FRANCE: Far-right chief Marine Le Pen votes in the second round of parliamentary elections as her party looks to enter parliament for the first time since the 80s

Record ID: 327806

  • Title: FRANCE: Far-right chief Marine Le Pen votes in the second round of parliamentary elections as her party looks to enter parliament for the first time since the 80s
  • Date: 18th June 2012
  • Summary: HENIN-BEAUMONT, FRANCE (JUNE 17, 2012) (REUTERS) (NOTE: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY) HENIN BAUMONT VILLAGE POLLING STATION NATIONAL FRONT LEADER MARINE LE PEN ARRIVING FOR VOTING LE PEN VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (French) NATIONAL FRONT LEADER MARINE LE PEN SAYING: "It's all in the hands of the voters now." LE PEN WALKING
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAET3WOSHCJN0SYIRWM1IM2YW6B
  • Story Text: France's far right leader Marine Le Pen voted on Sunday (June 17), in a parliamentary run-off in which her party, the National Front, is looking to enter parliament for the first time since 1986.
    Le Pen took a commanding lead in the first round of the legislative elections, raising the prospect of a seat in parliament for her anti-immigrant party.
    She won more than 42 percent of the vote in a working class district in northern France where she has established a loyal base for the National Front, tapping into unease over high unemployment and years of economic decline.
    Le Pen is in a close fight with Socialist Party candidate Philippe Kemel, who came in second place with 23.5 percent of votes, in the first round according to an official tally.
    The run-off is expected to hand President Francois Hollande's Socialist party a majority and bolster his position in legislative battles over euro zone crisis policy.
    The possible entry of Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front into parliament for the first time since the mid-1980s with up to three seats would be uncomfortable but would not pose any threat to Hollande's power to govern.
    Opinion polls and projections from last Sunday's first-round vote suggest the Socialist bloc could achieve the 289 seats needed for a majority in the 577-member National Assembly even without adding seats from its Green Party allies.
    Le Pen's National Front is looking at up to three seats, and the conservatives, fractured since their leader Nicolas Sarkozy was ousted as president in May, are set for 192 to 226 seats.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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