Where it all went wrong for Macron: How France turned to the right after president failed to tackle migration, Islamic terror attacks, cost of living crisis – and infuriated the public with his arrogant image [Video]

08:09 EDT 01 Jul 2024, updated 09:14 EDT 01 Jul 2024

Jordan Bardella, the protégé of hard-right leader Marine Le Pen, declared last week during a pre-election debate that France is tired of ‘seven years of Macronism’.

The results of last night’s first round of parliamentary elections suggest he was correct. 

Le Pen and Bardella’s National Rally (RN) party won some 33% of the vote, according to the Interior Ministry, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance on 28% – with incumbent president Emmanuel Macron‘s centrist alliance languishing in a distant third on just 20%.

Le Pen late last night gleefully declared that the French President’s party had almost been ‘wiped out’ as she celebrated the victory, with the RN now set to prepare for the second and final round of the elections on July 7.

But why has France, a party which has not been helmed by a far-right government since Nazi occupation in World War II…