A shock election result in France puts the left in the lead
But they are well short of a majority; uncertainty looms
IN A RESULT that took France wholly by surprise, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, looks poised to become the biggest party in parliament after final-round voting at legislative elections closed on July 7th. Projections by Ipsos, based on early results, gave the NFP 171-187 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly. This would still be far short of the 289 seats needed to control the lower house. Voters have returned a badly hung parliament, and France is now set for a period of uncertainty and political manoeuvring as the country tries to learn how to act as many other European countries already do, and forge a majority coalition.
Europe faces a new age of shrunken French influence
Sharing power will weaken the federalist president’s sway in Brussels
The EU should be the world’s heat-pump pioneer
But the union is falling behind in its efforts
Turkish tourists can now easily visit nearby Greek islands
A cheering sign of reduced tension in the eastern Mediterranean
Europe faces a new age of shrunken French influence
Sharing power will weaken the federalist president’s sway in Brussels
The EU should be the world’s heat-pump pioneer
But the union is falling behind in its efforts
Turkish tourists can now easily visit nearby Greek islands
A cheering sign of reduced tension in the eastern Mediterranean
Le Pen’s hard right looks set to dominate the French parliament
Even without a majority
Ukraine’s war has created millions of broken families
Children and wives have been apart from their fathers and husbands for more than two years
A crushing blow for Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance
A big turnout for Le Pen’s hard right makes clear the president’s gamble backfired spectacularly