Front National fail to win a single seat in municipal elections

A French political party widely described as being “far-right” has failed to win a single region in the second round of municipal elections, after Jewish leaders urged French Jews to vote against them.

Front National (FN), led by Marine Le Pen, performed well in the first round of voting a week earlier, but after the ruling Socialists and the opposition Republicans colluded on vote-sharing, FN politicians left empty-handed.

Days earlier, community leaders from Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF) said: “Go out and vote by the masses to block the FN, a xenophobic and populist party. Do not allow the Republic to fall.”

The FN, which has been criticised for targeting religious communities, increased its vote in the second round from 6 million to 6.8 million, and tripled its number of councillors, but failed to win control of any single region.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen, the 26-year old grand-daughter of the party’s anti-Semitic founder Jean-Marie, castigated the establishment parties for colluding ahead of the vote, saying: “There are some victories that shame the winners.”