The conservative Les Républicains party has maintained a majority in the French Senate after elections on Sunday that brought three members of the far-right National Rally into the upper house of parliament for the first time, reports RFI.
France’s 35,000 mayors, as well as regional, departmental and municipal councillors elect the 348 members of the Senate, 170 of whose seats were being contested by 1,829 candidates on Sunday.
"This senatorial renewal reinforces the senatorial majority of the right and the centre and is a testimony of its territorial roots," Gérard Larcher, leader of Les Républicains (LR) in the Senate, who is expected to keep his position as president of the body in elections on 2 October, said in a statement.
The National Rally, which lost its only Senate seat during the last presidential election when Stéphane Ravier decided to join the party of far-right pundit Eric Zemmour, said it won three seats on Sunday.
While the results exceeded expectations for the far-right party, they are seen as a reflection of strong results by Le Pen's party in previous local elections, and not necessarily a prediction of future election results.