The Results of the First Round of Local Elections in France

Interview with Aymeric Chauprade, member of the European Parliament from the National Front.

What do you think about the results of the first round of local elections in France?

I think that last night the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) used a clever scheme to confuse the public, combining the lists of various rightwing, center-right and other forces and presenting them as the UMP alliance. As a result, the UMP won more votes than the National Front, but we must win them back! The National Front received over four million votes and, taken as a single party, is ahead of the UMP, which received only one million votes as a single party but increased its total vote to four million by adding three million votes cast for various rightwing groups.

Second, the National Front has considerably increased its electorate since the cantonal elections in 2011, by 10 percent, which is a tangible result. Compared to the European Parliament elections in May 2014, the National Front has increased its electorate by 400,000. Moreover, it has scored breakthrough results in the cantons and departments where it won the municipal elections in 2014.

But the French media are misinforming the public and writing that the UMP has defeated the National Front (FN), which is not true.

The National Front presumably doesn’t have a clear program and its leadership has been split by a conflict between the traditionalists and the advocates of a more conciliatory approach, the followers of the May 1968 revolution.

This is a lie concocted by our opponents. They are closely monitoring the issues raised by the FN leaders who are also on the top of the election lists, including Florian Philippot, Marion Maréchal Le Pen, me and others. It’s true that Marion Le Pen and I are advocating fundamental traditional values and protecting our national identity that is being eroded by migration and the glorious history of the National Front. However, Mr. Philippot, who comes from the same political environment as Jean-Pierre Chevènement, which is focused on secularism, is a real patriot and a supporter of a strong state.

A patriotic party can only become truly great if it synthesizes the opinions of leftwing politicians with those of rightwing politicians and any newcomers from the right flank. But we will never go soft on anything. All of us are against same-sex marriages. All of us are against isolated Muslim communities. All of us are for a strong stage that must fulfil its main function, that is, protect our national identity and slash immigration.

Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.