élection

Local mayors and MPs refuse to back the far-right candidates in election qualifying stage over fears of public backlash. 

The French conservative party, Les Républicains, once a main force in French politics but which has seen its support crumble since 2017 amid the emergence of Emmanuel Macron's centre-right movement and a series of fraud scandals surrounding its old guard, has elected MP Christian Jacob as its new leader.

The French presidential election has exposed deep splits that will be difficult to heal, says Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in the Financial Times.

Mélenchon wants to be seen as key adversary of Marine Le Pen, choosing same city and almost same time as her to launch his campaign.

Far right said independent presidential candidate's decision to speak in English in Berlin showed he had 'no respect' for the French language.

Nathalie Boy De La Tour, 48, was elected president of the French Professional Football League, the governing body of professional football in France, in a surprise result that was hailed by sport and political figures. 

Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections largely caught political experts, commentators, opinion poll agencies and the media by surprise. But, argues Mediapart editor François Bonnet in this op-ed article, Trump’s accession to the White House is a "political 9/11" and the most spectacular manifestation of a worldwide cycle that has seen the inexorable rise of strongman leaders, warmongering, nationalism and xenophobia, together with the arrival of extremists at the heart of the ideological landscape.

Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who opinion polls predict will garner strong support in next year's French presidential elections, hailed Donald Trump's as that of a 'free' US, while her party's vice-president announced 'their world is collapsing, ours is being built'.

Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that after Donald Trump's election as US president, and following the British referendum majority vote to leave the European Union, 'Europe must stand together more, be more active and go more on the offensive even if it is just to protect itself'.

The far-right party and two of its senior officials ordered to stand trial for alleged fraud, abuse of trust and misuse of assets in 2012 elections.

The deeply-unpopular French president rules out nationwide burkini ban as he seeks to unite fractured Socialist Party and attacks Right.

Though not officially a candidate, former French president has been gaining ground against main rival for Right’s presidential nomination.

French president says democracy is at stake in 2016 US election and victory for the Republican could make global politics more conservative.

Serge Dassault, the head of the aviation and defence group that bears his name, a right-wing senator and France's sixth richest person, is accused of laundering the proceeds of tax fraud and of hiding part of his wealth from Parliamentary authorities. The trial, which started on Monday July 4th, focuses on cash hidden in offshore accounts which was allegedly later used to buy votes in the town near Paris where Dassault was mayor. As Yann Philippin reports, the origins of some of these accounts goes back to the days of Serge Dassault's father Marcel, who founded the aviation group.

Many in Hollande’s own party have made it clear they want someone else to run for president in next year's election.