Far-right National Front wins seats in French senate for first time
The far-right National Front has scored a historic victory in elections to the French senate, winning its first seats in the upper chamber as the ruling Socialists and left-wing allies lost their majority to right-wing parties.
The far-right National Front has scored a historic victory in elections to the French senate, winning its first seats in the upper chamber as the ruling Socialists and left-wing allies lost their majority to right-wing parties.
Sunday's shock victory of Stephane Ravier from Marseilles and David Rachline from Frejus confirmed the party's political breakthrough under Marine Le Pen, who has shaken off the hardline legacy of her father, Jean- Marie Le Pen, in an attempt to "de-demonise" the Front.
The two seats are both in the Front's stronghold in southern France, and at 26, Rachline, the mayor of Frejus, is the youngest French senator ever elected.
The result marks a third humiliating electoral defeat for the Socialist party, which has been punished by disillusioned voters while support for the Front has surged. Le Pen's party won control of a dozen municipalities in elections last March, including the 7th district in Marseilles where Ravier was elected mayor.
It also came top in the European elections two months later, when it knocked the centre-right UMP into second place. One poll this month said that Le Pen could theoretically beat President Francois Hollande in the second round of the next presidential election, scheduled for 2017.
Referring to the presidency after his election to the senate, Ravier said: "There's just one more door to open, the Elysee. In 2017 we'll have Marine Le Pen to do it."
