To say a massive well done to the people of France...

Will RN reciprocate now though? Hopefully not, and things will settle down.

Am waiting for the next ATC strike any day now. Probably postponed until after the elections!

Which is why the one nation Tories like my parents jumped ship to Lib Dems and won't come back with the sorry state of potential new Tory leaders like that Covid lockdown breaking clown Jenrick or that joke Braverman or Kemi.

The Front Populaire isn't far left. The former French president François Hollande was a FP candidate (not sure if he got in, I would think so) as were many others from the centre/centre left. They had a manifesto, which contained nothing Marxist, and Mélanchon is not going to be PM.

Meloni of Italy and Le Pen of France are right (and too right for me, personally) but really nothing like the Nazi party of ww2. Le Pen has stated in relation to immigration that she is against letting immigrants who commit crimes stay in the country, so this is quite different from being anti all immigration. NB France has seen more extreme terrorism than the UK - beheaded teachers. But the stated aims of Hitler from mein kampf right up to 1945 were lebensraum - taking land space to the East and killing the slavs who lived there, defeating Bolsheviks, and seeking a solution to the Jewish question and other minorties, disabled people, etc - this really is a far cry from modern day "right"

Le Pen was also gaining traction as she was seen as not likely to agree to send soldiers to Ukraine and I think more anti war, pro negotiation. France and other EU countries have seen far more anti war demonstrations than in the UK, from people who want humanitarian aid for all civilians, not military aid.

On the other hand, her party did not have admin experience and this was seen as a risk and the unknowns were a risk and at the end of the day, it was too "right" for most people, probably.

Macron was re-elected in 2022 as president but has not have a majority in parliament and there have been external pressures over the last two years and financial pressure since covid probably, the health service now is not the same as it was before covid. I think Macron did really well through covid, the environmental policies in France are better, the social net in France is better. It is really very different from the UK. I guess we will have to wait and see how things go from now.

The French are our neighbours and were our allies in WW2. With the current precarious situation in eastern Europe, the rise of extremism matters very much, especially when it’s so close and in an historic ally.

Historian here (well BA Hons in History ) I have a problem with the sweeping statement far left have killed more than far right.

As a direct result of Hitlers aggression, World War 2 kicked off which killed over 75 million people, your graph only shows those killed by death camps.

Further, I think its rather silly statement when religious wars and intolerance has killed FAR MORE than any political ideas.

No the Nazis started with racism.

They were not always in the past. But good, decent, one nation Tories have been pushed out in the last 14 years, and replaced with the far right ERG. Not Far Right in the sense of the BNP, EDL or even Reform- but economically far right, and culturally too, often with underlying racism.

I was remembering the figures off the top of my head from reading about them. But I found this explaining more quite easily. Interestingly, the data for France is at around 21% which suggests they've skillfully tapped into voters who would steer away from them usually.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism#:~:text=Morning%20Consult%20found%20that%2025.6,scoring%2020%20to%2063%20points).

@halava The riots started after the first round but the MSM didn’t report them.

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/01/thousands-protest-in-france-after-le-pen-election-success/

Yes, indeed..

In terms of western solidarity there’s an awful lot not to like about Mélenchon and it’s not beyond question he could become PM…..

TBH in many areas Melenchon and LePen are like two cheeks of the same arse…very unappealing.

The horse trading that will go on here over the next few days is going to be interesting..

Those aeroplanes destined for Rwanda disagreed with you!

I've been worried about this for a long long time. Vive la France, right decision today.

The tories aren't far right.

The majority of British 'expats' (yes, I know they are all immigrants, but often think they are 'different') live in rural areas where the RN has very high support. Some of it is directed at said British expats- as there are some areas and towns where English is spoken everywhere- shops, markets, restaurants, etc. Where little integration takes place, English Churches, Clubs, sport, etc- and some do not speak even passable, simple communicative French despite being there for years, decades even. We were in one of those towns a couple of years back, and were quite shocked- shop owners and market traders could not answer simple questions in French. And where white vans arrive with white goods and materials, with so called friends, to do DIY on the cheap. And white vans arriving with all sorts of British foods and delicacies on a weekly basis.

And where locals cannot buy any property or business, as they are hugely pushing prices. And yes, there is resentment. Just as there is in Boston, Skegness or Clacton.

I'm no fan of Melenchon but between the left alliance and Macron's party there are projected to be about 360 seats. His party are projected to take about 70 of them. The centre and the more sensible left wing parties outnumber him.

I really hope you're right. I can't say I find the thought of his policies being rolled out by our nearest neighbours any more appealing than Le Pen's.

Indeed. The far right might not be in power but it has a hell of a lot of people with those views.

La jeunesse emmerde le front national

Putin will be seething like rumpelstiltskin after the last few days

Not at all - Mélenchon is pro-Putin.

They've won the battle but not the war, I would guess.

That isn’t what’s happened. The French people have pulled a blinder. Surely we’re allowed to applaud them?

I'm no fan of Melenchon but between the left alliance and Macron's party there are projected to be about 360 seats. His party are projected to take about 70 of them. The centre and the more sensible left wing parties outnumber him.

If you add up conservative and reform votes, they are more than labour votes.

I’m not convinced. I think he’ll be relieved that he’s got supporters in the UK government and in an unstable French government, and he’ll probably have a supporter in the USA in a few months too (if Trump is re-elected). If I was Putin, I’d feel quite optimistic right now.