France: Far-right wins 14 seats in Senate

The far-right National Rally party and its allies achieved unprecedented gains in France’s Senate elections on Sunday, securing 14 seats and strengthening their representation in the upper house of parliament just months ahead of the French presidential election.

Marine Le Pen wrote on the X platform, “This is a historic victory and a major milestone with the formation of the first (right-wing) group in the Senate.”

Half of the members of the French Senate are elected every three years by an electoral college composed of elected local officials, with each senator serving a six-year term.

The far-right party entered the Senate for the first time in 2014, winning two seats when it was still known as the National Front, and then won three seats in the 2023 elections.

Le Pen hopes to capitalize on the momentum gained by her party ahead of next year’s presidential election, after which President Emmanuel Macron will leave office.

Results tallied by the Agence France-Presse showed that the National Rally won nine new seats in Sunday’s election, raising the number of its representatives in the Senate to 12 when combined with the three members elected in 2023.

Meanwhile, the radical-left La France Insoumise party won its first seat in the Senate.

The National Rally became the largest group in the French National Assembly following the snap elections called by Macron in 2024.