An opinion poll published in newspaper Les Echos on June 28 said French hard-right party National Rally (NR) further rose in its forecast and may reach as much as 37 per cent of the popular vote, two days before the first voting round in parliamentary elections.
NR was up by 2 per cent from the last publication of the poll compiled by OpinionWay a week ago, while Macron’s centrist bloc Together was seen reaching 20 per cent, down by 2 per cent from the last publication.
The New Popular Front leftwing alliance was seen reaching 28 per cent of the vote, a level unchanged versus a week ago.
OpinionWay made no seat projections for France’s next National Assembly which, due to the two-round majority voting system, could differ significantly from the measured popular vote.
BFM TV, in a different poll compiled by Elabe, said RN could potentially cross the 289-seat bar for an absolute majority, placing the party and its allies in a 260-295 seats range.
The final outcome will be known after a second round of voting on July 7 and is hard to predict at the current stage as it will largely depend on to what extend RN’s rivals will team up and withdraw own runoff candidates to block the hard-right.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on June 27 accused RN leader Jordan Bardella of tolerating racist speech in the ranks of his camp amid a heated last television debate before the vote – an accusation Bardella rejected.
