Despite competing with a newcomer candidate for the far-right vote, Marine Le Pen once again made it to the final round of France’s presidential election. But Le Pen is now looking to vanquish pundit-turned-candidate Éric Zemmour – as well as even the score with allies who left her camp to join him – in June’s legislative elections.
After garnering a lot of attention ahead of the first round of presidential elections on April 10, far-right newcomer Éric Zemmour spent much of his campaign denigrating France’s longtime far-right populist Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement National (National Rally or RN) party.
But that might have been a strategic mistake: Zemmour won only slightly more than 7 percent of the vote while Le Pen scored more than 23 percent and managed to make it to the second round against President Emmanuel Macron. "It's the eighth time that defeat has been associated with the Le Pen name," Zemmour said shortly after Macron’s victory.
But all eyes are now on the legislative elections taking place on June 12 and 19, and Zemmour, a former journalist, is now calling for "union nationale". But he might be the only one wanting the far right to unite ahead of France’s next electoral deadline.
The former presidential candidate announced on Wednesday via Twitter that his party, Reconquest, would not field candidates for legislative elections against fellow far-right politicians Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan as well as right-winger Éric Ciotti: "This is union nationale in action," he stated.
On Monday he claimed that the "union nationale" he called for would come out on top in 246 constituencies, over double the expected 105 constituencies if the parties remain separated.
Zemmour also stressed that 70 percent of RN voters are in favour of such a proposed "union", according to an Ipsos poll. Finally, he published a press release from the vice presidents of his party – former RN members Marion Maréchal (Le Pen's niece) and Nicolas Bay, as well as conservative Les Républicains former member Guillaume Peltier – proposing a meeting with Le Pen's party "to form an electoral coalition for the legislative elections".
Le Pen seems to prefer consolidating the supremacy of her party, and insiders do not see starting discussions with those who "betrayed" France’s oldest active far-right party to join Zemmour’s team as an option. Their departure was "a one-way ticket", Le Pen has said.
According to Erwan Lecœur, a political scientist and specialist on the far right, party founder (and Marine's father) Jean-Marie Le Pen used to say, "There is no No. 2 in the National Front," as the party used to be known. "There is a leader and this leader will do everything to crush the others." Lecœur noted that others who have tried to change the party from within have also ended up being expelled from it.
"Éric Zemmour wanted to play the new leader of the new far right: He will pay the price in the coming weeks," Lecœur predicted.
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Not here to ‘help a movement hostile to us’
"Many voters were misled by Zemmour, who made them believe there was a wave of hidden voting in his favour. The goal of Zemmour was clear: to end the National Rally and replace Le Pen. But the French decided otherwise," Laurent Jacobelli, a spokesman for the RN, told France Culture radio on Wednesday. He added that his party’s purpose is "not to help a movement that is hostile to us".
Despite a solid financial situation and 122,000 party members, the legislative campaign is likely to be delicate for Zemmour, who has not yet officially announced if he will be a candidate.
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As Le Pen improved her finish in the second round of the presidential election by nearly eight points when compared to 2017, she is also poised to prove victorious over Reconquest. RN spokesperson Sébastien Chenu said the party would put up a candidate even if opposing Zemmour, should he opt to run.
"I agree that we should work with Reconquest MPs if Zemmour manages to get them elected, but they have a different approach. We are not for the unity of the right wing: We want a union of patriots, and that goes beyond the right and the left because we no longer believe in those divisions," Chenu told French news channel LCI on Monday.
"I don't see any point in Le Pen openly letting Zemmour and Maréchal pursue their objectives," Lecœur said. "Reconquest will only be able to get a handful of MPs in the southeast of France while Le Pen can expect having around 50 elected representatives and, for the first time without proportional representation, have a substantial group of MPs in the National Assembly."
Her party estimated that Le Pen finished first in 159 constituencies in the presidential election. She also finished first in 23 metropolitan departéments (administrative units), up from two in 2017.
However, as the party is deep in debt, obtaining as many votes as possible in legislative elections and securing parliamentary seats is also a financial necessity. This election will determine how and which political parties are financed for the next five years. Parties obtaining 1 percent of the vote in at least 50 constituencies receive state subsidies to the tune of €1.42 per vote. For each MP, parties receive €37,280 every year of their five-year mandates.
This story has been adapted from the original in French.
