All data on the French election
Day of the primary election in the European neighbor: French President Macron pulls the cord after the European election and sets the first round of the advanced parliamentary elections for this Sunday. Who will have the say in the French National Assembly in the future? Cards, data, and infographics in overview.
The European elections 2024 in France have begun: Approximately 49 million eligible voters were called to cast their votes on this Sunday, 30th of June, for the new composition of the French National Assembly.
In two ballots, the French will decide on the power and majority relations in the Parisian parliament. In the first round, only a few of the 577 seats in the National Assembly are usually awarded. The first round thus serves only as an introduction. Only after the second round on 7th July will the full election outcome be clear.
[Tip: The data for the parliamentary election 2024 show polling figures up to the closing of the polling stations and are updated continuously as soon as the first results become available.]
First projections will be given on both days around 8:00 PM, with it being calculated that at least a rough number of seats gained will be announced.
It should be noted that parties do not have to belong to a coalition uniformly, but can assign their candidates to different coalitions (so-called "Nuances") at the constituency level. Therefore, parties can be formally represented in several coalitions. Official results will only be given after the counting of votes. The figures are expected to be announced late on election night from the French Interior Ministry.
The latest surveys indicate major shifts: The sudden announcement of new elections has deeply shaken French politics. State President Emmanuel Macron reacted with the surprising move due to his party's weak result in the European elections and the strengthening of the French Right. The French Right-wing populists of the "Rassemblement National" (RN, National Rally) were leading in the polls in France. Macron's "Ensemble" alliance could therefore only become the third strongest force.
Macron hoped for a stronger hold: Following the disastrous defeat of his centrist coalition in the European elections, the French Right could potentially gain significant influence in the future. Macron's "Renaissance" party suffered a heavy blow in the European elections. As part of the "Besoin d'Europe" (BE) coalition - consisting of Renaissance, the "Ensemble" parties, and the Union of Democrats (UDI, "Union des démocrates et indépendants") - it only managed to secure 14.6% of the votes.
These are not even half as many votes as the Right-wing populists from the RN, who managed to gather 31.5 percent in the French European election. At the beginning of June, the French Socialists trailed behind Macron with 13.8 percent.
In the majority of French regions, the Right secured the victory: The French map with the results of the European election in the regions is deep blue.
Until June 30th, there is not much time left. Macron's decision, which he can make as the French President according to Article 12 of the French Constitution, catapults the parties directly after the European election into a kind of lightning campaign, in which it's no longer about the distant Brussels, but about the concrete political direction of France.
RN Faction Leader Marine Le Pen, who intends to run for the presidency again in 2027, looks at the unexpectedly announced new elections with great confidence. "We are ready to assume government responsibility," she declared.
The extreme-right party "Reconquête" with Marion Marechal-Le Pen as the lead candidate has already expressed openness for a coalition – as has the head of France's Conservatives, Eric Ciotti.
The new flexibility of the conservative camp creates new realities for Macron: Ciotti's coalition signals challenged a long-standing consensus that a collaboration with the RN is taboo – and thus openly against large parts of his own party, Les Républicains.
In the French and overseas elections, the French electoral law applies, which generally favors larger parties. Voters living abroad can also cast their votes online. For them, the election has already begun on Tuesday, June 25th. In the French overseas territories, the election had already started earlier.
The French electoral law does not provide for mail-in voting. Voters can, however, grant a proxy and designate a trustee for themselves. For this, they must first identify themselves at any police station.
Most polling stations close at 18:00 hours, in Paris and other large cities they remain open until 20:00 hours. This results in relatively reliable projections by 20:00 hours.
The vote in France is attracting attention beyond national borders. It is still open how a possible victory of the Right-wing populists will affect the political orientation of the second strongest economic power in Europe.
Previous statements from leading RN representatives do not indicate sudden declarations of commitment to the European unification process. The much-invoked Franco-German engine within the EU could temporarily stutter.
Looking Back: Parliamentary Election 2022
At the previous parliamentary election in 2022, Macron's party Renaissance (RE, formerly "La République en Marche") had competed under the Ensemble-Coalition ENS banner. The ENS label stands for "Ensemble pour la majorité présidentielle" (approximately: "Alliance of the Presidential Majority") and included not only liberal parties of the center but also left-wing and right-wing parties.
Note: This infographic displays results of the recent Parliamentary election in 2022.
Macron's centralist alliance was at least on par with the left-wing NUPES list ("Nouvelle union populaire écologique et sociale", approximately: New ecological and social Popular Union) in the first round of the 2022 presidential election.
Tip: This infographic shows results of the recent Parliamentary election in 2022.
The NUPES alliance was a serious challenger for Macron at that time: The social-ecological grouping could rally on a broad base, comprising not only the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party but also the French Greens and the left-populist party "La France insoumise" (Unbowed France).
In the presidential election of 2022, the then NUPES candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon came close but failed to make it to the runoff. In the second round, Macron won against the right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen.
Two years later, the situation looks different: The French Right is sensing a wind of success after the European election. Le Pen welcomed Macron's announcement of a new term and spoke of a "brave decision" and, with a nod to the new openness of the Conservatives, of "responsibility" from Cottis.
The Right intends to enter the parliamentary election under the leadership of EU deputy Jordan Bardella, who had already contested the EU election as the candidate of his party. Bardella was quoted by RN party vice-president Sébastien Chenu to RTL as "our candidate for Matignon". Hotel Matignon is the official residence of the French Prime Minister in Paris.
Will there be "cohabitation" in Paris?
It is still uncertain whether the European trend of right-wing populists will also take hold in France: If the RN manages to secure a governing majority, it could mark the first time since 22 years that there is a "cohabitation" in France.
The term refers to the situation where the President and the strongest political faction in Parliament belong to different political camps, and the President has no majority of his own. This has happened three times, most recently from 1997 to 2002 with the conservative President Jacques Chirac and the socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Macron's forced campaign for a snap election also affects the government camp. The Centre alliance, which had lost the absolute majority in the parliamentary election two years ago, switched to campaign mode immediately after the parliamentary dissolution.
Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, who is also the chief of Macron's party Renaissance, called for the mobilization of all republican forces. He intends to continue exercising his ministerial duties despite the campaign organization.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire saw the upcoming election in the context of the success of the right-wing populists in the EU election, calling it the "election with the heaviest consequences in the history of the Fifth Republic". The outcome of the ballot box would determine "what the French nation will be in the coming years and decades".
Green-left "People's Front" against Macron
The left-wing parties in France plan to run as a coalition in the hastily scheduled new election. On the very day of Macron's announcement, the Left Party, Socialists, Communists, and Greens agreed in principle on the formation of a common movement named "Front Populaire" (People's Front).
## 577 Constituencies, 577 Seats
The hastily forged alliance agreed to field only one common candidate in each of the 577 constituencies. "We want a program of social and ecological transformation to build an alternative to Emmanuel Macron and to combat the racist project of the far-right extremists."
However, the Left Bloc is still a long way from being dry in its coverings. Although the left parties had already run together in the last parliamentary election two years ago and had formed a joint faction in parliament, the Bundnis was de facto broken up during the dispute over the Gaza War. And while the Left Party and its leading figure Jean-Luc Mélenchon were the strongest and driving force two years ago, the Socialists, who finished third in the European election with their candidate Raphael Glucksmann, are now claiming a leading role.
577 Constituencies, 577 Seats
The new alliance is under pressure from the start. With the election date on June 30 fast approaching, both the Greens and the Left have little time left to align on a common line. The French parliament consists of two chambers: the Senate and the National Assembly, with the announced elections only affecting the National Assembly. The legislative body comprises 577 seats. Elections are held in corresponding numbers of constituencies using the French majority voting system in two rounds.
Candidates who obtain an absolute majority, that is, more than 50% of the votes cast in the first round, do not need to participate in the second round, provided they secure a quarter of the votes in their constituency. In constituencies where no candidate achieves this threshold, the second round takes place a week later: Here, the two leading candidates from the first round face all constituency candidates who received more than one eighth of the votes.
In general, parties reach agreements before the second round, resulting in only three candidates per constituency. The mandate goes to the one who receives the most votes. The new composition of the French National Assembly is therefore expected to be determined on the evening of July 7.
In the upcoming elections on July 7, French President Emmanuel Macron and his political opponents, including Marine Le Pen and the Rassemblement National (RN), will compete for seats in the French National Assembly. These elections follow the primary election Macron called after the European elections, where RN emerged as the strongest party. The parliamentary elections will significantly impact the political direction of France and potentially lead to "cohabitation" if the RN gains a majority, marking the first time in 22 years. On the other hand, the left-wing parties have agreed to form a coalition named "Front Populaire" and field a common candidate in each of the 577 constituencies to create an alternative to Macron and combat the far-right extremists.
