimum monthly wage, cap the price of essential goods, and to scrap Macron’s deeply unpopular pension reform that raised the French retirement age. On foreign policy, the NFP has pledged to “immediately recognize” a Palestinian state, and push for Israel and Hamas to cease fire in Gaza.
By Agencies
