French voters head to polls for 1st round of parliamentary elections


French voters headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron, who defeated right-winger Marine Le Pen to win a second five-year term in April, hopes to gain a strong mandate, while leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon aims to become prime minister.
Macron's centrist coalition, Ensemble (ENS), is running neck-and-neck with Mélenchon's left-wing New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES), according to a survey conducted Friday. The survey showed NUPES and ENS polling at 27 and 28 percent respectively, well within the margin of error. Le Pen's National Rally came in a distant third with 19 percent.
Runoff elections, which will be held June 19, are likely to favor Macron as right-leaning voters hold their noses and vote ENS.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A group of constitutional law experts wrote last week that it would be "paradoxical to see the people make two opposing political choices two months apart," and that a leftist majority in the National Assembly would "deny the new head of state the means to govern."
In previous periods of "cohabitation" — when the president and prime minister are from different parties — the prime minister has assumed responsibility for domestic matters while the president handled foreign policy. The last period of cohabitation ended in 2002.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
What is Donald Trump’s visit worth to the UK economy?
In the Spotlight Centrepiece of the president’s trip, business-wise, is a ‘technology partnership’
-
Trump’s visit: the mouse and the walrus
Britain is keen to point to its own ‘tangible results’, but the US administration has made their demands clear
-
Marie Antoinette Style at the V&A: a ‘magnificent’ exhibition
The Week Recommends The UK’s first show dedicated solely to the French queen explores the complex woman behind the ‘bling’
-
'Who can save France now?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
Why can't France hold on to its prime ministers?
Today's Big Question Spiralling debt, ageing population and cultural refusal to accept budget cuts – despite high welfare spending – have been turbocharged by Emmanuel Macron
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers