After Marine Le Pen’s National Rally inflicted a humiliating defeat on Emmanuel Macron’s centrists in the European elections, the president called a snap parliamentary election. The decision was a gamble, giving voters an ultimatum: to back him, or to accept the consequences of a far-right victory.
After the first round of voting, his roll of the dice does not seem to have paid off, and the idea of the RN winning is terrifying for many of France’s minority communities. The Guardian’s Paris correspondent, Angelique Chrisafis explains the roots of the RN and how Le Pen has sought to detoxify it while holding to its core value of prioritising certain French citizens over others.
The Guardian’s European community affairs correspondent, Ashifa Kassam, speaks to voters who are frightened by the party’s anti-immigrant stance and the consequences that its policies – regarding the hijab amongst other things – could be for the country’s Muslims.
With the second round of voting imminent, Michael Safi hears how the left and the centrists have been trying to join together to deny the far right a victory. But will voters back them, and what will be the consequences if they do not?
