Three political currents dominated the French parliamentary elections of June 2022: the authoritarian neoliberal bloc grouped around the reelected president, Emmanuel Macron, stretching from ex-Socialists to former members of the Gaullist Les Républicains party; Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-wing Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale (NUPES); and Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN).

First-round results placed the coalition led by Mélenchon just ahead of Marcon’s, both with slightly more than a quarter of the vote. Le Pen’s vehicle, which had rejected the call for an alliance with rival far-right candidate Éric Zemmour and his Reconquête party, came third with 18.7 percent. The traditional parties of the French right trailed in fourth with 13.6 percent; the largest component of their bloc, Les Républicains, took just over 10 percent.

In the aftermath of this year’s presidential and legislative elections, Le Pen and the Rassemblement National are seeking to accelerate the dynamic of authoritarianism and racism that became a defining feature of Macron’s first term, as part of a strategy to counter the institutional obstacles that stand between them and power.