French elections: Record number of far-right MPs enter National Assembly

Dozens of newly elected far-right MPs arrived for the first time on Wednesday at the National Assembly in Paris since the results of the French legislative elections on 7 July.

Despite the National Rally’s surprising defeat at the hands of the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP), followed by French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, the far-right still made significant gains growing from 89 seats in 2022 to at least 123 in the National Assembly today. 

The left-wing alliance holds the largest number of seats in the National Assembly, with 193 of 577, but is well short of the 289-seat threshold for a majority. The centrists under Macron hold 164.

With this number, the National Rally will have a key role in maintaining or toppling the future government. And one thing is clear: they will block any left-wing prime minister, most MPs told reporters.

Others such as National Rally MP Philippe Ballard believe the only way out of the looming institutional crisis is a new dissolution that can only happen next year. 

"We've outlined the political prospects, it's a leap into the unknown, it's a quagmire, as Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have called it," he said referring to the leaders of the party.

"We also discussed the future. Apart from another dissolution in a year, we can't see any other solution, so we're going to start campaigning again soon," he told Euronews.

Jordan Bardella, the President of the National Rally and 28-year-old MEP, made an appearance and called on the newly elected politicians to be "perfectly irreproachable" during their term of office.

The legislative elections were marked by the revelation of numerous racist and anti-Semitic remarks made by National Rally candidates.

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