PARIS (Reuters) – France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies are leading the country’s first round of parliamentary elections with 35.5% of the vote, according to a poll published on Sunday.
The Ipsos survey – conducted for Le Parisien newspaper and Radio France on June 19 and 20 – showed the left-wing alliance Nieuw Volksfront (NPF) in second place with 29.5% of the vote.
President Emmanuel Macron‘s centrist alliance came in third place, winning 19.5% of the vote.
The turnout rate is between 60 and 64%, which would be much higher than the 47.5% at the last general election in June 2022.
The RN’s lead in the polls ahead of the two-round elections on June 30 and July 7 is unlikely to give the party an absolute majority. Macron called the ballot initiative after his alliance’s crushing defeat in the EU elections earlier this month.
In a separate Ipsos survey published by the Financial Times, the National Rally is seen as the most reliable when it comes to managing the economy and public finances.
According to the survey, 25% of respondents trust Marine Le Pen’s RN the most to make the right decisions on economic issues, compared to 22% for the New Popular Front and 20% for Macron’s alliance.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; editing by Susan Fenton)
