National Rally: an electoral breakthrough marred by defeats
The National Rally (RN) made a significant breakthrough during the last early legislative elections, winning more than 125 seats in the National Assembly, which marks a notable advance with around forty new seats compared to 2022. Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN, has reason to rejoice despite the defeat in the presidential election of July 7. This progression allowed the RN to form the first parliamentary group, surpassing the presidential group Ensemble pour la République and the Mélenchonistes.
However, all is not rosy for the party. Of the almost 90 deputies elected during the 2022 wave, only 81 managed to get re-elected. Seven outgoing deputies lost their seats, which represents almost 10% of the previous group, a figure which gives pause to certain RN executives who were hoping for a more solid establishment. Anne-Sophie Frigout, for example, lost her constituency of Marne during a by-election, and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, sovereignist of Debout La France, was defeated in his stronghold of Essonne after nearly 27 years of reign.
The profiles of RN deputies not re-elected are varied. Grégoire de Fournas, former deputy for Gironde, is one of the best known. He sparked controversy in 2022 with a controversial comment on migrants. Despite an improvement in his score in the first round, he lost by half a point against a less divisive PS candidate. Pierrick Berteloot, young deputy from the North, had caused internal tensions by not mentioning his affiliation with the RN in his Twitter biography. He is now contesting his defeat before the Constitutional Council.
Other outgoing deputies, such as Mathilde Paris in Loiret, Francis Cabrolier in Tarn, and Annick Cousin in Lot-et-Garonne, also failed to win back their seats. Annick Cousin attributes her defeat to the candidacy of Jérôme Cahuzac and a lack of territorial coverage of the RN. Catherine Jaouen, in Vaucluse, and Victor Catteau, in the North, also lost to opponents from the left and the Macron camp, respectively.
Despite these setbacks, some members of the RN remain optimistic. Victor Catteau, for example, sees his progress over several years as a sign of potential success in future elections. These mixed results show that the RN continues to assert itself on the national scene, but also highlight the challenges that remain for the party.
