France’s President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, and called a snap election after an

Macron gambles on snap election after crushing loss to French far right in EU vote

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2024-06-10 08:30:18

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, and called a snap election after an exit poll showed his Renaissance party is set to be trounced by the far-right opposition in European parliamentary elections on Sunday.

After initial projections, the far-right National Rally (RN) party came out on top with 31.5% of the vote, more than double the share of Renaissance, which scraped into second place on 15.2% of the vote, just ahead of the Socialists in third with 14.3% of the vote.

In a celebratory speech after the publication of the exit poll, RN leader Jordan Bardella had called on Macron to dissolve the French parliament, calling the gap between the two parties a “stinging disavowal” for the president.

“This unprecedented defeat for the current government marks the end of a cycle, and Day 1 of the post-Macron era,” Bardella told a raucous audience at RN’s headquarters.