The rise of the French far right continues apace. And, despite a wave of revelations that it has fielded racist, bizarre and geriatric candidates, the Front National could make sweeping gains in important elections this month, reports The Independent.
An opinion poll published on Sunday gave Marine Le Pen’s Front National (FN) 29 per cent of support in the local elections on 22 and 29 March – joint top with the centre-right. Other polls in recent days have placed the FN ahead with 30 per cent of support nationwide.
The surveys also point to a polarisation of political opinion in France since the jihadist attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish grocery in Paris in January, with many urban and young voters still clinging to the “Republican spirit” of the epic marches “against hatred” in Paris and other cities on 11 January.
But there has also been a strengthening of support in rural areas and in blue-collar or middle-class suburbs for Ms Le Pen’s authoritarian, nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-European rhetoric.
Political commentators say, however, that the poor quality of FN candidates may limit the party’s breakthrough.
There has been a drumbeat of revelations in recent days about various candidates running under Ms Le Pen’s supposedly “moderate” and “professional” banner.