France’s National Front party failed to make a major breakthrough in the country’s regional elections. The party, led by Marine Le Pen, failed to win
ADVERTISEMENTFrance’s National Front party failed to make a major breakthrough in the country’s regional elections.
The party, led by Marine Le Pen, failed to win control of a single region after finishing in first place in last week’s first round of voting.
euronews went to Strasbourg, a city close to the border with Germany, where a centre-right candidate managed to stave off a National Front victory.
Philippe Richert finished in first place with 48.4 percent of the vote, putting the FN’s Florian Philippot in second place with 36 percent.
Jean-Pierre Masseret, a Socialist, ignored party pleas to stand aside. He came in third place with 15.3 percent of the vote.
Philippe Breton, a politicial scientists at the University of Strasbourg said voters had been attracted to the National Front because “they offer very radical solutions.”
“Other political parties try to make compromises and talk about nuances because the situation is complex,” he told euronews. “When it gets too complex for some people, those who give them simple and radical solutions can be quite attractive.”
“If Europe could be a little clearer, a little more operational, more political on the issue of the borders, that would probably be one of the safest ways to reduce this political radicalism and therefore the influence of the parties which benefit,” Breton added.