Standing outside the Catholic school where he teaches in eastern France, Charles Lauvergne said he was not surprised the far right did so well in last week’s European elections.
“It makes sense when you look at France’s decline,” says the 38-year-old math teacher.
“We pay tons of taxes for a country that no longer functions… There is insecurity and uncontrolled immigration,” he said in the prosperous village of Tassin-la-Demi-Lune.
Lauvergne was one of more than seven million people across France who voted in European polls for three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).
Voters from traditional right-wing strongholds such as Tassin-la-Demi-Lune chose them over crime, immigration and the cost of living.
The RN topped the poll in 93 percent of France’s 35,015 constituencies, a huge increase from 71 percent in the 2019 European elections.
And voters say they are willing to support the RN – led by Le Pen and the 28-year-old party chief Jordan Bardella — in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved parliament and called early elections for June 30 and July 7, after the far-right defeated his centrist alliance in the European elections.
In Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, Lauvergne said he hoped the RN would take the lead, even though the party has little experience in governance.
“It is better for the country to be in a little chaos than to let the country die a slow death,” he said.
– ‘Loss of values’ –
Regine, a 62-year-old who did not give her middle name, said “life is good” in the city, where the average income is around 29,000 euros ($31,300), compared with the French national average of 23,160.
But this weekend, the retired nurse and her husband voted for the RN for the first time.
“We wanted to try,” she said, citing disappointment with Macron and the war in Ukraine, as well as young people’s lack of manners as factors.
Tassin-la-Demi-Lune had voted for Macron over Le Pen in the 2022 presidential election, but this time the Lyon suburb opted for the RN, with Bardella topping the list.
Sitting on a bench not far away with her son on her knees, 35-year-old Cecile said France was “in tatters” and that she was alarmed by a “loss of values”.
She listed a number of policies she disagrees with, including medically assisted fertility treatments, surrogacy and moves to legalize assisted dying.
“That’s why we are looking for something different and we are interested in Reconquest,” she added, referring to a smaller far-right group that won eight percent of Tassin’s votes.
Centre-right voter Max, 87, said he was “very surprised” by the breakthrough of the far right in his “privileged” city.
But Tassin-la-Demi-Lune is far from unique.
– ‘Champagne Socialists’ –
Hundreds of miles away from Tassin, residents of western France share similar concerns about crime, immigration and purchasing power.
But until the RN took first place in Sunday’s elections with almost 26 percent of the vote, Brittany was considered a pro-European centrist bastion.
“Here, like everywhere else, people can no longer earn a decent income,” says Manuel (72) in the village of Bain-de-Bretagne.
“People love to hate the RN, but it is the only party that tackles the real problems: purchasing power, immigration, the loss of law and order,” he added.
Manuel, the son of a Spanish immigrant, still considers himself a “leftist,” as a longtime supporter of the Communist Party.
“But I can’t stand champagne socialists anymore,” he said.
Sitting at a picnic table, a 20-year-old cleaning lady explained that she too voted for Bardella’s “ideas” and “opposed Macron.”
She voted for Le Pen in 2022, she said, in part because of her concerns about immigration and Macron’s “attitude” toward the anti-government “yellow vests” movement of 2018-2019.
She said it was “fairly normal” in her area to vote for the RN – a sentiment echoed by a number of Bain-de-Bretagne residents.
Alex, a law student in Rennes, was initially hesitant to vote for the RN but has since changed his mind.
“Their line has softened considerably and was much closer to my ideas than those of the other parties,” she told AFP.
A 39-year-old shopkeeper in Bain-de-Bretagne, who voted left and wished to remain anonymous, blamed television for talking about immigration and crime.
“There is not much diversity here, no insecurity. And yet the people who vote for the RN mainly talk about immigration and crime,” he said.
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