Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party suffered its first electoral blow on Sunday as rival conservatives dominated elections to the French Senate, reports The Guardian.
The French president is embarking on unpopular changes to labour law and other reforms he hopes will reinvigorate the economy.
Partial results showed the centre-right Republican party on track to keep its majority after Sunday’s vote for about half of the Senate’s 348 seats. Senators are not chosen by the public but by 75,000 elected officials – mayors, legislators, regional and local councillors – across the country.
French broadcasters forecast that the Republicans will have between 146 and 156 seats in the forthcoming Senate, up from 142.
François Patriat, of Macron’s La République En Marche, said the party was expected to win between 20 and 30 seats – far fewer than the 50 for which it was aiming. “I wouldn’t say it’s a success,” Patriat said on BFM television about Sunday’s result.