2024 French legislative election

2024 French legislative election

← 2022 30 June 2024 (first round) 7 July 2024 (second round)

outgoing members elected members

All 577 seats in the National Assembly 289 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Current seats Ensemble Gabriel Attal 248 NFP Collective leadership 155 RN Jordan Bardella 88 UDC Éric Ciotti 61 First round results by constituency and bloc Second round results by constituency and bloc Incumbent Prime Minister Gabriel Attal Renaissance

An early legislative election is expected to be held in France in two rounds on 30 June and 7 July 2024, to elect the 577 members of the 17th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. This follows President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call a snap legislative election after the results of the 2024 European Parliament election were announced in which his L'Europe Ensemble suffered a heavy defeat to the far-right National Rally,^[1] which prompted him to dissolve the National Assembly.^[2]

Background

Following the 2022 legislative election, Ensemble lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly. Among the member parties of the coalition was President Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance (formerly La République En Marche!) – for the first time since 1997, the incumbent president failed to have an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile the two main opposition blocs, the left-wing New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES) and populist right-wing (RN), saw a major surge in seats won in 2022. Despite that, no group won the absolute majority, resulting in a hung parliament for the first time since 1988.^[3]

On 9 June 2024, shortly after 21:00 CET, Macron dissolved parliament and called for snap parliamentary elections in a national address following exit polls that indicated that the Renaissance party would be significantly eclipsed by the RN in votes for France's European Parliament elections. In his address, he called the rise of nationalism by agitators a threat to France, Europe, and France's place in the world. He also decried the far right as the "impoverishment of the French people and the downfall of our country". The first round of elections are scheduled for 30 June, and a second round for 7 July.^[4]

RN leader Jordan Bardella called the disparity a "stinging disavowal" of Macron, calling for him to dissolve parliament in the wake of the defeat he called "Day 1 of the post-Macron era".^[5] Marine Le Pen, who leads the RN in the National Assembly, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise, celebrated the poll results and welcomed the call for snap elections.^[4]

The decision to hold an election came as a surprise, and was considered risky. Some suggested that Macron wished to force a decision between the RN and their opposition, others that Macron intended to win a majority. The decision was criticized by members of several political parties, with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, expressing concerns about its effects on the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[6][7]

Campaign

Candidate registration ended on 16 June, while campaigning officially began on 17 June.^[8]

Leftist politician François Ruffin called on all left-wing parties, including the Greens, to form a "popular front" in order to avoid the "worst" outcome.^[9] Calls for unity were also shared by Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, Greens leader Marine Tondelier and French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel.^[10] A letter of 350 intellectuals (including Esther Duflo and Annie Ernaux) calling for a union of left-wing forces was published in Le Monde on 10 June.^[11] The New Popular Front was established on the same day.^[12] The coalition unveiled its campaign platform on 14 June, which included overturning Macron's immigration policy and pension reforms, continuing military aid to Ukraine and sending peacekeepers to secure Ukraine's nuclear power plants.^[13]

Marion Maréchal, a far-right candidate for Reconquête in the European election, met with her aunt Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, leaders of the RN, on 10 June, to discuss a potential far-right alliance during the legislative election.^[14] After the meeting, Maréchal indicated that Bardella was opposed to an alliance with Reconquête as his party did not want to be affiliated with Reconquête party leader Éric Zemmour;^[15] regardless, she announced her endorsement of the RN. On 12 June, Zemmour announced that he was expelling Maréchal from the party.^[16] Bardella affirmed on 14 June that the RN and The Republicans would run joint candidates in 70 constituencies,^[17] though the latter disputed the amount.^[18]

Marine Le Pen promised that the RN would form a "national unity government" should it win the election.^[13] At the same time, Bardella said that he was "the only one capable of blocking Jean-Luc Mélenchon and blocking the far left" and urged "all the patriotic forces of the republic" to unite and prevent the left from winning the election. He also pledged to pass an immigration law allowing the deportation of "delinquents and Islamists" and cut energy costs as prime minister.^[18]

The president of The Republicans, Éric Ciotti, spoke in favor of an alliance with the RN during an 11 June interview with the French channel TF1. Olivier Marleix, the head of the party in the National Assembly, called for Ciotti's resignation in response.^[2] On 12 June, The Republicans' political committee voted unanimously to remove Ciotti as its president and expel him from the party. However, the latter rejected the decision, calling it "a flagrant violation of our statutes" that was illegal and void.^[19] A Paris court reviewed the decision on 14 June, in which Ciotti was reinstated as party leader,^[20] while Republicans in Hauts-de-Seine announced a local alliance with Renaissance.^[18]

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal vowed to do everything to avoid "the worst" outcome, with aides quoting him as saying that the far right was "at the gates of power" in France.^[21] Finance minister Bruno Le Maire also warned that that a victory by either the far-right or the left could cause a financial crisis.^[18] On 12 June, Macron said that he had called the election to prevent a far-right victory in the 2027 presidential election. He criticised The Republicans for its potential alliance with the RN, as well as the New Popular Front, and urged all parties "able to say no to extremes" to unite.^[22]

Electoral system

The 577 members of the National Assembly, known as deputies, are elected for five years by a two-round system in single-member constituencies. A candidate who receives an absolute majority of valid votes and a vote total greater than 25% of the registered electorate is elected in the first round. If no candidate reaches this threshold, a runoff election is held between the top two candidates plus any other candidate who received a vote total greater than 12.5% of registered voters. The candidate who receives the most votes in the second round is elected.^[23]

Process

The timeline for candidates to register for the first round of elections is from 12 June until 16 June, while the candidate registration deadline for the second round is 2 July.^[24]

Political parties and coalitions

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Local regression of polls conducted

Results

Results by constituency

See also

• Legislative elections in France
• List of deputies of the 17th National Assembly of France
• 2024 elections in the European Union

References