Macron misses out on absolute majority in French legislative elections
First results indicate a setback for his Ensemble coalition which obtains only a relative majority, historic breakthrough for Le Pen’s Rassemblement National
President Macron's Ensemble coalition will have to form alliances with other parties to gain approval for its policies
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The first results of today’s second round of France's legislative elections indicate a setback for president Macron’s Ensemble coalition which is reported to have won 224 seats, significantly less than the 289 needed for an absolute majority.
Not having an absolute majority means the Ensemble coalition will have to form alliances with other parties for the necessary margin to gain approval for its policies.
The new left-wing Nupes coalition of parties affiliated to La France Insoumise’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon shows second with 149 seats.
The Nupes coalition parties' policies included lowering the retirement age from 62 to 60, freezing energy prices and increasing the monthly minimum wage. Although coming third in the presidential elections, Mr Mélenchon will not be part of the National Assembly as he was not running for a seat. One Nupes member who will is Rachel Keke, a hotel housekeeper who led a strike for better pay and conditions at a Paris hotel, the first cleaner ever elected to the French parliament.
Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) are third with 89 seats, followed by Les Républicains (right) and Union des démocrates et indépendants (UDI, centre right) with 78 seats.
With a record number of MPs, the Rassemblement National will now have access to additional financial resources and also will have a much greater influence than it has in the past.
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