Far-right Rassemblement National (RN) leader Jordan Bardella on Monday, July 8, took on a "share of responsibility" for his party's "defeat" in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections. His party came third behind the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) left-wing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron's coalition. According to the Interior Ministry's full results, the RN secured 125 seats in the new Assemblée Nationale, while its allies from the conservative right obtained 17 seats.
"We always make mistakes, I did," conceded Bardella. "I take my share of responsibility both for the victory in the European elections and for yesterday's defeat," he added.
While the RN's new parliamentary group in the Assemblée will need to address the behavior of some of its newly-elected lawmakers, who have been singled out for making racist, climate-skeptic or conspiracy-mongering statements. Bardella acknowledged that "this would probably require us to look at things regarding the nomination of a certain number of candidates," adding that some had already been "dismissed at the start of the campaign."
"People who have made comments that are not in line with my vision, with what we stand for, with the political line I take, will not be sitting," he repeated, estimating that it was a question of "one or two people."