Observatoire de la vie politique et parlementaire

The elimination of the Left in the first round of voting in a recent local by-election in which the Front National came top has sparked fevered speculation about how Marine Le Pen's far-right party is likely to perform in next year's crucial municipal elections. A recently-published and detailed analysis of voting trends suggests the FN could have a major role to play in some areas. But, as Mathieu Magnaudeix reports, the study says the outcome will probably depend on how well the economy performs between now and next spring.